TX Speed Blog

Team TXSpeed Debuts Second Car and Dominates Launch of 2011 Season


Team TXSpeed dominated the 2011 season opener of the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) at MSR Houston on January 29-30. Coming off a spectacular 2010 season which saw driver Jay Matus in No. 171, the Porsche 996, win the German Touring Series 3 (GTS3) National Championship at Miller Motorsports Racetrack in Utah, and NASA Texas Regional Championship.

Team TXSpeed is looking towards accomplishing new goals in 2011. The Team has added car No. 172, a 2000 Porsche Boxster S, which is competing in the GTS 3 class. In the No. 172 car is Kevin Mixon, a veteran driver, and long time friend. Mr. Mixon is an intelligent and talented driver that is thoroughly familiar with all the venues that the NASA Texas region will host this season. Back in car No. 171 is team owner and driver Jay Matus, who has now advanced to GTS4. Both drivers are aiming at first place finishes at both the Texas Regional Division and the National Championships this season.

The high quality preparation and presentation of Team TXSpeed was at hand again at MSR Houston. For the first time in NASA Texas’ history, MSR would be run in a clockwise direction. This did not stop the team from leading their respective classes. Saturday qualifying times were impressive to start. Matus lead the GTS 4 group with a 1:41.66. Matus’ consistent winning style, along with an impressive setup of the No. 171 car, would see him dominate throughout the weekend, rain or shine. Surprisingly enough, the only changes made to the No. 171 car to advance to GTS 4 at was the removal of weight and the engine air restrictor. No major set-up changes have yet to be made to the car. Although this was the first time the No. 172 car was on track, and the first time Mixon drove the car, both melded immediately. There were a few minor tuning issues that were fixed within the first part of Saturday, and by the first race, both car and driver were ready to take on the competition. Matus turned his best lap time of the weekend in the first race of the weekend: a 1:40.621. Mixon finished the very first race for car No. 172 with a 1:46.413. Mixon would only continue to shave off time as he became more comfortable in the car. By race 2, he would finish with his best lap time of the weekend: a 1:44.592. Sunday brought significant rainstorms and consequently slowed the race times. However, both cars continued to finish first in their respective classes. The season opener was an impressive start to a beginning of an exciting season for Team TXSpeed with the setting of track records and four first place finishes in GTS 3 for Mixon in Porsche No. 172 and four first place finishes in GTS 4 for Matus in Porsche No. 171. The next race of the season will be March 12 and 13 at MSR Cresson in the Dallas area.

Team TSSpeed is grateful to their partners and industry advisors, each of whom contributes greatly to the ongoing success of this race team.

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TXSpeed’s Two-Car Porsche Team Maintains Domination in NASA’s GTS3 and GTS4 Classes in the Second Round of the Season


Team TXSpeed continues to win the top finishes in the National Auto Sport Association Texas Region GTS 3 and GTS 4 (German Touring Series). The NASA Series raced at MSR-Cresson near Fort Worth, Texas on March 12-13 for Round 2 of the regional events, which consisted of two qualifying sessions and four races over the event weekend. As Team TxSpeed had dominated the 2011 season opener at MSR Houston in January, the team maintained their domination at MSR Cresson. They continue to pursue both regional and national championships in GTS3 and GTS4. Team owner/driver Jay Matus, in the No. 171 Porsche 996, and driver Kevin Mixon, in the No. 172 Porsche Boxster S, conquered over their competition on the quick and technical course of MSR Cresson. Team TxSpeed is in a constant state of seeking improvement. The MSR Cresson event weekend was further proof of the continuous development efforts and The Teams ability to adjust, adapt and implement minor developments providing further improvements track side. Mixon in car #172 finished first in the four (4) GTS 3 races of the weekend. The Team overcame a mechanical problem at the end of the first race that mimicked a ‘slipping” clutch. In the paddock, the crew jacked-up the car to better evaluate the problem and to determine if the symptoms pointed to any other malfunctioning part. It was determined that there was a problem with the right rear axle, which the Team was able to resolve with a 20-cent part. They quickly reassembled the car with the speed of a “Lemans” pit crew and got Kevin back out on the course for race #2 of the weekend. The track-side fix resolved the mechanical problems and Mixon took 1st in the remaining three races of the weekend.

During Saturday’s qualification and two races, Matus and Team TXSpeed identified that the car was not performing optimally based on the current set-up. Though Matus achieved a respectful best lap time of 1:18.925 for Saturday and crossed the finish line in first place during both races, Matus knew that there were some areas for improvement. During Race 2 on Saturday, an unfortunate tire-rub contact situation occurred between Matus and competitor Woods in car#95 in a battle for first and second as the two cars were on the last lap of the race and passing lap traffic. Matus ended up on the curbing and had no further room to give on the track when contact was made with Matus’ front driver-side tire and the rear portion of car #95’s passenger door. Wood’s became unsettled in the incident, spun, recovered and crossed the finish line as fourth (4th) in class while Matus was able to continue to the checker as first (1st) in class. Post-race penalties were assessed for the contact which resulted in repositioning Matus from first in class to fourth in class behind Woods. The contact did result in alignment damage for Matus. On Saturday evening in the paddock, Team TxSpeed focused on fixing the new alignment problem and determining the nature of and track-side remedy for the performance problem. Additionally, Team TxSpeed evaluated all aspects of being able to improve and shave off tenths of seconds on the track. This track-side improvement always includes reviewing data acquisition downloads so the drivers can determine where they can improve time with slight driving changes. This evaluation is studied for every inch of the track.

Saturday evening’s hard work and evaluations reaped positive dividends during Sunday’s qualifying and final two (2) races. Matus posted his best lap time of the weekend, 1:18.159, in the first qualifying of the day. In races 3 and 4 of the weekend, Matus continued to set the pace, and finished first (1st) in class and first overall in both races with a best lap time of 1:18.478 (race 3) and best lap time of 1:18.880 (race 4). The GTS4 field consisted of two of the 2010 GTS4 point’s leaders and another determined competitor. The complete racing group, called “Blitz”, consisted of eighteen (18) competitors in GTS, Super Touring and Super Unlimited. The development work on car#172 continues since it was just recently debuted. Mixon in car#172 has been successful in Rounds 1 and 2 with eight (8) first place finishes, and track records at MSR Houston, but the Team knows that it must always seek improvement. Since car#171 had been recently converted from the GTS3 Championship set-up to a GTS4 car, this car is still undergoing its development to ensure its set-up is optimized for GTS4 competition on both the regional and national levels. Up to the MSR Cresson event, simple modifications were performed, such as some weight reduction and the removal of the power restrictor. Though the car is highly competitive with the skill driving of Matus behind the wheel as evidenced with seven (7) first place finishes between Round 1 and Round 2 of the NASA Texas Racing Series, this team continues on the fine tuning path. With Rounds 1 and 2 of the season being a success, Team TxSpeed moves forward to Round 3 at Texas World Speedway in April with its ultimate goals of being prepared for the NASA Championships in September at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Team TXSpeed is grateful to their partners and industry advisors, each of whom contributes greatly to the ongoing success of this race team. They have helped Team TXSpeed to “Deliver the Winning Experience”.

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