Nick Fluge, a champion amateur race driver, poker player, mountain climber, sportsman, adventurer and Web entrepreneur takes on his latest challenge by entering the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am race as the series returns to the Rose Cup weekend for the first time in 26 years.
Not only is he competing in his first professional race, he is also sponsoring it as well. The Fluge Global Adventures Rose Cup Classic, Round Five of the Muscle Milk SCCA Trans-Am Series, serves as the feature event on Sunday, June 14 during the action-packed Portland Rose Festival Rose Cup Races weekend presented by Temp-Control Mechanical.
Fluge Global Adventures, the brainchild of Portland, Ore.'s Nick Fluge, burst upon the sports scene in 2007 with victories in the famous amateur Rose Cup races and a championship in the Oregon Region SCCA with a 198 mph Corvette Z06. He followed up that success in 2008 with four victories and track records on his way to yet another championship.
Fluge then set his sites on racing the same Derhaag Corvette that Portland's Todd Harris had piloted to first and second place finishes in the 2007 and 2008 Rose Cup feature races at Portland International Raceway (PIR).
Race-modified Corvettes previously competed in the professional Trans-Am series. The car features a tube frame chassis that was built by Trans-Am guru Derhaag Motorsports, and boasts over 650 horsepower. Derhaag Corvettes have a Trans-Am race winning heritage, including victories at such famed circuits and events as the Long Beach Grand Prix, Cleveland Grand Prix, Road America, Laguna Seca and more.
Thus far in 2009 Fluge has scored three firsts, a second and a third place finish in SCCA Regional and National race events on his way to the GT1 class points lead, and is entering the same car in the June 14 professional Trans-Am race.
"Todd Harris is my race instructor, mentor and friend and he's helped me get to where I am as a driver," Fluge said. "But, I also expect him to be one of my fiercest competitors in the Trans-Am race. I believe he has a great shot at winning or, at least, finishing on the podium." Harris, a professional race driver and owner of the Pro Drive Racing School at PIR, will pilot a Jaguar for the Muscle Milk racing team in the June race.
Fluge won the most recent GT1 SCCA National Race at PIR and set the fastest GT1 race lap record of the last two years with a 1:13:9, which surpassed Robert Holden's 2008 record of 1:16:4. However, he is quick to point out he likely benefited from the track's recent repaving and reconfiguration as well as Harris' tutelage, and hopes for a respectable showing in the Trans-Am.
The SCCA Trans-Am, one of the nation's oldest and most celebrated racing series, began in 1966 as a sedan racing series, and has since been reborn to include not only purpose-built American iron like Corvettes and Mustangs, but exotic British Jaguars as well. The series has had an impressive history across North America and especially in the Northwest, where PIR was a regular stop during the hotly contested championship beginning in 1975.
Charity Race Partner
Besides co-sponsoring the race, Fluge Global Adventures is proud to name the Santos Football Club as their charity race partner for the weekend.
"Santos FC is a Portland area youth soccer team which provides sports and recreation to approximately 375 children who are considered 'at risk'. They range in age from seven to 19 years old, and participate in 17 different soccer leagues in NW," Fluge explained. "The organization's goal is to build confidence, keep them happy and out of challenged situations, and possibly lead towards college and scholarship. Some of them will visit the races over the June weekend."
Santos FC was founded in 1999 to provide Hispanic youth the opportunity to participate and compete in organized soccer, regardless of economic limitations or cultural barriers. The cultural diversity of Santos FC teams has been successful at bringing families together with the common goal of exposing their children to team play and teaching them to appreciate cultural differences.
Fluge will be presenting a $ 10,000 donation to Santos FC for pursuance of their mission, and the race team will carry their decals and banners on the race car in the Trans-Am pit area.
About the Muscle Milk SCCA Trans-Am Series
The most revered brand in American road racing, the Muscle Milk? SCCA? Trans-Am? Series returns for its 42nd season in 2009 after a two-year hiatus. Featuring ground-pounding, 700 horsepower, purpose-built Corvettes, Jaguars and Mustangs today, the series' past champions include iconic road racing names like Mark Donohue, Parnelli Jones, Peter Gregg, Scott Pruett, Tommy Kendall and Paul Gentilozzi. Jointly-sanctioned by SCCA, Inc. and SCCA Pro Racing, the series plans an eight-race schedule in 2009. For more information, please visit http://www.sccatrans-am.com.
About Fluge Global Adventures
Several years ago, Fluge's journey through life took new turns, leading him away from the realm of eCommerce development, to new arenas that included sitting in the seat of SCCA super-cars and playing next to Las Vegas card sharks at the World Series of Poker. In the last few years, Fluge and his FGA Team-mates have climbed 19,000 foot Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the largest free standing mountain in the world.
They've crossed the country in the "Cannonball Run" a rally/road race from New York's Central Park to Los Angeles. In late 2007 two FGA teams tackled a serious hike to Base Camp at Mt. Everest in Nepal, and also explored Loch Ness in Scotland (returning without the monster). A full scale onslaught on the World Series of Poker in 2006, 2007 and 2008 took Team FGA "all in - many times!"
His High Octane Adventures in the SCCA led to Team FGA Class Championships in 2007 and 2008. An Olympic Length Triathlon, the STP 200 Mile Cycle Championship, and the Magical, Digital, Mystery Stationary Bike Tour, occupied team members for much of 2008.
So far in 2009 a final "four table" finish in the World Poker Challenge spring event and lapping the field in a recent SCCA National race have been a great start to a year that will include more adventures such as exposing the world to art and pie at the Russell Street Gallery and Pie Diner. The "One World - Infinite Adventures" for local elementary students was one of the most exciting FGA adventures yet. For more information, please visit http://www.flugeglobaladventures.com.
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