Fingers Crossed Racing

Fingers Crossed Racing Continues to Grow!

Apr 18th 2012

By: Valentin Ivanitski

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Boulder, Colorado- Fingers Crossed Racing is coming up on their six-month anniversary. In just half a year, the team has already accomplished some incredible things. To help them attain their lofty goals, the Fingers Crossed Racing team continues to grow. With the Pikes Peak Hill Climb just around the corner, the FCR team is delighted to announce the addition of their newest team member.

Ralston Valley High School Senior, Stephen Harris, is joining the FCR team as the official 2012 Intern. Fingers Crossed Racing announced their internship program in March and the team was thrilled with the response to the program. With so many strong applicants, Fingers Crossed Racing conducted interviews with several candidates before making their final decision. Fingers Crossed Racing’s co-founder Savannah Rickli said that, “Stephen’s enthusiasm made him a strong candidate from the start. You would be hard pressed to find someone who is more excited or more passionate the position.”

Stephen joined the Fingers Crossed Racing team this past weekend at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Team driver Valentin Ivanitski successfully began working towards his Competition License with the National Auto Sport Association (NASA). Valentin was immediately impressed with Stephen’s willingness to help and his support at the track. Valentin says that, “His confidence around the pits is crucial and very helpful in the fast paced enviornment. He will certainly become a valuable part of the team by the end of the season!.”

Harris took some time to answer a few questions to help all of our groupies get to know him better. And yes, he got some team bonus points for his answer to the fifth question!

FCR: How did you hear about Fingers Crossed Racing?

SH: My friend who does RallyCross introduced me to them.

FCR: What is your daily driver?

SH: 2001 Twin Turbo Audi A6, Manual 6 Speed

FCR: What are your post high school plans?

SH: Attend college to pursue a fire science degree hoping to become a firefighter.

FCR: What’s your favorite animal?

SH: A shark… because who doesn’t enjoy watching shark week.

FCR: What are you looking forward to most about being a part of the hill climb this year?

SH: I’m excited to see what it takes for a race team to compete at Pikes Peak. Also looking forward to hanging out with awesome people like Savannah and Val.

FCR: Are you most interested in the driving, business or mechanical side of racing?

SH: I love the hands on that comes with the mechanical aspect, but who doesn’t like going fast?

FCR: If you could be any car, what kind would you be, and why?

SH: I would be an Audi R8 GT with up to 560 horsepower…. Of course!

FCR: What is something that most people don’t know about you?

SH: I’m really into wake skating.

FCR: Favorite television show?

SH: Workaholics.

FCR: We all know the team dog, Cooper, and how he loves being a part of everything the FCR does… especially photos. How do you get along with Cooper?

SH: Cooper is my favorite, I consider him the team mascot. He is always happy to see anyone who plays with him!

News
University Auto Parts Joins our team for 2012!!

Apr 4th 2012

By: srickli

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Boulder, Colorado- The Fingers Crossed Racing team is proud to announce a partnership with their neighborhood NAPA Know How, University Auto Parts. With the race just months away, the team is thrilled about a partnership that will help them with final preparations for the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

University Auto Parts is a family owned and operated business that was established in 2006, and is now serving three markets in Boulder, Broomfield, and Sterling Colorado through their 29 employees. University Auto Parts owner, Cole Shaffer, is a passionate enthusiast for all motorsports and he is a racer himself. Shaffer’s involvement in motorsports encourages him to be a proud support of local motorsports in his community. University Auto Parts is a proud member of NAPA, allowing them to offer customers nationwide support and coverage. Even with the nationwide support, they are able to offer hometown service.

Fingers Crossed Racing was founded in 2011. Started by two drivers, Savannah Rickli and Valentin Ivanitski, as an effort to join their 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb efforts. In the six months since Fingers Crossed Racing came to be, the team has developed into something bigger than ever imagined. Fingers Crossed racing now serves as an opportunity to involve passionate people into the motorsports world. In 2012, the team will launch their inaugural year of their internship program. Providing opportunities for their intern to see the front line of professional motorsports. The 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will be held on July 8^th. Savannah Rickli will be driving a Fingers Crossed Racing built 1991 Audi Coupe quattro up the 12.42 track to the summit of Pikes Peak. Her teammate, Valentin Ivanitski will be driving his 2001 Audi A4 to the summit. The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is America’s second oldest motorsports race. The event challenges drivers up a 12.42-mile road through over 156 turns to an elevation of 14,115 feet.

