Hello everyone,

This past weekend I was once again racing in the APR Motorsport VW DriverGear GTi, this time at my favorite race, the Grand Prix of Trois Riveres in Quebec. This event marks our only temporary street circuit of the year, and after my 2nd place last year, and with Fortis Watches and the Patty Boshell Pancreatic Cancer Foundation onboard this race, I really was looking forward to putting us all on the podium!

Before you take the time to read about the race, go do a good deed and sign up to be a monthly contributor at www.pancreaticcure.org, where just ten dollars and month can help the over 37,000 suffering with pancreatic cancer.

When you’re done there make sure you check out www.Fortis-Watches.com brand new website, so with the holiday season just around the corner, hop on in and take a peek around, and please help support those who keep me out there racing.

The event was to be jammed pack, as our practice session would only have 30 minutes between them; this meant that unloading with a good set up would be crucial to success at this event. The APR Motorsport crew used some great foresight setting up the two VW GTi’s differently, in order to test two setups despite the limited track time.

During practice we both ran through our testing programs, running times well into the top ten results, with setups that were close but not quite there. After comparing notes and going over the data, we decided to make some big changes to the chassis setup. Kevin then responded by qualifying the 181 car in 17th, less than a half second off the top ten. This result was very encouraging as we did not take the time to develop qualifying setup and knew we had much better brakes than many of the leaders, meaning we would move up quickly during the race.

As the green flag fell Kevin began working up the order on the extremely difficult Trois Riveres streets. Unfortunately, his charge would not last, as a misshift took us out of the event, without me getting a chance in the car. While I was initially frustrate, I was able to take a lot of pride in our team car’s 5th place finish, this meant our setup was good enough to contend and that we would have been mixing it up with the leaders.

So on that note the APR Motorsport team and I have already begun our preparation for the season finale at Miller Motorsports Park, just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. Last year we finished 1st and 2nd in Utah, as the track suits our cars. I can’t wait to get back out there and do battle once again.

Thank you all for your support, and for supporting my partners; I am tremendously blessed to be racing in Grand Am and all of you have been a part of it. Thank you all and I can’t wait to send you more news!

“I’m really excited to have Fortis onboard, and on my wrist. Their timepieces are beautifully styled, precise, and well engineered, which are all things that my APR Motorsport VW shares. I can’t wait to get to New Jersey and stat timing the practices session with my Fortis VW Design Spaceleader. They have been to the top of the world with the Cosmonauts, now I’m going to bring them to the top of podium, and bring them on my championship charge for the rest of the season” said Josh on at the announcement. “It’s extra exciting because I get to wear a Volkswagen designed Fortis. Being a Volkswagen driver for the last three seasons, I’m ecstatic to have a VW designed watch, with the durability and accuracy of a Fortis. I’m also hoping it’s worth a few tents on the track next round in Jersey and am looking forward to wearing my VW Design Spaceleader on the top step of the podium at our next race at New Jersey Motorsport Park ” said Josh on his new timepiece. So be sure to look for Fortis to be at the head of the Continental Tire Challenge pack at New Jersey Motorsport Park on July 17th

Fortis Watches, founded in 1912 was the creator of the first automatic winding watch. This expertise in timepieces was recognized in 1994 by the Russian Space Agency as their official watch. The durability and precision of Fortis Watches have served countless flights crews throughout their missions, and now Fortis is looking to serve racing drivers. The award winning Volkswagen Design Spaceleader is the perfect timepiece for this effort, created to celebrate Fortis’ upcoming 100 year anniversary; it is a limited edition automatic chronograph, with both day, and date displays. To learn more, and get your hands on one of the 2012 VW Design Spaceleaders to be made visit www.Fortis-Watches.com today.

Hi everyone!

     Once again I had the honor of racing for the APR Motorsport VW DriverGear team, and for the Patty Boshell Pancreatic Cancer Foundation. If you want to be surprised when you watch the race this Sunday on Speed at 1:00 PM then do not scroll down to the below paragraph. If you want to help over 37,000 people fight Pancreatic Cancer, then please click here to find out how you can help! 

     After his best qualifying effort of the season, Kevin has his best start to a race yet. Settling quickly in the top 15 my co driver Kevin Stadtlander began working up the field. His charge began to be hampered by high engine temperatures which caused him to fall further down the order as he took steps to preserve the engine for later in the race.

