Races
Jeff's first race at Oregon Raceway Park with Battleforged Heroes race team in September 2019 He drove their VW sirocco and Jetta.
Jeff traveled to New Hampshire Motor Speedway to race in the 24 Hours of Lemons with Garage Heroes in Training Race team. He drove their Truck and E36 BMW
Lonnie raced at Thunderhill 2019 with the Traveling Dingleberries Honda Civic.
The 258 miata made its first appearance at Portland International Raceway in October 2020.
Jeff and Lonnie traveled to Charlotte North Carolina to race the ROVAL with Garage Heroes in July 2020 checking off a major bucket list track! They were supposed to drive the Deadpool BMW E36 but someone crashed it so they drove the Garage Heroes Lemons truck.
The 258 Miata made its second appearance at Thunderhill 2020
We raced at Sonoma Raceway in the 258 Miata in February 2021, Unfortunately when we had Multiple world champion driver Randy Pobst drive our car, the engine developed a knock so we had to pull out of the race.
Jeff and Lonnie raced at Oregon Raceway Park with Gutentight racing in July 2021
The 258 Miata received significant upgrades and raced at Portland International Raceway in October 2021
DPR at Thunderhill 2021, the team finished 21st in the 1000 mile race!
Hair of the Dawg” Race at Laguna Seca, January 2022 which is the start of our fourth season with Lucky Dog Racing League for 2022, has been another successful race for Deaf Power Racing and the Deaf Stig Project! Since it is our fourth season, we actually finished FOURTH! We are extremely proud of our team and our results at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California.
Our beloved home track, which has given us the home field advantage for Bay Area natives; Lonnie Tanenberg and Jeff Wright. We welcomed rookie sensation Tyler Posselli. This is Tyler’s first W2W race and he helped the team finish strong!! Also welcomed west coast transplant, Sam Giger, completing his second W2W. Both drivers proved their experience and skill to be Dawg-worthy! All day Saturday, the 258 flawlessly brisked through the field with solid pit stops that brought us to our first-ever rank in the top 10, AND finished the day in the top 5 !!! Lonnie “DeafStig” Tanenberg started the race in midfield and quickly brought the car immediately to the front during his first two laps. Sam Giger held up the position well, Tyler Posselli, our rookie driver, got the best lap of the team, and then Jeff “El Jefe” Wright brought the team home to the finish line in fourth place! We couldn't have been any happier and extremely proud. The day ended with a 4th place finish in C Class and 19th overall of 53!
On Sunday, Jeff “El Jefe” Wright started the race off well, followed by Sam Giger, Tyler Posselli and finished by Lonnie “DeafStig'' Tanenberg. While we encountered some mechanical issues with our brake calipers, which hindered the team’s fight to the finish. We were then able to scramble and find a quick replacement, thanks to our dawg-friends in the garage. We got the 258 back in the race and we were able to finish 14th in C Class and 29th overall for Sunday!
As a result of the weekend, Deaf Power Racing team earned the Lucky Dawg Awesomeness Award for our 4th place finish on Saturday!
Sonoma Raceway - REVENGE OF THE UNDERDOGS!!! - Lucky Dog Racing League at Sonoma Raceway, in sunny Sonoma County on Jan 11-13th, 2022 for Deaf Power Racing was SUCCESSFUL once again!
Before I write the recap–
DEAF POWER RACING and the DEAFSTIG PROJECT to date, we have;
SIX complete finishes (PIR, T-Hill, LS, LS, Sonoma, Sonoma)
ONE Top FIVE! (4th place finish at Laguna Seca)
TWO Top TEN finishes!
Coming back to Sonoma for our revenge since last year’s attempt was lost due to losing our engine. Our Crew Chief Jeff Wright did a phenomenal job with getting our car back together after losing the engine at Sonoma 2021. The team worked hard to get the 258 back to where we wanted it to be with our upgrades. The 258 was at screaming power and speed that we were looking for!! After a GREAT start at Laguna Seca, we were able to continue battling and proving that this team was capable of finishing strong.
Deaf Power Racing had a great set of drivers - Lonnie “Deaf Stig” Tanenberg, Jeff “El Jefe” Wright, Taylor Purcell, and Sam Giger returning from Laguna Seca. On Saturday The DeafStig had a great start on the grid followed by Sam, Jeff and Taylor to finish. We held third place for quite some time then we confronted some minor issues with the car and pit stop got a little rocky, nonetheless we held up our top ten finish with 6th Place
Sunday with Taylor starting, Jeff, Sam, and Lonnie to the finish. Some penalties and pit troubles hindered our finish to the top 10, however we were able to hold up and fight our way to finishing in 12th place! All of us did GREAT, everyone was able to beat their previous times from Saturday and plenty of room for improvements!
What a helluva scorching race weekend!!! Heats rose and tested us all! Temperatures reached a range of 100 to 110 by Grass Valley, Oregon where we hit the tracks at Oregon Raceway Park. Due to the horrendous heat, the race schedule was adjusted accordingly which was a wise move on Lucky Dog Racing League's part to ensure the safety of everyone.
Deaf Power Racing once again has reached TOP FIVE! On Saturday we were able to P5! We battled the heat swiftly!! Lonnie "DeafStig" Tanenberg kicked off the start, Taylor Purcell followed, Jeff "El Jefe" Wright, and our guest driver Dan Heil to help clock some laps!!! As well as a new addition Brian who helped in the pits. We were able to bear the heat and had solid pit stops all day long!
Sunday was another scorching day, we were able to hold up the 258 while the rest of the field were dropping like flies! We managed to fight our way through the field and heat to hold off for 7th place which makes another TOP 10!
We are very happy with our P5 and P7 results in C class. With both days taken into account we finished 14th overall!
Deaf Power Racing had a strong practice on Friday with the car dyno tuned by. AR Motorsports Saturday morning the #258 started the race at P10. DeafStig Lonnie Tanenberg scrambled through the field and brought the car to P3 within a couple laps, after a great start and during the race, we had a small hiccup that took us back in the garage and was out as fast as we could! We rejoined at P20, Our team put together flawless pit stops, Taylor Purcell got the fight going, finding our way up the field and making up laps. Our rookie sensation Brian Stromberg who have joined Deaf Power Racing this year and this was his first w2w race with DPR, showed us great consistent laps and helped keep the team’s momentum! In the final stretch, Jeff Wright finished and crossed the finish line in the top ten with P9 in C Class! And 24th Overall!
Sunday the car was low on power and not running right, so for safety reasons we decided to pull out of the race.
To this date we have two top 5’s and two top 10 finishes in 2022.
Photos by Jason Tang