Roadracing Mustangs

[Nethead]

MUSTANG STAMPEDE TAKES ON THE WORLD, WINS 'EM ALL
5.10.2008

Belgian Eric de Doncker wins his second consecutive FIA GT4 European Driver's Championship in the Motorsports98 Mustang FR500GT4 and his team wins the FIA GT4 Team Championship in Nogaro, France earlier today.  Accumulating 117 points in the 18 race series, de Doncker needed to finish only sixth or higher in one of the three Nogaro GT4 races this week-end.  A third place finish in the first race by the cautious de Doncker clinched both championships again in 2008.

In the US, the longest Grand American Koni Championship race of the season (6 hours) saw equivalent victories for the Mustang FR500Cs, with the 2008 Grand American Driver's Championship, the 2008 Team Championship, and the 2008 Manufacturer's Championship won by Mustang racers at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.  Mustang drivers Canney & Plumb took the Manufacturer's Championship with the win, and Mustang drivers Maxwell & Foster became co-Driver's Champions with their fifth place finish as well as taking the Team Championship for Team Hypersport.  Five Mustangs, three Porsches, and two BMWs were in the lead lap at the end of the six hours, with the BMWs taking eighth and ninth and the Porsches taking third, fourth, and seventh.
Six Mustangs were entered in the six-hour event:  five finished in the top ten, and four were in the top six--including first place and second place.



"Veni, vidi, vici."  Julius Caesar 

From The Mustang Source:

FORD MUSTANGS CLINCH ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS IN NORTH AMERICA AND EUROPE

Joe Foster and Scott Maxwell clinched both the team and drivers? championships after finishing fifth in the No. 55 Mustang FR500C in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge season-finale in Alton, Va.
(http://forums.bradbarnett.net/gallery/showimage.php?i=18191)

Ford clinched the manufacturers? championship in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge race with the help of Mike Canney, Matt Plumb and Hugh Plumb, who won the race in their No. 60 Mustang FR500C.
(http://forums.bradbarnett.net/gallery/showimage.php?i=18206)

Eric de Doncker, driver of the No. 1 Mustang FR500GT4, clinched his second consecutive GT4 European Cup after finishing third in the first two races of the weekend and fourth in the third race of the GT4 events in Nogaro, France.
(http://forums.bradbarnett.net/gallery/showimage.php?i=18213)


DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 5, 2008 ? Ford Mustang fans around the world celebrated as America?s original pony car wrapped up racing championships on two different continents. Joe Foster and Scott Maxwell won the Grand-Am KONI Challenge series championship in North America and Eric de Doncker repeated as the GT4 European Cup champion in Europe.

Foster and Maxwell capped a terrific season with a fifth-place finish in the KONI season finale in Alton, Va. During the season, the duo combined for two wins, five top-fives and eight top-10s on their way to capturing the drivers? and team championship. They become the second Mustang FR500C drivers to win a KONI championship, with the first coming in 2005.

?Winning the championship was an amazing thing,? said Foster. ?It's something Hyper Sport hasn't done before, and team owner Patrick Dempsey and Rick Skelton, the partners in the team haven't either. I know Patrick, on the set of Grey's Anatomy, was watching online all day. Personally, it's the culmination of a lot of hard work by about 100 people sharing in this.?

The race also moved Ford into first place in the manufacturer standings after three Mustangs finished in the top five spots. Mike Canney, Hugh Plumb and Matt Plumb, drivers of the No. 60 Mustang FR500C, won the race and finished the season tied for sixth in the team standings. Their Rehagen Racing teammates, Dean Martin, Jack Roush Jr. and Ryan Phinny, finished in second place, moving up to fifth place in the standings.

?This is my first win in this series, so it's really exciting, especially to do it like we did today,? said Canney. ?Our crew chief Quinn Conda had a great set-up on the Mustang and the car handled really well during my stint. I'm happy to get a 1-2 finish for Rehagen Racing. It's an exciting way to finish this season off and it's also a great way to get things going for next year.?

