Sponsors

                                

October 6th, 2017

 

Long known as the Racing Capital of the World, Indianapolis Motor Speedway most recently hosted the 2017 SCCA Runoffs to crown the latest crop of National Champions. After a season of qualifying races in the books, Capaldi Racing prepped the #68 Wolverine Bronze / Hoosier Tire / Ford Performance / Boss 302 Mustang for the weeklong event and entrusted Craig Capaldi to pilot the car for 2017.

The event would include (4) qualifying sessions that would collectively set the starting grid for the Championship race.  Capaldi got up to speed quickly in the first session and posted the 12th fastest timed lap in only his first time on the track for the week. The team worked throughout the remaining qualifiers in an attempt to get the car and Capaldi closer to the top of the time sheets. As the qualifiers came to a close the team found some more pace that would place the #68 Wolverine Bronze / Hoosier Tire / Ford Performance / Boss 302 Mustang in the 16th starting position. The team had worked hard on getting the car consistency in place for the main event, “We knew coming into the event we would be a little out gunned in straight line pace against the Corvettes and Vipers so our game plan was to make up as much as we could in the road course.  The guys have really put a good handling car under me and we feel we can turn this into a good result” stated Capaldi.

Friday morning would bring the main event, as the green flag was shown the #68 Wolverine Bronze / Hoosier Tire / Ford Performance / Boss 302 Mustang got a good start as was able to make up some positions on the opening lap before settling into a 3 way battle for the top 10. Capaldi would continue to battle door to door for the entirety of the 19 lap race trading positions with the competition. As the checkered flag was shown, the team would come home with a respectful 13th place finishing position in their first ever Runoffs event. Leo Capaldi, team principle was pleased with the result “These are the top guys from across the country. To qualify, turn every lap, and finish the Runoffs is an accomplishment in its own. The team put a good car on track and we learned some things moving forward, we are looking forward to debuting our new car in 2018 which will defiantly give us some more pace”.

With 2017 coming to a close, the team is already hard at work and ready to begin the development of a new Mustang for the 2018 season with hopes of a return appearance at the 2018 SCCA Runoffs. Full race coverage will be available in the coming weeks online at https://www.scca.com/pages/2015-scca-runoffs-ondemand

 

Details

Detroit, Michigan
 
The Trans Am series made a return to the Motor City for 2016 to celebrate their 50th anniversary and showcase true American Muscle this past weekend. Capaldi Racing was one of the first teams to apply for this particular invitational only event in home territory. The #8 Wolverine Bronze / Ford Performance / Boss 302 Mustang would be piloted by local driver Craig Capaldi. The team and Capaldi have had prior experience with the 2.3 mile temporary circuit on Detroit’s Belle Isles, but have not captured the results they have been searching.
 
                           


The team unloaded and the started preparations for the first of two scheduled races on the weekend. After limited practice time allotted for the teams, Capaldi would qualify the #8 Wolverine Bronze / Ford Performance / Boss 302 Mustang in the fourth starting position for race one. After a clean start and race long battles within the top of the field Capaldi found himself in the 4th position with 20 minutes remaining in race one. Once again the previous bad luck on the Isle would strike again, “With the nature of multi class racing you may not always be the fastest class, we were running 4th and the leaders from the upper Trans Am class got past me splitting us from the top 3 in our class. I don’t think the smell of their exhaust had made it past me yet and a full course caution came out. Really tough luck as this essentially this put the top 3 of our class a lap ahead of us as the safety car picked up the Trans Am leaders who had not made it past my competitors yet” stated Craig Capaldi. As the first checkered flag for the weekend fell, the #8 Wolverine Bronze / Ford Performance / Boss 302 Mustang would come home in a respectful 5th place finish.

Race two would be gridded by the previous day’s results putting the team in a 5th place starting position. The race would start under uncertain weather conditions and with Capaldi set on making a mark on the Belle Isle circuit. After avoiding some competitors attrition and battling in and out of a podium position it began to rain on and off during the later stages of the race. As the laps would down and the inclement weather approached Capaldi was able to make a pass stick for the final podium position just before the race would be put under caution with two laps remaining. As the rain began to fall, Capaldi would see the checkered flag for race to and bring the #8 Wolverine Bronze / Ford Performance / Boss 302 Mustang home in 3rd place. “It is absolutely amazing to get the team on the podium here, we have had some bad luck here the last few years and it even bit us yesterday but the team never gives up” stated Craig Capaldi.


