Just after making the announcement on our participation of Rolex 24hr race couple of days ago, it is hard to believe that the race is already coming up this week end. The team has been flat out getting the car prepared for the race, and are doing all the necessary changes to the rule, as well as double checking every parts of the car to make sure it would run smoothly during the long 24hr race. The car has been wrapped with the Interush graphics, and I will say that it will probably be one of the most attractive cars on the track at Daytona. The race car is all done and it is on the way to Florida as we speak.

As for my side as a racing driver, there are also lots of preparation that I need to undergo. The most important thing is fitness training. Since the race being so long, you will need to be very fit to keep your concentration level high through out the race. I actually went out for training camp last week in Santa Barbara so I can just concentrate on training for two straight days.

Mental preparation is just as important as physical training. A lot of driver uses a race simulation program like iRacing.com now days. I also like to watch the past race and in-car camera tapes so you can also learn from other drivers/teams tactics and mistakes. Besides from the racing concerns, since The Rolex 24 at Daytona is the first race of the year, I needed to get my medical exam done and apply for my FIA International Grade A license.

I will be heading to Florida tomorrow and will need to start packing tonight. I am going to bring a helmet, two racing suits, and lots of nomex underwear since I will probably have to do at least 6 stints of driving during the race! I am looking forward to driving the Interush Ferrari F-430 car in couple of days and hope to have a good smooth race!!

Live Free & Fast
Roger Yasukawa

Roger Yasukawa - Driver Update: 01.21.2010
Hello to all my friends and fans at Interush Racing. I am glad to be back as part of Interush Racing family and looking forward to the race at Rolex Daytona 24hr coming up in two weeks. I will be racing in the Ferrari F-430 car in the GT category of the Grand Am series, and am delighted to be part of the Sigal Sport driver line up.
Since it's a very long race(24hr), I will be sharing the car with three other drivers, and will be relaying the car to one another through out the race. My teammates will be Gene Sigal (team owner), Rusty West, and Fred Poordad. I am glad that I will be working with experienced drivers because the biggest challenge of endurance racing is to get the car to the end in order to see the checkered flag. You really need a lot of patience not to crash, but also to take good care of the equipment through out the race. Unlike the Formula Car races like Indy Car Series where you get your own car, endurance racing is really a team sport because you have to work with other drivers to share the seat but also to sometime sacrifice the car set up to make everyone comfortable.
Sigal Sport is a well established sports car team based in Los Angeles, and they have participated in the Rolex 24hr many times in the Daytona Prototype class. It will be the first time for them to participate in the GT class with a Ferrari F-430 race car but I am very confident that the team will have a strong car during the race. The team is currently upgrading the car to increase the durability of the car as well as making necessary modification to meet the series rule.
The race is coming up real quick but I will keep you guys posted as much as I can with all the progress. The last time I raced in the Daytona 24hr was in 2007 and I finished 6th for my first attempt. This time, it will be in the GT class and there will be a lot of competitive cars out on the field but will give our best shot to hopefully win the prestigious Rolex Daytona Winner's Watch..!

Live Free & Fast,
Roger

Here is a photo from the 2010 Ford Mustang Internet commercial that I did recently in downtown LA. We had a great time working on this spot and doing some super fun driving, drifting and creating a cool story spot. We had X-games gold medal winner Jake Brown (inferred to be driving) and 2009 X Games Gold Medalist vertical skateboarder Pat Duffy (Legendary street skater) in the commercial. I was the main stunt driver and also the stunt coordinator, but when I was busy on the main unit or need to be coordinating shots and safety during some of the street scenes I used Rich Rutherford who drove in the Fast and Furious - Tokyo Drift movie. We had tons of super cool driving, crashing threw parking barriers, jumping the car, drifting around spiral parking structure and killer skating. I got to hire my cousin and a few friends to help do rigging on the skate board jumps and more. A super fun day at the office for sure! And Interush will help Ford distribute the commercial online in Japan, Taiwan and the USA.

Live Fast and Free,

Stanton

Montreal is such a great place and it is one of my favorite places to both race and visit. However, the weather made it a crazy weekend at the race track. On our first day it rained all day and I only managed to get in one lap of practice, in the rain. After my one lap of practice, the track never went green long enough for me to get back on track. NASCAR decided to run qualifying in a steady rain... this was the first time in history they have done something like this. To say the least I was not happy about their decision and knew that since I was in the first group to go out the track, it was not favorable at all for achieving a good speed. I had a great lap going and a then slower car got in my way and could not let me go by, and I could not see well enough with the blinding rooster tail of water coming from the car in-front of me. So, I had to slow and wait for him to go ahead. It really cost me a great starting spot, but at least we made the race, whereas my team mate missed the race.