Bret Seafuse and James Gue, drivers of the No. 37 Mustang FR500C, entered the race just one point behind Foster and Maxwell, and fought the entire race for a chance at the championship. Right when it looked like they might be able to put together a strong run to catch Foster and Maxwell, they lost a cylinder near the end of the race and eventually finished 10th, clinching second place in the standings.

Over in Europe, Eric de Doncker won his second consecutive GT4 European Cup championship after placing third in the first two races of the weekend and fourth in the final race of the weekend in his No. 1 Mustang FR500GT4. De Doncker tallied four wins on the season and finished on the podium in 14 of 17 events.

?This season has been very good, with tough competition, but we've achieved our goal once more,? said de Doncker. ?I have to thank my team for all the hard work they did to get us here again. We've had an excellent car that was built to win.

?I'm happy for the team and for Ford as well.?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Post-race interviews:

By TOM MILSTEAD
Special to the Register & Bee
Published: October 6, 2008

ALTON (Virginia)? Even after a spin midway through the Grand Sport version of the KONI Challenge Bosch Twin Six Hours event sent the steering on their Ford Mustang out of sync, Hyper Sport teammates Joe Foster and Scott Maxwell battled their way to a fifth-place finish and, more importantly, clung to the one-point lead they had going into the race to edge out Brett Seafuse and James Gue for the 2008 driver points championship.

?It was obviously a very crazy race,? Maxwell said. ?Lots of excitement on the track. We had a very good car in the beginning. Unfortunately, we had some contact with a car not involved in the championship in about the middle of the race and the definitely affected the steering of the car with the wheel turned to nine o?clock instead of 12 o?clock. I just want to thank Scott for driving the wheels off the car.?

Rehagen Racing finished first and second in the race, with the team of Mike Canney, Hugh Plumb and Matt Plumb finishing just ahead of Jack Roush Jr. and Dean Martin.

?At the start, I actually got hit from behind and drove off into the track,? Hugh Plumb said. ?It knocked a rocker arm off and I had to come in the pits a lap later. After that I just had to keep my head down and catch the field.?

The winning team had a bad pit stop late in the race, but were able to pull it out.

?We came out of the pits in ninth, and the field looked like it was off in the horizon,? Hugh Plumb said. ?They saved some equipment though, and we got to the front. ?

In the closing laps, it came to a battle between Rehagen teammates Hugh Plumb and Dean Martin.

?I made a mistake there at the end,? Hugh Plumb said. ?I hit my teammate and got around him. That is like kicking your little sister. I wouldn?t blame Dean for kicking me in the pants there at the end, but he was very respectable and we just stayed up there and Rehagen cars were one and two at the end of the season.?

Martin wasn?t angry with the bump-and-run.

?I knew Hugh was going to drive it deep,? Martin said. ?I knew when he hit he had just went too deep. He hit me just dead square and sent me shooting through the corner. He got by, and I was thinking ?Just don?t let Andy by. ? I was thinking ?You bastard, you left me in the clutches of Andy Lally.? I wish it could have been us, but I?m glad the team won.?

The Rehagen teams beat out the TRG Porsche driven by Andy Lally, Peter Ludwig and Andy Schroeder that finished third. Another TRG team, piloted by Duncan Ende and Spencer Pumpelly, finished fourth and the Hyper Sport team finished fifth.

The Hyper Sport team celebrates the first championship in the history of the program.

?It is an amazing thing,? Foster said. ?This has never happened before for this team. I know our owner, Patrick Dempsey who is on set today at Grey?s Anatomy, has been following all day. It is a culmination of a lot of hard work by so many people. Not only me, but the people on the team and the families who deal with us being gone all the time.?

Maxwell celebrates his third championship as a driver.

?It means a lot,? Maxwell said. ?We won it in 2003 and 2005, but this has been a cooperative effort. I feel good for Joe though. Nobody works harder than Joe. He deserves this.?

