12th in Salt Lake City 200
Tooele, UT (09.22.09): Byron Payne, with teammate VJ Mirzyian, and the Next Generation Grand-Am Koni Challenge Championship Series team finished 12th in the Salt Lake City 200 at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah this past weekend.
With new sponsors Force Fuel For Earth, United Financial, RedLineTechnik.com, and eprodius.com on board for the event, the team struggled through a few issues both on and off track, ultimately surviving and bringing home a strong finish. The motor in the #129 BMW 330i began to develop a misfire during qualifying, which only gave the Next Generation team one lap in the session, forcing them to start the race from the last position on the grid.
While working his way through the field another ST car came in contact with the #129 BMW, leading to a stop-and-go penalty for Byron. Upon returning to the track, Payne was hit by one of the GS-class cars, but remained on track. Fighting a very loose car, Byron drove his way up to the 13th position during his 1-hour/15-minute stint. The car was then handed over to VJ Mirzyian who drove the car home to 12th place.
Byron wishes to thank sponsors Force Fuel For Earth, United Financial, RedLineTechnik.com, and eprodius.com for their support at the Salt Lake City 200. Payne is looking possibly make one more appearance in the Koni Challenge Series for 2009 at the series finale – Bosch Engineering Oktoberfest at Virginia International Raceway in October 2-4.
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Byron Payne is a professional driver with many years of experience. Byron has spent the last several years as a professional driver and instructor for various racing-promotion events, manufacturers, hot-lap events, and driving schools. Byron’s racing resume includes Formula Atlantic, Formula Ford, Formula Super Vee, Formula British Vauxhall Lotus, Formula 3 Test Driver, Indy Lights, shifter karts in Russia, The Jim Russell Scholarship Winner, and was named Formula Super Vee Rookie of the Year!
Next Gen Motorsports, formerly Fountain Motorsports, is a race team, racing BMW’s in the Grand-Am Koni Challenge ST class. NGM also offer repair services for other race cars and general automotive repairs. Next Gen also offers auto parts, racing parts and supplies. We are located in Ontario NY off of Route 104 and we serve all of Rochester NY and all surrounding areas in upstate NY.