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Kon Rodz Racing

“Sassy” Cassie Reaches the Finals…Again

Release Courtesy of Nate Van Wagnen
Photo by Cyclops Photography

NORWALK, OH – In the eyes of Cassie Simonton, team owner Spiro Kontos, and the Kon Rodz Racing team, their luck has finally turned around. An early season filled with rare parts failures and first round losses is in the rearview mirror as the Canadian Top Alcohol Funny Car team leaves Summit Motorsports Park, the site of their second final round appearance in a row.

“Obviously you need luck in drag racing sometimes. We had some bad luck earlier in the year, but that’s behind us. We were lucky first round. Randy and the team saved me in the second round, but we came back and had a good run in the semi-finals. I think our luck is finally changing for the better,” Simonton said.

The weekend started off with “Sassy” Cassie’s best qualifying start at a national event, 3rd with a 5.71. First round was perhaps the race decided most by luck. Simonton was on a great pass before the car just went silent around half-track.

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Simonton Enters Route 66 Nationals with Confidence

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion

JOLIET, IL – Popular Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Cassie Simonton enters this weekend’s Route 66 NHRA Nationals with the intentions of building on the success she experienced in qualifying at the Lucas Oil Series event held here just a few weeks ago. She earned the first #1 qualifying position for both herself and team owner Spiro Kontos. Now competing against twice the drivers she out-qualified last time, Simonton and the Kon Rodz Racing team are eager to prove that they are a consistent threat in the competitive class.

“Obviously that was a big confidence booster for us, as a team. We’re going to try to push for that again. We’ve always had good luck at Route 66 Raceway. We have good data for this track and the car runs well in the heat, so we should be able to build from that to have a good car throughout qualifying and eliminations,” Simonton says.

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Simonton Qualifies #1 at Route 66 Divisional

Courtesy of Kon Rodz Racing

JOLIET,IL – Spiro Kontos’ Top Alcohol Funny Car team Kon Rodz Racing has made strides over the past year and half, proving that they have what it takes to compete with the best: talented driver Cassie Simonton, veteran tuner Randy Anderson, top-notch equipment, and a dedicated crew to put it all together. They made another leap this weekend at the Chicago NHRA regional, qualifying in the #1 position, over world champion Frank Manzo and two other Top 10 drivers.

“The number one qualifying run was probably one of the most exciting runs. The car was all over the place and I had to drive it everywhere, so when I got to the end I didn’t really think it ran that fast, to be honest. I didn’t realize it until the safety people told me I was number one,” said Simonton, whose 5.60 pass was the talk of the pits and the grandstands on Saturday night.

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Kon Rodz Racing Going for a Cruise Down Route 66

Courtesy of Kon Rodz Racing

JOLIET,IL – This weekend’s Burndown at Sundown race is a big deal for Spiro Kontos’ Kon Rodz Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team. They’ll be racing in front of family and friends, along with a few new members of the Kon Rodz Racing family.

“We have a lot of family members from theChicagoarea that plan on joining us at Route 66 Raceway. Our web and media designer, Artist Butch M, is bringing his family to hang out with us for the first time. Since our last race inNorwalk, we also added a few new crew members to our outstanding team; clutch tech Londos D’Arrigo, transport driver Steve Prince, and Graham Rowe on top end. We welcome them to the team and look forward to continuing the season with them,” Kontos said.

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Kon Rodz Racing Shooting for the Stars at the Cavalcade of Stars

Courtesy of Kon Rodz Racing

NORWALK, OH – This weekend isn’t just another regional race for “Sassy” Cassie Simonton and the Kon Rodz Racing team. It’s the Cavalcade of Stars. She’ll be piloting Spiro Kontos’ 260 mph Top Alcohol Funny Car down the Summit Motorsports Parkstrip in front of upwards of 30,000 fans. The team that not only races to win, but also to put on a great show for the fans, Kon Rodz is expecting to do both this weekend.

“It’s a lot more enjoyable to race in front of a large crowd. It was cool last year, to pull up to line and hear the cheer of the crowd. I love having the crowd around; it gets you pumped up, it gets you motivated,” said Simonton.

On top of a great forecast for fan attendance, the weather forecast is near perfect as well. Sunny skies all weekend and high temperatures around 80 degrees are expected.

“With the weather being perfect, we know we can get all three sessions in to get the car dialed in and ready for race day,” Cassie says.