[Nethead]

More on Mustang's  Grand American Road Racing Association 2008 Driver's, Team's, and Manufacturer's Championships from the Grand American website:

TWIFR: Foster, Maxwell Win KONI Challenge GS Driver Titles

JOE FOSTER (No. 55 Hyper Sport Ford Mustang GT) - CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING THE TITLE. "It was quite an up-and-down week, obviously with many people in the running to win the points championship. You had the JBS  Mustang, which is a fantastic group, in the running and you had the BGB Porsche and the Automatic BMW. So there was a wide array of scenarios and everybody was, of course, trying to screw themselves into the ground with all of the possibilities and we really had a calm week in the sense that, as a team, we purposely tried to ignore all of that until halfway into the race and then take a look at it. Scott, myself and the team just focused on our car and the setup on the car and trying to get the car good on old tires and empty fuel tanks, which is what we knew we needed to do at the end of the race. We didn't do a whole lot of running on new tires. We just worked on setups. We didn't even run all of the sessions, not wanting the car to wear out before a long race and just focus on that. We knew it would take a little bit of luck, like these things always do. We certainly had our share of bad luck in the past and this time we had good luck in the sense that we got a yellow when we needed it at the end of the race. We got hit by a car that was not involved in the points chase in the middle of the race and that really damaged one of the front toe links on the car. So, the handling of our car went south at that point but we were able to keep it together and keep the pace that we needed. The JBS guys had a motor problem near the end and we got a yellow that we needed. So, luck obviously came our way and the whole outcome was really in question until the last few minutes."

DO YOU FEEL ANY PRESSURE RACING IN THOSE SITUATIONS, OR ARE YOU SO FOCUSED THAT YOU DON'T REALLY FEEL DIFFERENT? "Certainly there's always pressure and we had a strategy to try and minimize opportunities to mess things up, like driver changes. So we only did two driver changes the whole race and we ran double stints. Both Scott and I led for a lot of laps at different points in the race and then once we were slightly injured in terms of handling and once we saw the strategy evolved - and we also needed to conserve fuel - that's when we directed Scott to slow up on the RPM and to conserve fuel, which is why he kind of drifted down the order at the end of the race. You always feel pressure, but in this case it's just pressure to focus on what's on your own plate and just not make mistakes and just let everything happen if it's going to happen."

LAST YEAR YOU ENTERED VIR IN THE POINTS LEAD AND A CHANCE TO CLINCH AS WELL. DO YOU THINK THAT EXPERIENCE HELPED YOU THIS SEASON? "Oh, absolutely it helped. Every bit of experience helps. We ran good last year, led the race last year and had a fuel pump issue which made it such that we had to stop every 35 minutes to get gas, and that's kind of what happened. So what do you know? This year we started the race with brand-new fuel pumps. And then in the end that's what sort of befell the Automatic BMW was a similar fuel pump issue. It can happen to the best of us. It just comes your way or it doesn't."

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU TO COME AWAY FROM THIS SEASON AS A CHAMPION? "It means an incredible amount - not only to the team and the ownership in terms of Patrick Dempsey and the Multimatic guys - everybody has put in so much work over the past two or three years. So it's nice to see that work have a culmination. Just my family, my wife, my children and my mom - these are folks that have invested emotionally in this endeavor for up to 30 years. I mean, my mom and I were sleeping in the car at go-kart tracks together 30 years ago. If you look that far back, in terms of my friends and family, even my friend Bill Meyn, who was helping call pit strategy there [on Sunday], was at the go-kart track with me and my mom 30 years ago and I've known him since seventh grade. So it's a culmination of a lot of things for a lot of people, not just me. It meant the world to me, for my mom, my wife and my two daughters who sacrifice so much."

SCOTT MAXWELL (No. 55 Hyper Sport Ford Mustang GT) - WAS THERE ANY POINT IN THE RACE THAT YOU FELT THAT YOU HAD EVERYTHING WRAPPED UP, OR DO YOU JUST HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE CAR THE CROSS THE FINISH LINE? "It was going really well for the first couple of hours because we led for a bunch of it. Then about three hours in, Joe had that coming together another car, so from that point on it was a real struggle. We went from having a first place, or a fairly dominant car, to one that was struggling to keep up with the leaders. The last half of the race was really nail biting. Honestly, it wasn't until really the last lap - and even then we still had some fuel issues - that I started to think we had it. It literally was until we crossed the finish line; not because of anything other than there were some elements playing against us at the time."

