New Breed Racing’s Alesi and Ayrton Gerthe kicked off the 2008 season at San Antonio Raceway’s Big Money Kick-Off Classic held February 22-24, 2008. Ayrton began his licensing upgrade on Friday evening and completed the required runs on Sunday to become an IHRA Quick Rod driver. “I was excited about getting my quick rod license last weekend, but the race was cancelled, so I had to do it this weekend. It was an exhilarating experience and I hope that many wins will follow later on in the year,” said Ayrton. Alesi went out second round on Saturday going .498 red and went out third round on Sunday when her car unexpectedly picked up several numbers. “I’m thrilled that Ayrton got his quick rod license because he has been looking forward to it for quite some time. He improved with every pass he made and I was very impressed with how well he did. It was great to get back into my car after what seemed like a long winter. My main focus coming into the weekend was to cut consistent lights and get ready for the upcoming divisionals. We had a minor car problem second round on Sunday, but luckily I had some great people help me out and we think we know what the problem is,” commented Alesi. The team will compete next at the IHRA Division 4 Summit Pro-Am Tour at San Antonio Raceway on March 14-16, 2008.