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KICKER – New partnership with FCR

Mar 29th 2012

By: Valentin Ivanitski

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Boulder, Colorado- As the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is quickly approaching, Fingers Crossed Racing is “kicking” their 2012 program into gear! The Fingers Crossed Racing team is pleased to announce a partnership with Kicker® for the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.\

Fingers Crossed Racing was founded in 2011, and was started by two young drivers, Savannah Rickli and Valentin Ivanitski, as an attempt to join their 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb efforts. In the six months since Fingers Crossed Racing came to be, the team has developed into something bigger than ever imagined. Fingers Crossed racing now serves as an opportunity to involve passionate people into the motorsports world. In 2012, the team will launch their inaugural year of their internship program, providing opportunities for their intern to see the front line of professional motorsports.

In many ways, the Kicker story is very similar to the story of Fingers Crossed Racing. Kicker began as a two-man operation, hand-building professional speaker systems in a narrow one-car garage. With a vision greater than himself, Steve Irby used his passion for music to drive him as he developed the Original Kicker® in his northern Oklahoma community. Since 1973, Kicker has grown to become one of the most recognized names in car audio.

The 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will be held on July 8th. Savannah Rickli will be driving a Fingers Crossed Racing built 1991 Audi Coupe quattro up the 12.42 track to the summit of Pikes Peak. Her teammate, Valentin Ivanitski will be driving his 2001 Audi A4 to the summit. The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is America’s second oldest motorsports race. The event challenges drivers up a 12.42 mile road and over 156 turns to an elevation of 14,115 feet.

Look for the Fingers Crossed Racing team and Kicker to be at the annual Fan Fest event that will be help on July 6th in downtown Colorado Springs. This famous event allows fans to interact with all of their favorite drivers and their cars in a downtown festival that celebrates the spirit of Pikes Peak.

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Feb. Updates

Mar 15th 2012

By: Valentin Ivanitski

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I still haven’t totally accepted the fact that it’s 2012, let alone the fact that we are 1/12^th through 2012. January was a crazy busy month for the Fingers Crossed Racing team… and it doesn’t look like things are going to be calming down at all anytime in the near future.

It has been very interesting following all of the updates from the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb directors and the other drivers. Valentin and I are both very excited to have secured our entries into the event. I think that there is no denying that the event is going to be very different this year, and with all of the anticipation of this year’s event, I just can’t wait to be on that mountain. It’s good to see the event growing and gaining some of its much-deserved publicity. As with all things in life, the event is changing, growing, and developing. I’m excited to see so many new names on the entry list, and it will be good to see many of the Pikes Peak veterans on the hill again this year. For a while, I wondered if Tajima was going to enter…. I was relieved when he did because the event would not be the same without him or his bravado. Seeing Texas Dave’s (Carpetyan) name on the entry list at the last minute definitely put a smile on my face too. Conversations with Dave were part of the foundation of the Fingers Crossed Project, as he planted the seed of me building my own car for the event at the SEMA show back in November.

I have been going to Pikes Peak since 1997. I remember when the road in front of 8 mile (our annual stomping grounds) was dirt and I remember when my father would lift me up to high five Mike Ryan in the truck. To me, Pikes Peak is more than just one event a year. That mountain shaped my childhood in so many ways. The people on that mountain, the officials and drivers both, have become part of my family. I can’t ever see that changing, and I welcome all of the 2012 competitors into the family. It’s going to be a wild ride.

It has been so fun building the Fingers Crossed Racing team with Valentin. I’m really, really excited about this project. When we started Fingers Crossed, we weren’t entirely sure what the project was going to end up being. It’s a living project, and I think that over the years it will continue to develop and bring new adventures. (Don’t forget to mail us postcards from all of your travels… I heard something about cookies and FCR swag being involved for winners…)

The car that I will be taking up to the summit of Pikes Peak this summer, Sergei, is coming along. We are just about done with the roll cage. This is my first time being involved with anything of this sort. As much as I loved Michele the MINI, I wasn’t a part of her build or development. I’m amazed by how my connection to Sergei and my knowledge of the car continues to grow. I still walk into the garage and look at that (almost) full roll cage, and I remember just a few months ago sitting in the car with a measuring tape helping Valentin with the cage designs.

I’ll be honest, laying underneath a car on the cold garage floor with a spray bottle that’s intended to keep the underbody of the car from igniting in flames, is something that I had never done before. I have pieced together memories of helping my father with a welding project when I was younger, but aside from that, I had never been around a welding project. When we had pieces cut and notched, we would tack them into the car with little welds. It amazed me how much I could tug on those pieces, even before they were fully welded in. It helped me to understand how sturdy a properly built roll cage can be.