WAS IT MORE NERVE-WRACKING WHEN YOU WERE DRIVING BECAUSE OF THE PRESSURE TO PERFORM, OR RATHER WHEN YOU NOT IN THE CAR AND WATCHING FROM THE SIDELINES? "I find it a lot more difficult being out of the car. So, like I said, the first two hours went perfectly and then sitting on the sidelines, everything is out of your control and when something happens you just want to get back in the car. I much prefer being hands-on and being in the car. So I was fortunate in that respect that I was fortunate to the first two and the last two hours, so I was in the car quite a bit."

WAS ANYTHING GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD RIGHT BEFORE YOU CROSSED THE FINISH LINE? "Just a huge amount of relief because it was a fairly dramatic last couple of hours. Even with half-an-hour to go, we were short on fuel and I had a car behind me and in front of me that could still win the championship. When I say behind and in front, they were directly in front of me and directly behind me. It was just a lot of pressure, for that last hour especially. Just a lot of relief and a big burden off my shoulders as we crossed the line."

DRIVER QUOTES TRACKSIDE

Hugh Plumb (No. 60 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT): "This is an amazing day for the Sunset Hills Vineyard car, we've had a run of bad luck this season but we finally did it and got the win today. I thought that there was going to be a huge pile up with how slippery the track was on the last two laps. I had a really big battle with Dean (Martin) going, and it was great to come out of that on top and have Rehagen Racing finish 1-2. After I got hit on the first lap I had to take an extra pit stop to fix the damage and then I just had to put my head down, be consistent, and catch the field. But the car was great, and we just kept moving forward all day. This is a great result, and I'm happy to be able to share it with Mike and Matt."

Matt Plumb (No. 60 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT): "I'm just happy the team waited until I got involved to win a race! A big thanks to (crew chief) Quinn Conda and to everyone at Rehagen Racing. The car was great today. Even though I was up front, I just tried to save the brakes as much as possible, and Hugh did the rest of the work to get back to the front and stay there to the finish. It was a nail biter to have the green-white-checker like that to finish the race, a lot more exciting than I was hoping for. But Hugh just stayed cool and did a great job."

Mike Canney (No. 60 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT): "This is my first win in this series, so it's really exciting, especially to do it like we did today. Our crew chief Quinn Conda had a great set-up on the Mustang and the car handled really well during my stint. I'm happy to get a 1-2 finish for Rehagen Racing.  It's an exciting way to finish this season off and it's also a great way to get things going for next year. I've learned a lot this year, so I'm thrilled to end the season on a high note like this!"

Dean Martin (No. 59 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT): "We were racing hard, and I knew Hugh was light on brakes. I had brakes, but I was being a little conservative, and Hugh came in just a little bit deep. I knew he was going too light on brakes at the end, and I knew that when he hit me. I got crossed up and he got by me. At that point, I was thinking, ?don't let Andy by, he left me in the clutches of Andy Lally, I've got to get out of here.' I had some opportunities to get back around Hugh, but they were all going to be risky. The last thing I wanted to do was take my teammate out. We had a good finish, 1-2; I was more focused on getting away from Andy and bringing it home 1-2. Having a Rehagen car win was a team win. It was unfortunate that we got hit and turned sideways, because we might have won it. But Hugh was certainly fast, and that's the way it worked out. I'm not too upset about it, just disappointed. Jack and Ryan Phinny did an awesome job all day, we all took turns at the front of the field."

Jack Roush Jr. (No. 59 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT): "I was very happy with the way the year went. We had some unfortunate problems early in the year that hurt our championship run, but we had a lot of good finishes. This is a nice way to finish, with our best finish of the season. The car felt very strong out there. At one point, it felt like I was taking positions at will. It got a little harder at the end, when the tires went away, but the No. 59 Roush/Valvoline Mustang was awesome all day."