     About 45 minutes into the event, a full course caution slowed the field. Due to the long caution laps, it would be possible to make it to the end from here, with some fuel saving and another caution or two later in the race. At this point Kevin brought the car into pits in 20th position. the APR Motorsport VW DriverGear crew then performed their usual magic and got me back out in the 16th spot, got to love those crew guys!

     At the drop of the green I began to move up the order, all the while taking steps, such as short shifting and coasting, to save fuel. By the time the next caution came out, I had moved up into the lead of the event. Due to this caution we would also be good to go to the end on fuel, though it would be close. This would set up one long run left until the end.

     The toughness of this run would be exacerbated by the cars handling. We had missed the setup by just a bit, and the car had developed a rather severe push, especially in the left hand corners. With that in mind,  I pushed as hard as I could when the green flag came out. When the tires were still cool I was able to set the 2nd fastest lap of the race, slowly though the understeer began to creep back in, and my competitors were able to use the draft, and a bit more power to close in on the straights.

     From here on out it was to be a defensive fight. Our corner speed was just good enough that I was able to hold them off lap after grueling lap, despite the chassis balance. All was looking good, then 2nd place Lawson Aschenbach and I began trading the lead. Each corner we would fight, sometimes he would get the position, then I would get it back. With only 10 minutes left in the event it had become a true knife fight. I was trailing Lawson and setting him up for a pass when tragedy then struck, the 3rd place car just behind me had suffered a brake failure, entering the “Toe of the boot” corner of the Watkins Glen circuit. He hit as I was entering the corner, and my car was now sliding perpendicular to its normal direction. Fortunately I was able to keep it from spinning and out of the barriers but I was now in 4th place. The car that hit me was now in the barriers and I would have to hurry to get 3rd back before the inevitable full course caution ended the race. I made the move just one corner later, pulling around the outside of Michael Galati, and grabbing 3rd position just seconds before the race ended under a full course caution.

     I have to admit that I am a bit disappointed to have lost the victory, but I am extremely excited about our recent performance. This is our 3rd consecutive top 4 finish and all have come from deep in the pack. I truly feel that we are knocking on the door, and am looking to breakthrough in just under two weeks at Mid Ohio. Till then stay tuned as I will be putting all sorts of videos up and please make sure you visit www.pancreaticcure.org and of www.GoAPR.com and www.drivergear.vw.com. Thank you all for your support, and a special thanks to all my partners who have helped me get here. Getting to race at this level is truly a dream come true. Thank you all and take care!

                                                                                                Josh Hurley

Hi everyone,

As a reminder, this update contains spoilers, so if you want to watch the race next week on Speed you might not want to read below. Kevin rolled the APR Motorsport VW DriverGear on the grid. From the drop of the green flag Kevin battled the pack, however due to the change in weather the car developed an understeer condition which hampered his charge. 

Then the first caution came out. When the pits opened, only the Hondas were within fuel range of the end. Then with a brilliant strategy call, APR Director of Motorsport Jeff Mishtawy called Kevin into the pits as the field went green. We were just barley in fuel range with one more yellow. 

After smoking fast pit stop from the APR Motorsport crew I was on track. Within the first quarter lap the field was back under yellow, allowing us to close to the pack and save fuel. 

We were now running in the top 10, though the car was understeering I worked the car to the top 3 and was battling for third with the BMW, which was a quicker car, but I was using GS traffic to my advantage. 

Then with 25 minutes left, coming down the front straight, while in fourth gear, fourth gear broke! It then became time to nurse the car and keep the gap. We fell back to P4 but still pushing to keep the position using 3rd and 5th gear only. 

With 3 laps to go one of the lead Hondas had to pit for a splash and go. This put us ahead of, by just a few seconds. This meant I had to dig deep and push, still without the 4th gear. We were now in third! Finally I was able to cross and finish line just in front of the GS leader which meant I got to do an extra lap compared to the 4th place Civic, so I was able to cruise and enjoy the last lap to bring home our first podium of the season. 

This podium really belongs to the crew, who made a great pit call, and gave us am incredibly fast pit stop, I cannot thank them enough. Thanks also goes to VW DriverGear, VIR is their home track so its an extra special podium for them. Thank you all for your support and make sure you tune in for the race on Speed next week. 

