TOPEKA, Kan. (Oct. 11, 2008) – In his 17th Runoffs start, Peter Zekert, of Maryland Heights, Mo., claimed his first National Title, winning GT-Lite at the 45th SCCA National Championship Runoffs. Peter Shadowen, of Loxahatchee, Fla., and Chad Bacon, of Kingsport, Tenn., completed the podium at Heartland Park Topeka.

 Zekert leads Lans Stout at the exit of turn #14.

Starting third, Zekert became the luckiest man in the race before the green flag even flew, as the entire front row disappeared before the race could begin. First, polesitter Christopher Bovis lost power to his No. 1 Goodyear/Honda/JDM Motorsports Honda CRX on the pace lap, when a piece of rubber became lodged in the air intake. Bovis’ disabled car, stopped on the back stretch, forced the starter to wave off the start so the safety crew could remove the vehicle. Then, as the field reformed and approached the final corner before the front straight, second-place qualifier Brian Linn, of Hermosa Beach, Calif., pulled his No. 21 Hoosier Tires/CW Horton GC MG Midget into pitlane. When the green flag waved, Zekert became the polesitter.

“I felt bad for Chris Bovis,” Zekert said. “Chris and I run together and our plan was to tuck behind either one of us and make a freight train. When he dropped out, I thought I’d just follow in behind Brian. Then Brian pulled into the pits!”

Shadown’s No. 72 Goodyear/RedLine/Road-n-Race Honda CRX followed Zekert into Turn One. Shadowen was soon passed by the No. 6 FMR/Goodyear/Rebello Racing Nissan Sentra SE-R of Lans Stout, from Cornelius, Ore., who would then set his sights on Zekert. Stout kept the pressure on Zekert until lap 13, when a driving error caused the rear-end of his car to get loose and send him on an off-course excursion through the Turn Four grass.

Zekert was never challenged again in his No. 45 Booble/Goodyear/Red Line Nissan 200SX SE-R crossing the finish line 4.573 seconds ahead of second place Shadowen.

“Lance Stout must have got a great couple of laps, so I just said ‘I’m going to run good, clean laps, not crazy, because I don’t want to spin in the lead, that would be embarrassing,’’ Zekert said. “I just kept going and one time, Lans tried to look inside of me between three and four. I know when you do that and you’re not all the way inside of the car, it makes four so difficult, and I saw in my mirror Lans was spinning. Then, I just told myself it was like any national here, and just clicked off lap after lap. It feels unbelievable.”

Like Zekert, Shadowen benefited from attrition in the 18-lap race as well. After pressuring Pete Peterson’s No. 98 Toyota/Goodyear/Valvoline/Pens Toyota Celica for several laps, Peterson pulled into pit lane on lap 12, handing third place to Shadowen. Following Stout’s Lap 13 mistake, Shadowen was promoted to second, which he held for the remaining five laps.

Starting ninth, Bacon had a tremendous race in the No. 18 TRD/Goodyear/Robinson RacingToyota Tercel. Bacon spent most of the race dicing with Jim Hargrove’s No. 38 Race Energy/Analytic Systems Honda CRX, winning the battle after Hargrove retired and moved up to third with Peterson and Stout’s troubles.

William Gilcrease, of Costa Mesa, Calif., finished fourth, followed by Topeka’s own Don Christman in fifth.

Daniel Stalzer, of Plainfield, Ill., earned the Sunoco Hard Charger Award for advancing 11 positions during the race in the No. 41 Toyota Corolla.

The GT-Lite race will air on SPEED Wednesday, Jan. 14, at noon (EST). 

 Booble Girls (from left: Lindsay, Brittany, Brandy & Adriana) pose with driver Peter Zekert and the Booble Racing Nissan 200SX before the start of the race.

  The Booble Girls and Booble driver Peter Zekert at the “Battle of the Bands” competition the night before the big race. Two questions, why were they out partying before the race and where’s the missing Booble Girl Brittany? Glen?

The Booble race car intrigued NOPI fans at Gateway Int’l Raceway. With the bodywork off, car guys and girls got an up close look under the skin of the Booble Racing Nissan 200SX. Driver Peter Zekert talked with the fans about the performance of the Nissan race car.

A few of the girls (and one of questionable gender) tried out as Booble Racing Girls. You decide.

Homestead-Miami. The Booble racing team started early, racing the first three events of 2008 in Sunny Florida. Thanks to the efforts of Peter Shadowen’s Road n Race, Booble Racing driver Peter Zekert was able to drive one of the Road n Race cars in Booble Racing trim. It was an instant favorite in sunny Florida, especially with the stress boob restrained on the front grill in a kind of S&M fashion.

Booble Racing driver Peter Zekert was pleased with the results. “We came out of Florida with three races in the points and no damage to the car. As always, people love the Booble car and the stress boobs. Girls started flashing me with the stress boobs I had given them.”

St. Louis, MO.  2007 was a great season for the Zekert Booble Racing GTLite Nissan 200SX. 16 races with wins in half of the races entered. Fast at almost every race. Lots of fans stopping by to pick up a stress relief boob or just to say ‘hello’. Thousands of fans checking out the car (or where they checking out the Booble Girls?) at the St. Louis Gateway NOPI event. It was a great season….

It was a great season with the help of countless people on the crew. [Most of the Booble Racing crew are volunteers, dedicated to racing.] Russ, Richard, Susan, Marianne, Ryan, Brandon, Chris, and Dan. Thank you to all.

We need to thank the Sponsors at Booble. Thank You!! And Thanks to Nissan Motorsports, Goodyear Tires and the guys at Comp Tire West and to Red Line Oil. We couldn’t have done it without your support. Thanks to Mark and to Troy for the photos. Thanks to Booble Girls Laura, Mandy and Summer. [More people want to meet Laura, Mandy and Summer than want to meet our driver Peter. Go figure??]

What’s in store for 2008? Faster, stronger, and better. We will spend January, February and March in the shop preparing the Booble race car for the season, building a new transmission and finishing the 4th engine. In addition to the driveline improvements, we will also be fitting a second set of body work, including a lightweight roof, hoping to place more of the weight of the car lower to the ground. At this point in the development of the car, moving a mere 20 lbs from the front to the back of the car yields big gains on track.

Thank You One and All - Peter Zekert, driver of the #45 Booble Racing Nissan 200SX

Heres a sneak peak of the Booble Car owning at the runoffs. More to come soon!

GO TEAM BOOBLE!