Krider Racing comes up big at Sonoma race

Infineon Raceway hosted the United States Touring Car Championship on April 12-13. Teams from all over the country traveled to compete in the road racing series, sanctioned by the National Auto Sport Association.

Napa’s own Krider Racing took its 1991 Nissan Sentra SE-R and competed in the Performance Touring F class alongside the Touring Car Championship cars.

Local Napa businesses Bay Ex, Napa Valley Muffler, Miracle Auto Body, Jim Krider for City Council, Silver Auto Service, B & G Tires, C.J. Fix Co., Tessellated Group and Bottlers Unlimited all sponsored the Krider Racing effort.

And all of that effort paid off as Rob Krider piloted the Nissan to first place, holding off the current Performance Touring points leader.

“The race was an all-out dog fight,” Krider said after the finish. “I knew if I could get ahead at the start, I may have a chance to hold off the second-place car, but it wasn’t easy. On lap four, I lost the lead in turn 11, but then was able to make a pass near the start-finish line and get us back into first place. Thanks to Nissan Motorsports, this little car has a lot of power.”

Krider was helped to victory by his brother Randy, who built the car and also kept him calm over the radio during the race. The win was a huge achievement for Krider Racing as it was the first time they had ever competed in the National Auto Sport Association series.

“It was a huge honor to get the chance to run along side the U.S. Touring Car guys,” Krider said. “And to have a win at Infineon, which we consider our home track, it was just incredible.”

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