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Congratulations to EMS Race Team on a Successful Trip to Daytona and 2nd Place Finish on Sunday

Congratulations to EMS Race Team on a Successful Trip to Daytona and 2nd Place Finish on Sunday

EMS Race Team is powered by EMS+ and driven by Chairman JW to raise awareness for the PETA Cruelty Free campaign. This past weekend, EMS Race Team competed in the Ferrari Challenge at Daytona International Speedway.

After qualifying third the day before, EMS Race Team finished second-in-class when the checkered flags came out on Saturday for Race 2. The finish was also good for seventh overall in the Ferrari Challenge competition that included 13 pro class and 14 amateur drivers among the field of 27.

Photos and video from race weekend at Daytona are included below. Our digital team at EMS+ was lucky enough to make the trip and enjoyed the opportunity to provide live updates on Twitter @emsRaceTeam throughout the weekend.

Recapping our trip to Daytona International Speedway

EMS Race Team’s car, Erin, heads out to the track with Auto Gallery Motorsports teammate Carlos Gomez from Axis of Oversteer.

approaching track

We shot this video of Erin driving toward the track just before snapping the above still-shot from the back of our golf cart.

Competing in the Coppa Shell Class, EMS Race Team ran strong enough to conclude the trip with a podium finish.

brakes

Our photographer, Merrell, captured the above action along with the scene surrounding the Ferrari Challenge podium after the race.

Podium Finish

The EMS+ card swiper was looking great in the Florida sun, along with the EMS Race Team Twitter handle (Follow @emsRaceTeam if you’re not already!)

Powered by EMS+

The Cruelty Free Bunnies looked great too, featured on both the hood and rear bumper of the car.

Cruelty Free

Cruelty Free Bunnies on Bumper

Unfortunately, most of the drivers weren’t close enough to see the bunnies when Chairman JW crossed the finish line in firm command of second place.

Finish Line

It was a fun race all around and great experience to watch from The Pit Road Patio at Daytona.

Be74JeBCQAAD_v6

We watched the qualifying lap from a different vantage point, and here’s some video of the car and track from that spot on Friday.

You can check out EMS Race Team’s Vimeo page for footage of Race 1 on Friday. A technical issue prevented Saturday’s video from recording.

Trophy and Car picture

Always fun to end the weekend with a trophy. Congrats to EMS Race Team for doing just that and raising awareness for the PETA Cruelty Free Campaign along the way!

Follow EMS Race Team on Twitter: @emsRaceTeam

EMS Racing Finishes 2nd and 4th at Mosport Ferrari Challenge

EMS Racing Finishes 2nd and 4th at Mosport Ferrari Challenge

Racing to raise awareness for PETA and a number of other charitable organizations, EMS Racing recorded a 4th place and 2nd place finish this weekend at the Ferrari Challenge.

Below is an excerpt from Racers Drive recapping the action.

“Jim Weiland recovered from a serious crash on Friday at Mosport to bring his PETA supported Ferrari 458 Italia GT home in 4th and second place finishes in the Ferrari Challenge races at Mosport this past weekend.  A full report on the event can be viewed by going to the following link: Corse Clienti.”

To stay updated with EMS Racing, who will be back on the track next month to raise awareness for its charitable partners, be sure to follow @EMSraceteam.

Full Article at Racers Drive: Jim Weiland finishes 4th and 2nd at Mosport

Recapping the Ferrari Challenge Race Experience With Chairman JW

Recapping the Ferrari Challenge Race Experience With Chairman JW

EMS Racing competed in the North American Ferrari Challenge this weekend. On Monday, we caught up with Chairman JW, who raced to raise awareness for PETA, after his return from Montreal, Canada.

“The first practice session was wet,” JW recalled. “But I finished first in class by a second and 6th overall in a field of 35 split between the pro class and amateur. We were very pleased with the start. The second practice was dry and I finished second in class, 10th overall.”

The official qualifying session was scheduled next, but Mother Nature had other plans. The second practice times for all racers were used for positioning in Race 1 as a result of the qualifying lap being rained-out.

