lisa kubo racing a saturn this season
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lisa kubo racing a saturn this season
Honda's most successful sport compact star, and her husband, Gary, signed a deal that would put her behind the wheel of a Saturn entry in 2003. There aren't many givens in this world, but Lisa Kubo in her famed orange and green Honda Civic in the Hot Rod class seemed to be one of them, at least for the last four years. She's even got the Honda tattoo to prove it.
Now, 2003 will find the multi-time world champ not just in a new make of a car, but a new class as well as she carries the Saturn Motorsports of San Diego team into battle in the new Pro FWD class with a 2003 Saturn Ion Quad Coupe. Jaws that were dropped by the news still rest on the ground, while work in Southern California and parts beyond continue to forge this new team.
Led by team manager Jim Epler, a veteran drag racer who was the first driver to exceed 300 mph in an NHRA nitro Funny Car, and team owner Laird Mooney, general manager of six Saturn dealerships in the San Diego area, the team also will field a 2000 Saturn SC2 Sport Coupe, driven in the Hot Rod class by Michelle Morlet, a 24-year-old racer from Whittier, Calif., and a '98 Saturn S-series sedan in the All Motor class, wheeled by Nick Novak, the 19-year-old son of Crower Cams' Kerry Novak. All cars will be powered by the 2.2 liter Ecotec engine, which will be built at Shaver Specialties in Torrence, Calif., which last season provided Ecotecs for the Bothwell Motorsports team and others.
interview with lisa :
NSC: This news took many in the sport by surprise and even shock. When was this idea first proposed to you?
LK: We began talking to Jim at the NHRA Englishtown race in the fall, and then began talking to him on a weekly basis after that. We spent a lot of time down in San Diego with Jim and the Saturn Motorsports team to put this together, which we finally were able to do in early December.
NSC: The big question: Why? Why leave a class and a car where you have been fabulously successful to take on this new untested car and class?
LK: We wanted a new challenge. We felt like we had done a lot of what we set out to do with the Honda, and that this would be a good experience for us and that it would be good for the sport.
NSC: How have your fans and fellow racers reacted to this major change for you?
LK: Most people were really surprised, but they know that we're doing this for everybody, not just for ourselves. Most of my fans know me on a personal basis and they know what our budgets are like, so they were happy for us to be able to go out and run the way we've always wanted to run. They're scratching their heads, but they're happy for us.
All of our fellow competitors are happy for us. One of them told me he was glad I was leaving Hot Rod so he wouldn't have to run me anymore. That made me feel good.
NSC: When NHRA changed the name of its series from "import" to "sport compact," a lot of the traditionalists had a heart attack, thinking that domestic cars would ruin the sport. Now that one of their own, one of the sport's most famous and successful drivers, has switched from traditional import to a 'sport compact,' will that change people's minds? Is this your stamp of approval on the concept?
LK: We always welcomed the domestic cars into our sport. We accepted them right away. They're front-wheel drive cars with high-tech parts and the effect is far reaching. For example, Mopar is now building cars with turbochargers on them. We like to think that our sport has had an influence on that.
The Saturn Ion that we'll be running is a great-looking car; it fits right into our age group.
NSC: You enter this season coming off what may have been your toughest year ever, in terms of breakage and financial aspects. Is this a fresh start for you?
LK: It is. When Bruce [Mortensen] won the NHRA Hot Rod championship this year, it allowed me to put away all of the things that have been bottled up in me the last two years with my rivalry with JoJo [Callos]. It set me free. The world has been lifted of my shoulders.
NSC: You leave the Hot Rod class in good shape. Where a year or so ago you were one of two or three stars, now there are a lot of new stars starting to shine.
LK: I love that class and everyone in it. They've been my extended family for the last four years. I'm still going to watch the cars run and still talk to all my friends.
NSC: This new team is an interesting mix, with you and Gary from the sport compact world and Jim Epler from the domestic side.
LK: It's a good deal for us. We're going to put everything we've learned over the years into this. We got to bring along our whole team of veterans and all of their knowledge. Quite a bit of what we know relates to the new car and we've got lots of people who are experienced with these parts willing to lend us their advice. Gary's been hitting the books trying to learn everything he can about the engine.
