04/17/08
PCM Set to Debut All-American Atlantic Line-Up with Carl Skerlong and Frankie Muniz
Event: The Imperial Capital Grand Prix of Long Beach
Series: Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda
Where: Streets of downtown Long Beach, CA 1.968 mile temporary street circuit
Date: Sunday, April 20, 2008
2008 Preview: If testing is any indication of what¹s to come, the 2008 season is looking good for the PCM drivers. Carl and Frankie completed nearly 3000 test miles each over the winter and both ran strong throughout. Carl was second quick through most of the pre-season tests, while Frankie hovered close to the top-ten. Since joining PCM, both drivers have gelled quickly with their Atlantic Championship race winning engineers Burke Harrison (Skerlong) and Tim Lewis (Muniz).
Long Beach 2007: Carl earned his first top-ten of his Atlantic career at the Beach last year. It was the second Atlantic race in his rookie season. He started 13th and finished ninth. Frankie, who was also a rookie, started the race 25th and finished 19th.
PCM¹s Return: For the first time since their 2004 Championship winning season with Jon Fogarty, Pacific Coast Motorsports will be back on the Atlantic grid. The Southern California based team has spent the last few years running Sports Cars and Champ Cars, but anticipates a successful return to the series where they started.
Local School Visits: Carl Skerlong and Frankie Muniz will visit three local schools on Wednesday. Students from Lafayette Elementary, Stevens Middle School and Rodgers Middle School will meet the PCM drivers.Carl and Frankie will talk with the children about the importance of setting goals and working towards them, in addition to racing and safety.
Tune into Loveline: Frankie Muniz will be a guest in-studio tonight on the nationally syndicated radio show ³Loveline² hosted by Stryker and Dr. Drew. Tune into the world famous KROQ 106.7 fm at 10:00 pm (PT) tonight to hear the show, or listen live at www.kroq.com.
OC Blog: Each week leading up to and following an Atlantic race, Frankie will submit a diary to the online edition of the Orange County Register. The blog will accompany veteran motorsports writer Damian Dottore¹s motorsports column.
CARL SKERLONG #14 King Taco/PCM/Mazda/Swift/Cooper Tires: ³I am really, really excited to kick off the 2008 season this weekend at Long Beach. We had a successful winter of testing and now I am ready to apply everything we learned to the race weekends. I am so excited for the 2008 season, I think we should be very competitive and I plan to fight for the Championship in the King Taco Car. It¹s such and honor to race at Long Beach. This track has so much history; it¹s the perfect place to start our season.²
Frankie Muniz #41 PCM/Mazda/Swift/Cooper Tires: ³I am super excited, I can¹t believe the first race is actually about to happen! I feel like we¹ve been testing for a long time. I learned so much this winter and I have so much more confidence heading into the 2008 season. I am excited to show everyone that I am for real this year. I love the Long Beach track. My first race ever was here in Long Beach, it was the pro-celebrity race in 2004. Here I am four years later, racing with a championship winning team, hopefully gunning for a top-ten finish at one of the most celebrated races in the United States...very cool, I can’t wait.”
Skerlong Wraps Pre-Season Testing Up Front, PCM Duo Prepared for Competition
OXNARD, CA (April 3, 2008) - With the 2008 season opener just two weeks away, Pacific Coast Motorsports drivers Carl Skerlong and Frankie Muniz wrapped up their pre-season testing program last week with nearly 700 miles combined at the MSR Houston Motorsports Ranch. The duo have completed nearly 4000 testing miles this winter, on various tracks including Laguna Seca, MSR Houston, Firebird and Buttonwillow Raceway.
