16 car shines, Murphy's Law finds France Racing       Saturday April 17, 2004 AC Delco Late Model Rookie of the Year candidate, Mike France, un-veiled the new paint job on the Mapa Construction/FranceRacing.com Chevrolet. "Big thanks go out to Bill, Clayton and all the guys @ Alvarez & Hicks for getting the car looking great. I know a lot of long hours went into getting the car done in such a short amount of time" said Mike France. Alvarez & Hicks provide high quality body, paint and spray-on bedliner for your custom rod or street car. Alvarez & Hicks are located @ 325 Pleasant Ave. Suite B in Auburn, CA (530)885-3034. Please be sure to tell them you saw the great work they did on the #16 Mapa Construction/FranceRacing.com Chevrolet. Thanks to Jeff Bye Jr. @ Race Wizard Graphics and Design. Jeff designed the color scheme and provided France Racing with vinyl lettering and numbers. Please be sure to visit his site @ www.jeffbyejr.com. Race #3 at Altamont Motorsports Park proved to be challenging for the entire France Racing team. In practice #2, the 16 car pulled off the track after smoke proved to be a small engine fire. Qualifying was not much better as, once again, smoke forced the #16 from the track. This time fluid leaking from the transmission filler tube was the culprit. On to the heat race, "Mike radioed in on the hot laps and said he might have a right rear tire going down, he almost looped it coming out of four on the start" Spotter Paul Champion said. As Mike pulled the 16 into his pit, the lower radiator hose burst. "This was the luckiest flat tire we've ever seen, losing that hose going 120 MPH would have probably cost us the motor" said Tim Mapa, Owner of Mapa Construction. After making repairs, it was time for the main event. "We were just out there getting some quality seat time, dodging the accidents and multiple spin-outs" said Mike France. On lap 24, Mike had the #5 of Brian Koski high and the #17 of Verg Beaty low coming out of turn 2, contact by the #17 car sent us spinning down the backstretch. Mike was able to get the #16 back on the track, now one lap down. Lap 28 would prove to be the last of the night. "A caution flag had come out for a crash in turn 2, the car was running good, and then Mike radioed in and said he lost the transmission. As the #16 rolled down the backstretch, we could all hear there was a major problem with the car." Said Paul Champion. After further investigation, a broken rear-end gear was found to be the problem. France Racing looks forward to this weekend's "Family Night 100 lap event". Kids under 12, receive free admission. France Racing

Rookie improves in second race       Saturday April 3, 2004 AC Delco Late Model Rookie of the Year candidate, Mike France, showed major improvement in race #2 at Altamont Motorsports Park. Windy conditions made setup challenging for every team in the pits, but Mike France was able to show progress and brought the car home in one piece. Mike improved his qualifying run by 7/10th's over week one, placing 13th with a 20.494. Handling problems left the 16 team scratching there heads after finishing 5th in the heat race. "Setup changes for the main event did improve the 16 car some, but Mike just couldn't get the car to turn coming off the corners" said spotter Paul Champion. Mike was able to keep the 16 car out of the fence, and multiple crashes, but a $10 radiator hose cost a decent finish. "We were riding out a caution, when I saw the water temperature rising" said Driver Mike France. Mike pulled into the pits 6 laps shy, placing 14th and saving the motor for April 17th. "I'm disappointed, the crew's disappointed, but we'll be back on the 17th with a better car underneath us. We have two weeks to work on setup and I have no doubt that these guys can squeeze another quarter second or so out of the 16". The 2004 schedule is posted. In the Schedule you will find race dates, car appearance dates and results We're on the great sponsorship hunt. While Mapa Construction has been very good to us, new marketing partners are a necessity for building a successful race team. We encourage you to keep your ears open for businesses looking to expand their current marketing opportunities. Email the France Racing Marketing Team Please be sure to visit the NEW Apparel/Merchandise page for T-shirts, Hats, coffee mugs, etc. we'd like to thank Beau France (web design), Mapa Construction, Gordon Racing Team, Jeff Bye Jr. (graphics), Ted Yamashiro @ Top of the Hill Performance (formally TechCraft Racing Engines), Dave Davis Motorsports, Champion Motorsports, Jansen Auto Body, Champion Landscape and Rich Denman France Racing

Opening night yeilds mixed results       Sunday March 28, 2004 Opening night at Altamont Motorsports Park yeilded mixed results for France Racing. Mike France quilified the 16 car 17th with a time of 21.148 and heat races proved challenging with the 16 car finshing 5th, just avoiding a lap one wreck in turn 3. The 50 lap main event started out well but quickly deteriated on lap 26 when a headset malfunction severed communication between driver and spotter. With no communication, Mike was forced to drive the outside line, staying out of the leaders way and cruised to a 17th place finished. "We just made a mistake in the shop and it followed us all the way to the track. This car is much better than that " Driver Mike France said, after the main. we'd like to thank Beau France (web design), Mapa Construction, Gordon Racing Team, Jeff Bye Jr. (graphics), Ted Yamashiro @ Top of the Hill Performance (formally TechCraft Racing Engines), Dave Davis Motorsports, Champion Motorsports, Jansen Auto Body, Champion Landscape and Rich Denman Email Us

HAPPY NEW YEAR!       Friday January 2, 2004 Happy New Year from France Racing With the new racing season just under three months away, I wanted to fill you in on what is happening here at France Racing. We're on the great sponsorship hunt. While Mapa Construction has been very good to us, new marketing partners are a necessity for building a successful race team. We encourage you to keep your ears open for businesses looking to expand their current marketing opportunities. Email the France Racing Marketing Team FranceRacing.com has had a major facelift. Please be sure to visit the NEW Apparel/Merchandise page for T-shirts, Hats, coffee mugs, etc. I hope to add new pictures, team member bio's and a classifieds page soon. Please visit the site, feedback is always welcome. The #16 car has had major improvements over the off season. The #16 car was sent out to Dave Davis Motorsports to have a new front clip, upper and lower control arms and ball joints put on it. Dave converted our four-link rear suspension over to a three-link system and re-designed areas of the car to make it lighter (lighter is faster). Then it's off to the paint booth. we'd like to thank Beau France (web design), Mapa Construction, Gordon Racing Team, Jeff Bye Jr. (graphics), Ted Yamashiro @ Top of the Hill Performance (formally TechCraft Racing Engines), Dave Davis Motorsports, Champion Motorsports, Jansen Auto Body, Champion Landscape and Rich Denman From everyone at France Racing, we wish you a happy New Year. Email Us