Jim and Laird have just been great. We listen to them and listen to us. We are teaching one another about our respective industries. Laird loves drag racing. It's a match made in heaven.
NSC: And what of your new teammates, Michelle and Nick?
LK: We got together just recently and raced each other at Qualcomm Stadium, where we have an eighth-mile track. We had a blast.
NSC: With all of your experience, are you expected to mentor or coach them?
LK: No, we think they're going to do a good job on their own. I don't want to be the one who tells someone how to do something. They already know what they're doing. I just told them to be themselves.
NSC: How are the cars coming together?
LK: It's been an exciting process ordering the parts and arranging to get the cars put together. The body should be done soon, and then it will be shipped to Keith Burgan, who's building the chassis at his shop in Indiana. We're getting together all of the motors from Shaver's and the transmissions and all of the other parts.
We not 100 percent sure we'll be ready to run at the first race [the Desert NHRA Sport Compact Nationals March 15-16 in Las Vegas], but we'll definitely at least have it on display there. We need to do some testing with the car because it will be brand new, not just to the sport but to us as well. When we had the hatchback, we came into each season knowing what it would run and how to tune it.
NSC: You'll get a chance to go quite a bit faster than your Hot Rod car. Excited?
LK: Yeah, we're sure we're going to be able to run low 8s, so that's seven-tenths right there. There are going to be a lot of tough drivers in our class: Shaun [Carlson], Christian [Rado], both of Bergenholtz's cars, Nelson Hoyos, and a lot of others.
NSC: Have we talked about a car color yet?
LK: I keep telling Jim that I need some orange in the car, but it depends on the sponsor. I don't want to kill the image of who we are; people relate me to an orange car.
NSC: And what will become of the Honda that is like a child to you?
LK: People are asking if we're going to sell it – no way! That's my baby.
The hatchback is completely apart. We're going to get the body straightened and the car will be put back together. I joke with everybody that I want to put it in the living room of my house. That car means a lot to us. People also are asking about buying the Si that we were putting together. Nope.
I'll never lose my Honda roots. It will always be my car; you don't lose that.
opinions ?
Now, 2003 will find the multi-time world champ not just in a new make of a car, but a new class as well as she carries the Saturn Motorsports of San Diego team into battle in the new Pro FWD class with a 2003 Saturn Ion Quad Coupe. Jaws that were dropped by the news still rest on the ground, while work in Southern California and parts beyond continue to forge this new team.
Led by team manager Jim Epler, a veteran drag racer who was the first driver to exceed 300 mph in an NHRA nitro Funny Car, and team owner Laird Mooney, general manager of six Saturn dealerships in the San Diego area, the team also will field a 2000 Saturn SC2 Sport Coupe, driven in the Hot Rod class by Michelle Morlet, a 24-year-old racer from Whittier, Calif., and a '98 Saturn S-series sedan in the All Motor class, wheeled by Nick Novak, the 19-year-old son of Crower Cams' Kerry Novak. All cars will be powered by the 2.2 liter Ecotec engine, which will be built at Shaver Specialties in Torrence, Calif., which last season provided Ecotecs for the Bothwell Motorsports team and others.
interview with lisa :
NSC: This news took many in the sport by surprise and even shock. When was this idea first proposed to you?
LK: We began talking to Jim at the NHRA Englishtown race in the fall, and then began talking to him on a weekly basis after that. We spent a lot of time down in San Diego with Jim and the Saturn Motorsports team to put this together, which we finally were able to do in early December.
NSC: The big question: Why? Why leave a class and a car where you have been fabulously successful to take on this new untested car and class?
LK: We wanted a new challenge. We felt like we had done a lot of what we set out to do with the Honda, and that this would be a good experience for us and that it would be good for the sport.
NSC: How have your fans and fellow racers reacted to this major change for you?
LK: Most people were really surprised, but they know that we're doing this for everybody, not just for ourselves. Most of my fans know me on a personal basis and they know what our budgets are like, so they were happy for us to be able to go out and run the way we've always wanted to run. They're scratching their heads, but they're happy for us.
All of our fellow competitors are happy for us. One of them told me he was glad I was leaving Hot Rod so he wouldn't have to run me anymore. That made me feel good.