The team has already begun preparation for potential future events in 2016 and are working to find additional partners to continue competing in 2016. “Our team really works hard at this, we haven’t had the car or Craig in a race since the season ending event at Daytona last season. I’m proud of our guys to step up and put a competitive showing together after such a long break, we are hoping we can compete for some more wins this season” states team principle Leo Capaldi.
 
Capaldi racing would like to thank all of our supporters who made this event possible. Wolverine Bronze Company (www.wolverinebronze.com) , Ford Performance (www.performanceparts.ford.com) , Burris Racing (www.burrisracing.com)
 
Catch all the Motor City 100 action from Detroit Belle Isle featuring a 90 broadcast of both races on Saturday, July 02, 2016, 12:00 PM ET

Details

Craig Capaldi of Richmond posted a top-10 finish in Dual 2 of the Motor City 100 for Trams Am cars during the Detroit Grand Prix on Belle Isle on Sunday.

Capaldi drove the No. 8 Ford Mustang to ninth place overall, and third in the TA4 class, in a 21-vehicle race that also featured TA and TA2 cars prior to the Verizon IndyCar Series race.

Capaldi’s best lap time in the Wolverine Bronze/Ford Performance Mustang was 1 minute, 42.332 seconds on the 2.35-mile Belle Isle course.

TA4 cars are production-based Mustangs, Chevrolet Camaros and Dodge Challengers.
Advertisement

John Baucom of Waxhaw, N.C., was first overall and first in the TA class for the 25-lap race.

Adam Andretti of Brownsburg, Ind., was the top finisher in the TA2 class, and he was third overall.

The Detroit Grand Prix marked the first running of the Trans Am Series in Detroit since 2001.

In Dual 1 on Saturday, RJ Lopez (Santo Domingo) drove the No. 06 Chevrolet Corvette to first place in the TA class and first overall.

Kyle Marcelli (Barrie, Ontario) won the TA2 class in the No. 96 Chevrolet Camaro, and Dean Martin (Westland) drove the No. 52 Ford Mustang to first place in the TA4 class.

Capaldi finished 14th overall, and fifth in TA4. He completed all 25 laps.

TA cars have tube-frame chassis and carry V8 engines that produce more than 850 horsepower.

TA2 cars have tube-frame chassis with Camaro, Mustang or Challenger bodies.

The Trans Am Series was founded in 1966.

Details

November 19th 2015

Capaldi Racing was on hand for the Trans Am season ending event at Daytona International Speedway last weekend with the #8 Wolverine Bronze / Ford Performance / Boss 302 Mustang. After a successful Trans Am debut this past summer at Mid Ohio sports Car Course, the team decided to head south to sunny Florida to join the 23 car TA3 field. Daytona marked the second career start for team driver Craig Capaldi in the ever popular Trans Am Series.


                                
The weekend would include two days of testing, qualifying, and the season ending 100 mile race. As the practice sessions progressed the team encountered a electrical gremlin that made his presence known from the first green flag. The team worked effortlessly to diagnose and repair the issue, but the gremlin was along for the long haul. To make the situation more complicated, the issue would only prevail on track making the diagnostic process that much more complicated. After multiple component tests and component replacements the team headed out for the official qualifying session. Capaldi managed to get two laps at speed before the #8 Wolverine Bronze / Ford Performance / Boss 302 Mustang decided it was time to awaken the gremlin. Sidelined for the remainder of the session, the team watched timing and scoring to see how Capaldi’s lap would hold up. Fortunately, even with the situation that was presented, the #8 Wolverine Bronze / Ford Performance / Boss 302 Mustang would find its place in the 5th starting slot for the race.