“They thought Race 1 would be wet,” JW explained. “We were on rain tires because of that. It ended up being dry, which was quite difficult. It was the same challenge for everyone, though, of course.”

Rain tires, for those who don’t know, have very little grip when it’s dry.

Despite the track conditions, EMS Racing got out to a great start in Race 1. On Lap 4, however, a move for the top spot ended up creating some adversity.

“I was running 2nd in Class, 6th Overall, on Lap 4 when I spun trying to chase down the car running in first,” JW said. “We kept the car on road but the blue, something-big-is-wrong, light lit up the dash. Apparently, the anti-lock brake computer frazzled while I was rolling backwards at the end of the spin.”

This sequence, eventually, would end EMS’ day.

“I had maintained position in second,” he explained, while recovering from the initial spin. “The next car was way behind me. But going into the next corner, as I  braked, the front tires both locked. Amid giant puffs of smoke, I was tossed left into wall.”

Race over.

“The worst part was that Race 2 slots were determined by Race 1’s final positions.”

Race 2, however, was a new day for JW and EMS.

“It was sunny and the stands were packed with around 200,000 people,” he said, recalling the scene surrounding Race 2.

“We got a storming start from 30th and worked up to 4th in Class, 14th overall, before I made one mistake where I got passed. Then I had another spin trying to pass and ended up 6th in Class. The second race was big fun, though, a great experience.”

JW added that the Ferrari Challenge weekend, overall, provided valuable racing lessons he can build on moving forward.

“The biggest takeaway on the positive side was that I showed I have the speed in practice,” he added. “The negative is that I am not closing the deal yet in races.

I very realistically should have podium’d or even won both races in Class. But it was only my second race weekend of my life and all these guys are way more experienced. Overall, it really was fun, fun experience.”

EMS Featured in Autoweek For Our Support of PETA at Ferrari Challenge

EMS Featured in Autoweek For Our Support of PETA at Ferrari Challenge

EMS Chairman JW was featured in an Autoweek article written by Mike Larson on Thursday for our support of PETA at the upcoming Ferrari Challenge.

An excerpt of that article is below:

“One of the cars in the North American Ferrari Challenge — which heads to Montréal’s Canadian Grand Prix on June 7 — boasts logos never before seen on a pro raceway, courtesy of PETA.

Amateur Ferrari driver Jim Weiland will be driving for a cause, supporting PETA’s campaign against blinding rabbits and poisoning other animals by plastering two “PETA” signs and one “cruelty-free” bunny, which the group licenses to companies that don’t test their products on animals, to the car. Weiland will race the PETA car throughout the remaining four races of the series.

“By putting PETA’s cruelty-free bunny logo on his Ferrari, Jim Weiland is helping racing fans across North America learn how easy it is to help animals simply by shopping cruelty-free,” says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. “PETA’s bunny logo makes it easy to find the thousands of companies who sell top-quality personal-care and household products that were never tested on animals.”’

EMS is honored to be racing on behalf of PETA. Big thanks to Autoweek  for spreading the word on PETA’s campaign against blinding rabbits and poisoning other animals. For more information and how you can help, please visit PETA.org.

Full Article: PETA to show logo on North American Ferrari Challenge car in Montreal

EMS Racing Finishes Fifth At Sonoma

EMS Racing Finishes Fifth At Sonoma

Electronic Merchant Systems Racing made its debut last month at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California.

The EMS Car, driven by Chairman JW, features the EMS+ logo above each of the rear tires. It also features the EMS corporate logo, along with the charitable organizations that Electronic Merchant Systems is proud to support.

Race Pic at 600

After starting the Sonoma Race in 14th position, the EMS car finished 5th overall. Despite a minor spin on lap seven, EMS racing used an inspirational pass on lap 16 to secure the top-five finish.

To watch the full race from Chairman JW’s Race Cam, click here.

EMS Corporate 2

EMS Racing will be hitting the track next on June 9th in Montreal for the Ferrari Challenge. Stay tuned for details.