NSC: When NHRA changed the name of its series from "import" to "sport compact," a lot of the traditionalists had a heart attack, thinking that domestic cars would ruin the sport. Now that one of their own, one of the sport's most famous and successful drivers, has switched from traditional import to a 'sport compact,' will that change people's minds? Is this your stamp of approval on the concept?
LK: We always welcomed the domestic cars into our sport. We accepted them right away. They're front-wheel drive cars with high-tech parts and the effect is far reaching. For example, Mopar is now building cars with turbochargers on them. We like to think that our sport has had an influence on that.
The Saturn Ion that we'll be running is a great-looking car; it fits right into our age group.
NSC: You enter this season coming off what may have been your toughest year ever, in terms of breakage and financial aspects. Is this a fresh start for you?
LK: It is. When Bruce [Mortensen] won the NHRA Hot Rod championship this year, it allowed me to put away all of the things that have been bottled up in me the last two years with my rivalry with JoJo [Callos]. It set me free. The world has been lifted of my shoulders.
NSC: You leave the Hot Rod class in good shape. Where a year or so ago you were one of two or three stars, now there are a lot of new stars starting to shine.
LK: I love that class and everyone in it. They've been my extended family for the last four years. I'm still going to watch the cars run and still talk to all my friends.
NSC: This new team is an interesting mix, with you and Gary from the sport compact world and Jim Epler from the domestic side.
LK: It's a good deal for us. We're going to put everything we've learned over the years into this. We got to bring along our whole team of veterans and all of their knowledge. Quite a bit of what we know relates to the new car and we've got lots of people who are experienced with these parts willing to lend us their advice. Gary's been hitting the books trying to learn everything he can about the engine.
Jim and Laird have just been great. We listen to them and listen to us. We are teaching one another about our respective industries. Laird loves drag racing. It's a match made in heaven.
NSC: And what of your new teammates, Michelle and Nick?
LK: We got together just recently and raced each other at Qualcomm Stadium, where we have an eighth-mile track. We had a blast.
NSC: With all of your experience, are you expected to mentor or coach them?
LK: No, we think they're going to do a good job on their own. I don't want to be the one who tells someone how to do something. They already know what they're doing. I just told them to be themselves.
NSC: How are the cars coming together?
LK: It's been an exciting process ordering the parts and arranging to get the cars put together. The body should be done soon, and then it will be shipped to Keith Burgan, who's building the chassis at his shop in Indiana. We're getting together all of the motors from Shaver's and the transmissions and all of the other parts.
We not 100 percent sure we'll be ready to run at the first race [the Desert NHRA Sport Compact Nationals March 15-16 in Las Vegas], but we'll definitely at least have it on display there. We need to do some testing with the car because it will be brand new, not just to the sport but to us as well. When we had the hatchback, we came into each season knowing what it would run and how to tune it.
NSC: You'll get a chance to go quite a bit faster than your Hot Rod car. Excited?
LK: Yeah, we're sure we're going to be able to run low 8s, so that's seven-tenths right there. There are going to be a lot of tough drivers in our class: Shaun [Carlson], Christian [Rado], both of Bergenholtz's cars, Nelson Hoyos, and a lot of others.
NSC: Have we talked about a car color yet?
LK: I keep telling Jim that I need some orange in the car, but it depends on the sponsor. I don't want to kill the image of who we are; people relate me to an orange car.
NSC: And what will become of the Honda that is like a child to you?
LK: People are asking if we're going to sell it – no way! That's my baby.
The hatchback is completely apart. We're going to get the body straightened and the car will be put back together. I joke with everybody that I want to put it in the living room of my house. That car means a lot to us. People also are asking about buying the Si that we were putting together. Nope.
I'll never lose my Honda roots. It will always be my car; you don't lose that.
opinions ?
well thats a surprise, saturn=[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-puke.gif[/IMG] lisa......[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/IMG] 
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Joined: Jul 2002
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From: San Diego/El Cajon, California, US
Rep Power: 0 I saw Saturn Motorsports last December at Qualcomm. haha. I heard them talk about that. The race they had against each other I saw and Nick lost. So these cars they racing now, are they 4 bangers?
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