Nissan’s 2005 Season’s Hopes Come Down to Last RaceCHULA VISTA, Calif. (September 25, 2005) – Nissan driver Chad Hord gave it his all at the Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR) Nissan Off-Road Nationals at the Otay Ranch Off-Road Raceway in Chula Vista, Calif., on September 24-25, 2005 in an effort to secure two championship titles – the drivers’ for himself and the manufacturers’ for sponsor Nissan. At the end of the day Sunday, Hord came up slightly short of his goal, but not for a lack of trying.After giving up four points of his six-point series lead to rival driver Jeff Kincaid on Saturday, finishing second in close Round 13 action, Hord knew that he had to go all out in Sunday’s Round 14. With the entire season on the line, Hord entered the second-to-last lap of the last points race of the year close on Kincaid’s bumper. Pushing hard – perhaps just a little too hard – Hord rolled his Nissan NISMO Frontier. Still not giving up, and with the luck of landing his race truck back on its wheels, Hord recovered to finish the race in third. The weekend’s second and third place finishes dropped Nissan to second in place in the Pro-Lite Manufacturers’ Championship, having entered the weekend tied for first. Hord has had a dominant race season in 2005 with four first place finishes, including a first place sweep in rounds five and six at Crandon, and a total of eight top-five finishes. His final season’s point total was 189, just four points behind Kincaid. “While we came up just short of our ultimate goal, it has been a fantastic season for Nissan, our NISMO Frontier teams and especially for all of our talented drivers like Chad Hord, Art Schmitt and Mark Kruger,” said Ron Stukenberg, senior manager, Nissan Motorsports marketing and operations. “We’ve been a leader in the points races throughout the season and Chad’s never say die attitude on Sunday is an inspiration for the entire Nissan organization.” The weekend’s activities also saw renowned NASCAR and road race driver Boris Said make his CORR debut in the new CORR Nissan Titan in the Pro-2 division. Though mechanical problems, including losing a wheel in Round 13, limited the Titan’s time on the track, Said and the new Nissan Titan will be back in action in the Nissan Shootout, October 1-2, 2005, at the same track. As always, the latest CORR racing action will be broadcast on SPEED TV. Round 13 is scheduled to air on November 11 at 9:00pm Eastern. For the third straight year, Nissan is the official truck of CORR, arguably the largest and most watched off-road racing series in North America. NISMO, the premier supplier of high-performance parts and accessories for Nissan vehicles, supports the teams. NISMO now offers a wide range of parts, accessories and apparel through participating authorized Nissan dealers nationwide. For more information on the complete line of NISMO parts and accessories, log on to www.NissanUSA.com/NISMO. |