In January we purchased a 20-valve turbo engine that will be Sergei’s new heart. It was convenient that the engine came with such a nice carrying case that included wheels, a chassis, seats, and a trunk. Okay, so maybe it was a whole car that we bought. I insisted that we named the car after a person who was already deceased, I figured that way I would feel less bad about ripping out it’s organs to give to Sergei. So, Elvis became part of the family. (For those of you keeping count on Val’s attempt to convert me from BMW’s… that does bring my total to two Audis and only one BMW…. Uh oh!) We will begin the motor swap as soon as the cage is done.

We are still on target to have the car build completed come mid-March. That should leave us enough time to test the car and make sure everything is set for the Peak. But, knowing the racing world, it still won’t be enough time.

In addition to the car build, Valentin and I have still found some time for other adventures. We have done a few events with Our Gang Ice Racing up on Georgetown Lake. My parents have been competing with Our Gang for close to twenty-five years. My folks are letting us share their 1964 CJ5 Willy’s Jeep for the weekends. We do use the description loosely; the car is far from stock. When we put the bolt tires on the Jeep it will haul some serious booty. The inch and a half sharpened bolts in the tires have a way of providing a pretty satisfying amount of grip. Also up in Georgetown, Valentin and I volunteered to instruct at the US Audi Club’s Winter Driving Skills Clinic. It’s always a great time to give people the opportunity to learn more about their cars and how to drive them safely in winter driving conditions.

The last weekend in January, Valentin and I were forced to set the DVR to record the 24 Hours of Daytona while we headed north to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The US Audi Club had organized an event at the Bridgestone Winter Driving School. I had heard about the school and site for years, and I was really looking forward to getting up there. I opted to be a co-driver for the event, but I still had a blast riding with Val in his 1983 Audi Ur quattro, Walter. (We don’t even really want to try to start a count of Val’s Audis….) After day one of the school we met with fellow Pikes Peak competitors Dave and Allison Kern. Dave Kern is an instructor at the BWDS and Dave was kind enough to give us a little “demonstration” at the school. I hadn’t seen the Kern’s since Pikes Peak last June, so it was great to catch up with them. Unfortunately, on Sunday, Walter’s engine had a very cold demise. And so we begin coupe project number two…

Racing, Video
2010 Rookie Of The Year Savannah Rickli Will Be On The Peak Again In 2012

Dec 21st 2011

By: Valentin Ivanitski

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Teenager Savannah Rickli of Littleton, Colorado, who was the PPIHC Rookie of the Year in 2010 when she finished third in the Time Attack 2WD division, will be back again after taking seventh last year. She’ll be in the Time Attack field with Rod Millen, and this time driving a 4WD 1991 Audi Quattro Coupe to be built for the race.

Rickli became the youngest woman ever to finish the race to the summit in the 2010 race, driving a Mini Cooper S to a third place clocking of 13:58.232

“Though the 2012 effort for Pikes Peak will look very different than the past two years, I could not be more excited,” said Rickli. ” I have never been part of a build before, and I am looking forward to the learning opportunities. I know that the hard work and late nights will make crossing that finish line that much better. How many 18 year olds can say that they built the car that took them to 14,110 feet?”

News
PPIHC 2012

Dec 21st 2011

By: Valentin Ivanitski

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We are proud to announce that the Fingers Crossed Racing team will be competing in full force at the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb this July. Drivers Valentin Ivanitski and Savannah Rickli will be racing up the mountain in the Time Attack class in race prepared Audi’s along side with David Hackl from the USAudiClub (www.usaudiclub.com).

The journey to the top of Pikes Peak will be one of hard work and determination as we prepare the cars and drivers for a very competitive race. Please check back and follow our progress in the 2012 race season!

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Fingers Crossed Racing!

Dec 20th 2011

By: Valentin Ivanitski

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Hello everyone!

We are so happy to announce the formation of the Fingers Crossed Racing team! This will be a great experience as we do everything in our powers to compete in motorsports, and keep our fingers crossed for things that are not in our control.

Stay tuned for updates and announcements.

Sincerely,

Fingers Crossed Racing

Uncategorized

Fingers Crossed Racing Continues to Grow!

University Auto Parts Joins our team for 2012!!

KICKER – New partnership with FCR

Feb. Updates

2010 Rookie Of The Year Savannah Rickli Will Be On The Peak Again In 2012

PPIHC 2012

Fingers Crossed Racing!

@FCR_Dreams twitter