Team owner Spiro Kontos is also looking forward to this much-anticipated race on the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series tour.

“SummitMotorsportsParkis truly a fantastic track and the Bader family sure knows how to put on great events like this. The great weather forecast and family atmosphere will make for a great weekend of racing. We hope to see everyone out there,” said Kontos.

“Sassy” Cassie Simonton and the Kon Rodz Racing funny car will start off qualifying at 7 on Friday night at the B’laster Cavalcade of Stars atSummitMotorsportsPark. Qualifying continues on Saturday at 3:30 and 8 pm, with eliminations on Sunday morning.

Simonton would like to thank Spiro and the team – crew chief Randy Anderson, Adam, Patrick, Cory, and Stefan – for their support.

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Tough Break for Simonton and Kon Rodz at Charlotte

Courtesy of Kon Rodz Racing

MAPLE, ON – “Sassy” Cassie Simonton and Spiro Kontos’ Kon Rodz Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team proved that they have what it takes to win races at the 4-Wide Nationals last weekend. Simonton clicked off consecutive career-best passes driving the Randy Anderson-tuned Kon Rodz machine in qualifying. The record runs were a positive turnaround from the team’s results inGainesville.

“We tested really well before the Gatornationals, and then tried a few new ideas that ultimately didn’t work. Then we went back to what we started with in testing and it went out and ran career-best numbers,” said Simonton.

Qualifying started out with the career-best for both Simonton and Kon Rodz Racing, a 5.54 at 261 mph. The team fromCanadacame back and threw down a 5.53, resetting their career-best numbers. Cassie entered eliminations in the #3 spot, set to race John Headley. Headley was unable to make the run, so Simonton had a bye run. Sounds like an easy way into the next round, right?

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SIMONTON AND KON RODZ TEAM EARNS FIRST ROUND WIN

Courtesy of Rodz racing

Gainesville, FL – One of 24-year old Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Cassie Simonton’s favorite quotes is “where there is a will, there is way.”

The sophomore driver of Spiro Kontos’ Kon Rodz Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car found the will to record her first career round win and lower her best elapsed time on a glorious Saturday afternoon and will race on Sunday for the first time in her career, at the 42nd Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals contested in Gainesville, Fla.

Simonton entered today’s racing action after a solid 5.612 elapsed time from day one of qualifying placed her provisionally in the number six position.

The team lead by crew chief Randy Anderson, knew their car had potential to improve their Friday performance in the prime-time racing conditions of the final qualifying session early Saturday morning.

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SIMONTON’S CAREER BEST ET HIGHLIGHTS KON RODZ 2011 DEBUT

Courtesy of Rodz Racing

Gainesville, FL – A career best elapsed time and speed of 5.612 seconds in excess of 256 miles per hour, propelled Cassandra Simonton and the Kon Rodz Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team to a provisional number 6 qualified spot today, after the first day of qualifying at the 42nd Annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals contested in Gainesville, Fla.

Simonton, the 24-year old sophomore driver for Spiro Kontos’ Maple, Ont. headquartered team, entered this event with high expectations after a very successful test session with new head tuner, Randy Anderson turning the wrenches earlier this week at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, Ga. Although the team did not record any full quarter-mile laps under power, the decrease in tire-shake, and how smooth the car ran in comparison from last season, gave the second-year driver a lot of confidence for the 2011 season debut.

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SIMONTON AND KON RODZ TAFC HITS PRE-SEASON TESTING

Courtesy of Kon Rodz Racing

Maple, Ont. – The winter months in The Great White North of Ontario, Canada are often cold, dark and dreary. However, the past six weeks have been hot, full of hard work and optimism for Spiro Kontos and his Maple, Ont. Kon Rodz Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team.

This weekend, they will head due-south to South George Motorsports Park located in Valdosta, Ga. to provide new crew chief Randy Anderson and second year driver Cassie Simonton an opportunity to fine-tune their new set up in a test session prior to their NHRA Season debut at the 43rd Tire Kingdom NHRA Gator Nationals.

The Kon Rodz Racing team made several wholesale changes in the off season, including acquiring the tuning talents of Anderson, the former two-time NHRA TAFC World Champion and NHRA Nitro Funny Car pilot.

During the cold and snowy months leading up to the 2011 season debut, the team spent countless hours preparing a new motor combination, adding new colors to the teams Monte Carlo body and new transporter. All the pieces are in place for a much improved 2011 campaign and team owner Kontos is chopping at the bit.

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