Ride Along Below:

Race day. After changing even more components and exhausting their efforts the team was out of time and short on patience in the diagnostic process. Collectively the team made the decision to forfeit their starting position and start in last position “The last thing we want to do is be towards the front of the pack drafting and have a mechanical issue that would put our competitors in risk of danger if the car experiences any issues again. Craig will start shot gun on the field and we have left it up to him that once he is confident our issues have been resolved he can make the decision to start moving through the field” stated team principle Leo Capaldi. The #8 Wolverine Bronze / Ford Performance / Boss 302 Mustang would line up in the 23rd starting position for the main event as the green flag was displayed. After a couple of laps of staying out of trouble and playing follow the leader, Capaldi was ready to stop looking at others tail lamps and began his charge. After a couple caution laps that bunched the field up and some passes Capaldi found himself back in the hunt in the top 5 in class by the half way point of the race. As the laps wound down the #8 Wolverine Bronze / Ford Performance / Boss 302 Mustang was running strong and battled up to 2nd position in the closing laps. As the checkered flag was displayed on the race and the season, Capaldi would grab the final podium spot in 3rd position. “I can’t thank the guys enough, they have been nonstop for 4 straight days trying to get this car up to par. It feels great to be able to give back a result after their efforts and I can’t thank Wolverine Bronze Company enough for getting us here this weekend” stated Craig Capaldi post race.
 



As the season comes to a close, the team is already at work prepping the #8 Wolverine Bronze / Ford Performance / Boss 302 Mustang for 2016 with hopes of making a return to the series once again for the full schedule. We would like to give a special thanks to all of our followers this season and to Wolverine Bronze Company and Ford Performance for making it a successful 2015!

To catch all the action, The Bullet Liner Championship Weekend will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network on Sunday, December 6th, at 1:00 p.m. ET

Capaldi Racing would like to thank all of our partners and supporters:

Wolverine Bronze Company (http://www.wolverinebronze.com/)
Ford Performance (http://fordperformanceracingparts.com/)
Burris Racing (http://burrisracing.com/)

Details

(Capaldi Racing Press Release)

Capaldi Racing has been involved in nearly every professional road racing series across the United States, with the exception of one of the major contenders, the SCCA Pro Racing Trans Am Series.

Last weekend brought the series to Capaldi Racing’s home track at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course alongside the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Only one short week before the event was set to begin, the team put together a strategic plan to make a series debut in the No. 8 Wolverine Bronze / Ford Performance / Roush Performance/ Capaldi Racing Boss 302.

Team principle Leo Capaldi called the shots as the team spent the better part of the week leading into the event getting the car prepared to run in the TA3 American category, the event would also include the return of team driver Craig Capaldi to pilot the newly converted TA3 spec Mustang.

The event started with team testing and practice sessions, after the initial shakedown of the No. 8 Wolverine Bronze / Ford Performance/ Roush Performance / Capaldi Racing Boss 302, Capaldi consistently showed pace placing the car in the top 3 in class after official practice sessions had closed.

Now armed with some knowledge of the series and competitors the team prepared the car for the official qualifying session for Saturday’s “Next Dimension 100 Presented by First Energy” event. Unfortunately, the qualifying session would be cut short due to other competitors' misfortunes which lead to Capaldi only getting one clean official lap before the checkered. The team knew the car had pace but would settle for the fourth starting position for the 100 mile race.

Race Day. Under sunny sky’s the team lined up the No. 8 Wolverine Bronze / Ford Performance / Roush Performance/ Capaldi Racing Boss 302 on the starting grid as the ambient temperatures began to climb into the 90’s. The cars took the green flag and battles ensued for the next 75 minutes around the 2.25 mile road course. Capaldi dropped to 7th at the start but slowly started to attack the cars ahead as the race progressed.

“The team sat down before the race and I had made it very clear to myself and team that this was going to be a long, hot, tough battle. There is no need to make mistakes or bold moves early, we will save the car and be there at the end,” said Craig Capaldi.

That is exactly what the team driver did. After watching in the shadows as competitors began to make slight mistakes, Capaldi battled back the 3rd position by mid race and was closing on 2nd position.

After a couple attempts at gaining the second spot, Capaldi made a move and made it stick. As the clock wound down Capaldi was able to hang on for 2nd position in his first Trans Am appearance.

“It feels great to stand here on the podium with such a historic series, I have to really thank our partners for getting us here and the team for giving me a car that was strong from start to finish.”

Tune in to CBS Sports Network Saturday, Aug. 29 at noon ET to catch the No. 8 Wolverine Bronze / Ford Performance/ Roush Performance / Capaldi Racing Boss 302 in action from the event.

Details