NASCAR Nationwide Race day was Sunday, August 30th. During the race we had a brake issue because the brake ducts were not vented all the way. I lost a ton of time on the track when we had the longest green flag of racing. We lost a valuable lap after pitting however, we were really fast and got up to the lead position, one lap down and then got our lap back on the next caution flag. From that point on, the race never ran over 3-5 green flag laps at a time due to all the caution laps. Each time it was green, I could pick cars off every lap. Coming from the back we made it quickly from about 36th to 24th in a few green flag laps and through a variety of caution laps. It was a real bummer because there were so many wrecks that I could never get into a grove and just pick our way through the pack.

It ended up raining with about 19 laps to go. By the time we got racing again, we had 15 laps left, but every one or two laps there was a wreck and back to yellow again. At this point I had managed to stay out of trouble and could have really make ground up and got near the top ten. With 5 laps left, I was running in 12th and was looking at a top ten finish. Then on another restart in the first corner Steven Wallace slid right across the hairpin turn and slammed into my car, broke the rear track bar mount, flattened my left rear tire and took out about 7 other cars. I was able to limp around two laps under caution until we could get a new rain tire on the car and not lose a lap. We restarted again with two laps to go, when there was a big spin out with about 7 cars in turn one and now I passed up to 8th spot, but my car was so damaged from the crash that I could only go about 65% speed. The race ended as the second longest race in NASCAR Nationwide history. Our result was 24th and a torn-up race car, plus a very sore back and neck for myself!

I still have lots of work to do to prepare for the coming IndyCar Series race in Motegi, Japan. I cannot wait to see Japan and tour around a little. Team 3G says they have been working really hard on the car and think in the last weeks they have found some new technology that will allow us to race very well there in Japan. It has been a while since I was in the seat of the IndyCar due to the crash a few months ago. It is such an exciting car to drive and looking forward to my return to the IRL with all my Interush friends and fans there to watch! See you soon!

Live Free and Fast,

Stanton

In addition to my IndyCar and NASCAR racing, plus my Hollywood stunt-man work, I am also very passionate about making films and television commercials. I recently updated my 'director's sample reel' and I thought I would share this with all my friends through my blog.

This has been something I have been working towards for a few years, but have not had time to focus on until this year since I am not running the day-to-day operations of a race team. It is an exciting for me to be able to be working creatively in the film and television commercial industry. My production company specializes in anything to do with sports, and especially with anything motorized, like cars, trucks, motorcycles and of course race cars...!

Please click on this link and wait a minute for it to download...I hope you enjoy my film work too...

My Film

Live Free and Fast,

Stanton

I am in St. Louis today getting ready to go to the race track. I am running the NASCAR Nationwide race here this weekend, to help me get fit and in physical condition to race the IndyCar again soon. My back is still sore from the hard crash I had in Milwaukee many weeks ago. Taking steps to get back to racing full time this year has been long and frustrating.

St. Louis is a great track and always enjoy the challenges of this track. It is very similar to the layout of Motegi with two different turns, one very tight and slightly banked, and the other one flat and longer, in an oval shape that is 1.25 miles long.

After this race I am heading back to California to take some photos with all the new Interush Racing Team gear that will be available to everyone soon. Then I'll probably get to work on some movies over the next few weeks in between races.

But right now, I am really looking forward to getting on the race track this weekend. Practice is Friday tonight, qualifying is Saturday afternoon and the race is Saturday night, broadcast on ESPN2 to millions of race fans throughout the USA and Canada.

Live Free and Fast,
Stanton

I am just leaving Los Angeles, California for my racing home in Charlotte, North Carolina. While in LA we had lots of meetings with race sponsors and also for some upcoming Hollywood movies. I was able to spend time with my grandparents and my mom this past weekend. It was super great to be back in my home town. Beautiful weather and sunshine! The mountains were full with snow and the desert was warm and alive. I got to ride my motorcycle with a good friend and my brother. It was great to be outside enjoying the day doing one of my favorite sports.

So, now I am heading back home where I have not been for over two months, since when I went to Taiwan with Interush! I'm looking forward to driving my Maserati and being with my dog Cheyenne. I will be busy going to the new race shop and preparing my seat in my car for the Daytona NASCAR race on February 14. A lot is going on with the IndyCar Team as well. In just two weeks I will be on the race track testing at Miami. I am very happy and very anxious to get racing again this year, and experience the thrill of driving at speeds of over 300 km per hour again!

Live Free and Fast,

Stanton