Andy Lally (No. 41 TRG Porsche 997): "In the corners and under braking I had something for them at the end, but they've got way too much juice. Even if they make a mistake, they can get on the gas and drive away from us. They're both very good drivers, but I think with a little more juice on our side, we could have done it. It's a testament to the car and how good the TRG guys have been thrashing on it. We had the first and second place Porsches today, and I'm proud of that. This is a horsepower track, and we just got beat. I overdrove the heck out of it, I threw it off probably three or four times hustling it, but third was the best we could do today."

Scott Schroeder (No. 41 TRG Porsche 997): "This Porsche ran real strong all weekend. Peter did a great job. Andy did a great job. We just had to be there at the end. We didn't have anything for those Mustangs, they just have too much straight-line speed. I'm looking forward to next year. I think this is a good way to end the year. I can't say enough about the team."

Peter Ludwig (No. 41 TRG Porsche 997): "I ran the middle shift, and it was a good experience. It's nice to finish strong in the last race of the year. I've had a lot of bad luck this year. In my stint, we had a shock go out. That was a little scary, I had a lot of rear end motion. But Andy was able to deal with it perfectly in his stint and brought the car home, so we're real happy."

Scott Maxwell (No. 55 Hyper Sport Ford Mustang GT): "We were trying to save fuel near the end. We were two laps short on fuel with a half an hour to go, so I was a little concerned. I started short shifting. I knew the point scenario, so I started fading back to try to save enough fuel. The last caution was a Godsend. If we had to pit, I knew the championship was over. We needed to make up two laps of fuel, because we were two laps short. We had a great car the first two hours, then Joe got hit and got spun, and the front end got bent a half-hour into his stint. It was tracking sideways, so it was a bit of a handful the last four hours. It definitely wasn't as easy as it might have looked. For the first two hours, the car was great and I thought not only could we win the championship, we could win the race. At the end, it was just survival."

Joe Foster (No. 55 Hyper Sport Ford Mustang GT): "Obviously, it was a crazy race with a lot of excitement on the track. It was a good car in the beginning. Unfortunately, we had contact with a car that was not involved in the championship about the middle of the race, and that definitely affected the handling of the front end of the car. The steering wheel was pointed at nine o'clock instead of 12 o'clock. I can't thank Scott enough for driving the wheels off at the end to stay ahead. We had to play a conservation game at that point, because the car was not going to go to the front as it had early in the race, so we did the lap times we needed to get it to the end. Winning the championship was an amazing thing. It's something Hyper Sport hasn't done before, and team owner Patrick Dempsey and Rick Skelton, the partners in the team (haven't either). I know Patrick, on the set of Grey's Anatomy, was watching online all day. Personally, it's the culmination of a lot of hard work by about 100 people sharing in this."

[Nethead]

More on Mustang's  Grand American Road Racing Association 2008 Driver's, Team's, and Manufacturer's Championships from the Grand American website:

TWIFR: Foster, Maxwell Win KONI Challenge GS Driver Titles

JOE FOSTER (No. 55 Hyper Sport Ford Mustang GT) - CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING THE TITLE. "It was quite an up-and-down week, obviously with many people in the running to win the points championship. You had the JBS  Mustang, which is a fantastic group, in the running and you had the BGB Porsche and the Automatic BMW. So there was a wide array of scenarios and everybody was, of course, trying to screw themselves into the ground with all of the possibilities and we really had a calm week in the sense that, as a team, we purposely tried to ignore all of that until halfway into the race and then take a look at it. Scott, myself and the team just focused on our car and the setup on the car and trying to get the car good on old tires and empty fuel tanks, which is what we knew we needed to do at the end of the race. We didn't do a whole lot of running on new tires. We just worked on setups. We didn't even run all of the sessions, not wanting the car to wear out before a long race and just focus on that. We knew it would take a little bit of luck, like these things always do. We certainly had our share of bad luck in the past and this time we had good luck in the sense that we got a yellow when we needed it at the end of the race. We got hit by a car that was not involved in the points chase in the middle of the race and that really damaged one of the front toe links on the car. So, the handling of our car went south at that point but we were able to keep it together and keep the pace that we needed. The JBS guys had a motor problem near the end and we got a yellow that we needed. So, luck obviously came our way and the whole outcome was really in question until the last few minutes."