In qualifying, my co driver Kevin Stadtlander, put in his best qualifying effort of the season coming in 14th place. Couple this with our top 2 time in the practice sessions and we should have a very raceable car tomorrow. Balance is extremely good on the APR Motorsport VW DriverGear GTI so a podium run is a definite possibility. Keep tuned in for continued updates, or for more frequent updates check me out on Twitter at www.twitter.com/JoshHurley. Thank you all for your continued support and take care everyone. 

Josh Hurley 

This new partnership between APR, and VW Driver Gear, makes me a factory driver again, it’s great to be back with VW factory. Click here to see the press release. Also our brand new MK6 Gti  (the world’s first Mk 6 VW racecar) will be making its debut at Barber Motorsports Park next weekend. We have documented the build process for the car here. Click here to see the Mk6 build! Thank you all for your continued support and stay tuned for more news throughout the 2010 season.

Hello everyone, This past weekend was the first race for APR Motorsport in the 2010 Continental Tire Challenge series. For those of you who plan on watching it, you might want to stop reading here. There will be spoilers below. For those of you who do watch it, they call me Kevin during the whole race, due to a faulty driver ID. 

Just before the first practice session, Grand Am revealed its new regulations for policing boost, unfortunately, these rules really hurt the APR Motorsport VW GTI, as our ECU is not designed to work the way Grand Am wants. So with this in mind the crew and I set to work. In the final practice session we were able to get the car into the top ten, despite the major lack of power. 

My co-driver Kevin Stadtlander, then qualified the car 23rd in his pro racing series debut, which was an excellent effort for the rookie. After a few final adjustments in the morning warm-up (one of which was huge), we were ready for the race. Kevin was able to advance through the field and bring the car into the pits in 11th spot. Then the APR crew performed the best pit stop I have ever been a part of and got us out in 6th. From the green flag I knew it was going to be a huge battle for us. The BMW and Hondas were absolutely killing us on the straights, but we were catching them big time on brakes (despite being over 200 lbs heavier than the Hondas!). I battled for the top five position for my whole stint, constantly being passed on the straight and getting the spot back in turn one (sometimes round the outside, which was a blast!). However, our luck wouldn’t hold out, with about 5 minutes to go, one of the Hondas punted me in the bus stop chicane. Due to this we ended up in 15th position. Despite the result, I’m very happy with the weekend, the crew really performed well, and the car was handling better than ever. I can’t wait until Homestead, as I’m sure the team will find more speed in the car for the next event. Look for us to be on the podium there. Until then, thank you all for your support and I’ll see you around the track soon!

 Josh Hurley

Hi everyone,

                With my return to APR announced, I figured now was a good time to show everyone here around the shop at APR. Click the link below to go on a virtual tour of the APR Performance Campus in Opelikia, Alabama.

Click here to take the virtual tour of APR's Performance Campus

                                                                                                Josh Hurley

Now that we are deep into racing's off season I was looking for something to keep sharp. Well thanks to Corsa Kart I now have that opportunity. I will be returning to my karting roots by racing the PRI Karting Shootout Thursday December 10th. This is an awesome event full of drivers from many series across the country, ranging from karters, to Nascar drivers, ALMS, and Grand Am. I can’t wait to get back into a competitive event and have a bunch of fun in the process. So if any of you are planning on attending the PRI show, come check out the kart race and stop by the pits and say hello. Also stay tuned, there will soon be an announcement of one of my big plans for next year. Take care everyone and happy holidays!

Hello everyone,

Before I give the race report I want to send a special thanks to Gunther Volkswagen of Coconut Creek, APR Motorsport, Admiral Canvas, and Sim Sport for making this incredible year possible. This program would never have gotten off the ground, let alone reached the success it has without these great supporters, thank you so much!

After a rough practice session the Gunther Volkswagen APR Motorsport crew worked hard, getting the car ready just in time for one lap of qualifying. Ian Baas was able to put the car in fourth position which is right in the thick of the fight. 

At the start of the race Ian was able to battle hard with the lead pack, running in third while conserving brakes. Unfortunately luck was not on our side this weekend as 45 minutes into the event the we were forced to retire due to an engine failure. 

While not the way we wanted to end the season it has been a great year nonetheless. With 5 poles, 6 total front row starts, more laps led than anyone  else, five podiums, and multiple track records. It was truly an awesome year. Thank you all again, and keep watching for more emails and next years program should be announced in the not so distant future.