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Archive > March 2008Skerlong and Muniz Undaunted
by the Corkscrew, PCM Duo Quick at Laguna Seca
March 12, 2008 - OXNARD, CA - 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."
Visit the Pacific Coast Motorsports website at
www.pcmracing.com
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