Both drivers are entering their sophomore season in the Atlantic series and head into the challenging and diverse 11-race championship with high expectations. Pacific Coast Motorsports will return to Atlantic competition for the first time since 2004 when they won the series title with American driver, Jon Fogarty. ³We are proud to return to Atlantic competition with two very talented, young American drivers,² said PCM Team Owner, Tyler Tadevic. ³Both Frankie and Carl maximized their pre-season testing opportunities with strong feedback and competitive pace and they¹ve developed good working relationships with their new engineers and team-mates. Carl has proven he is going to be very competitive this year and Frankie¹s developments are exciting, I am looking forward to a strong season ahead.²
Carl Skerlong, 19, of Mukilteo, WA, is the driver of the #14 King Taco/Mazda/Swift; he scored two podium finishes in his rookie season and finished tenth in the series championship. Skerlong drove for US RaceTronics in 2007 and will enjoy the comforts of a familiar environment as PCM merged with US RaceTronics in January. His most crucial relationship however, is new. Skerlong will be paired with two-time Atlantic championship winning engineer, Burke Harrison. The pairing has proven to be strong in pre-season testing, Skerlong was second quick at the last two tests, ³I am so excited to get racing,² said Skerlong. ³We have made several gains throughout testing and I am really enjoying working with Burke. I have learned a lot already this year and I think we should be extremely competitive this season. I¹d love nothing more than to give PCM their second Atlantic championship and that is what my goal is. It is going to be a lot of hard work, but I think I¹ve got the tools to get it done with the King Taco car and I know I have the willpower to win.²
Frankie Muniz, 22 of Wood-Ridge, New Jersey is equally excited for his sophomore season. Competing in a series with the world¹s best up and coming drivers, Muniz is entering just his third season of professional racing. While his fellow racers grew-up spending their weekends competing on the racetrack, Muniz was competing for work in the television studios! Best known for his role as ³Malcolm² in the Fox hit ³Malcolm in the Middle,² Muniz is an Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actor with several television and film roles on his resume. ³It is amazing the strides Frankie has made this winter, he has very little experience and competing at this level with such little experience is ambitious, but he has the natural talent and we believe he will fight for top-ten finishes this season,² said Tadevic. Muniz, driver of the #41 car joined the PCM squad in January and has jumped up the time charts with each test, ³This is really the best possible situation for me,² said Muniz. ³For the first time I am working with a big team, who knows how to win championships and has the resources I need at this stage of my racing career. I have a great relationship already with my engineer (Tim Lewis) and he and Lee (Bentham, driver coach) give me pointers that I can apply and benefit from immediately. My driving has improved and I have so much more confidence going into the season opener. I think that has shown through improvement on the time sheets in testing and I plan to prove it this season.²
Skerlong and Muniz Undaunted by the Corkscrew, PCM Duo Quick at Laguna Seca
OXNARD, CA (March 12, 2008) Pacific Coast Motorsports drivers Carl Skerlong and Frankie Muniz wrapped two days of testing in their US RaceTronics prepared Mazda/Swifts at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway yesterday.
The test was the official spring training for the Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship, powered by Mazda, North America's premier open wheel development series. "The test went really well. Obviously this one of our most important open tests because Laguna Seca is a track that we will come back and race on," said US RaceTronics owner, Shane Seneviratne. "I couldn't have asked for more from the whole crew. There were no mechanical issues, the engineers gave great setups making both cars quick out of the box and they developed fast race set-ups for our return in May. Both drivers were at the top of their game and we think we are great shape for our return."
20 year-old Carl Skerlong earned two-podiums en-route to his top-ten finish in the 2007 championship. Skerlong is heading into his second season in the Atlantic series and ran up front throughout the two-day test. He completed 514 trouble-free miles and clicked off the second-fastest time of the test both days, despite it being just his second visit to the scenic raceway. Frankie Muniz officially joined the team last month; he is entering just his third season of professional racing. Muniz's racing skills and times have improved with each test and he turned in a strong performance, completing 487 miles on the challenging 2.238-mile circuit, which features 11 turns.
"We'll do one more test at MSR Houston the last week of March and then we'll be set for our season debut at Long Beach. It's going to be a great season; the field is deep with very talented drivers," said Seneviratne.
Carl Skerlong, #28 King Taco/PCM/USRT/Mazda/Swift: "Overall it was a very successful test. We kept the King Taco car in the top-three throughout the test. I think we have a very good race to go back with in May. Also we learned some things that definitely will apply to other tracks, but we were really going for a racecar for Laguna and I think we've got that. I've got to thank Tyler and Shane and my engineer Burke and everyone else at PCM for doing such a great job, I really couldn't have asked for a better test."
Frankie Muniz, #29 PCM/USRT/Mazda/Swift: "To run that strong at Laguna, one of the most difficult tracks we compete on, felt really good. We made a lot of progress over the two days. The last run of the test yesterday was awesome. That was the best I've ever felt in a race car. The car felt perfect and I felt like I was able to get a lot out of it, it was awesome. If I'd been able to pick up one-tenth of a second, I would have moved five spots up the time sheets. It's just a test, so times aren't everything, but we are making a ton of progress every time we are on the track. I am in the hunt now, which is very motivating - 2008 is going to be a great season. The Atlantic staff is putting together an exciting schedule and there were 20 cars at this test, the competition is going to be tough."
The PCM Atlantic cars are prepared in partnership with US RaceTronics. The team has returned to the US RaceTronics headquarters in Bakersfield, California for final preparation before round 1 of the 2008 Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda at the 34th running of the Long Beach Grand Prix, April 18-20, 2008. For more information, visit www.pcmracing.com.
About Pacific Coast Motorsports: Formed in 2002 and based in Oxnard, California, Pacific Coast Motorsports are champions on the track and in the marketplace. The 2004 Toyota Atlantic Champions have competed in a diverse array of motorsports challenges, from open wheel to sports car racing and succeeded in every discipline. In 2008 the challenge comes full circle as PCM returns to their roots in partnership with US RaceTronics entering a two-car effort in the Atlantic Championship. Off the track, PCM has represented some of the countries most recognizable names, from Imperial Capital Bank to Menards, TECATE and Vonage to Uniden establishing successful, high-profile marketing platforms that deliver meaningful exposure and a quantifiable return on investment. PCM is dedicated to success in the Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda and we are committed to go beyond the traditional means to deliver value and exceed the expectations of our partners. Follow our Atlantic season at www.PCMracing.com.
Media Contact: Katie Brannan, PCM Public Relations Office: 775.782.7191