DO YOU FEEL ANY PRESSURE RACING IN THOSE SITUATIONS, OR ARE YOU SO FOCUSED THAT YOU DON'T REALLY FEEL DIFFERENT? "Certainly there's always pressure and we had a strategy to try and minimize opportunities to mess things up, like driver changes. So we only did two driver changes the whole race and we ran double stints. Both Scott and I led for a lot of laps at different points in the race and then once we were slightly injured in terms of handling and once we saw the strategy evolved - and we also needed to conserve fuel - that's when we directed Scott to slow up on the RPM and to conserve fuel, which is why he kind of drifted down the order at the end of the race. You always feel pressure, but in this case it's just pressure to focus on what's on your own plate and just not make mistakes and just let everything happen if it's going to happen."

LAST YEAR YOU ENTERED VIR IN THE POINTS LEAD AND A CHANCE TO CLINCH AS WELL. DO YOU THINK THAT EXPERIENCE HELPED YOU THIS SEASON? "Oh, absolutely it helped. Every bit of experience helps. We ran good last year, led the race last year and had a fuel pump issue which made it such that we had to stop every 35 minutes to get gas, and that's kind of what happened. So what do you know? This year we started the race with brand-new fuel pumps. And then in the end that's what sort of befell the Automatic BMW was a similar fuel pump issue. It can happen to the best of us. It just comes your way or it doesn't."

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU TO COME AWAY FROM THIS SEASON AS A CHAMPION? "It means an incredible amount - not only to the team and the ownership in terms of Patrick Dempsey and the Multimatic guys - everybody has put in so much work over the past two or three years. So it's nice to see that work have a culmination. Just my family, my wife, my children and my mom - these are folks that have invested emotionally in this endeavor for up to 30 years. I mean, my mom and I were sleeping in the car at go-kart tracks together 30 years ago. If you look that far back, in terms of my friends and family, even my friend Bill Meyn, who was helping call pit strategy there [on Sunday], was at the go-kart track with me and my mom 30 years ago and I've known him since seventh grade. So it's a culmination of a lot of things for a lot of people, not just me. It meant the world to me, for my mom, my wife and my two daughters who sacrifice so much."

SCOTT MAXWELL (No. 55 Hyper Sport Ford Mustang GT) - WAS THERE ANY POINT IN THE RACE THAT YOU FELT THAT YOU HAD EVERYTHING WRAPPED UP, OR DO YOU JUST HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE CAR THE CROSS THE FINISH LINE? "It was going really well for the first couple of hours because we led for a bunch of it. Then about three hours in, Joe had that coming together another car, so from that point on it was a real struggle. We went from having a first place, or a fairly dominant car, to one that was struggling to keep up with the leaders. The last half of the race was really nail biting. Honestly, it wasn't until really the last lap - and even then we still had some fuel issues - that I started to think we had it. It literally was until we crossed the finish line; not because of anything other than there were some elements playing against us at the time."

WAS IT MORE NERVE-WRACKING WHEN YOU WERE DRIVING BECAUSE OF THE PRESSURE TO PERFORM, OR RATHER WHEN YOU NOT IN THE CAR AND WATCHING FROM THE SIDELINES? "I find it a lot more difficult being out of the car. So, like I said, the first two hours went perfectly and then sitting on the sidelines, everything is out of your control and when something happens you just want to get back in the car. I much prefer being hands-on and being in the car. So I was fortunate in that respect that I was fortunate to the first two and the last two hours, so I was in the car quite a bit."

WAS ANYTHING GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD RIGHT BEFORE YOU CROSSED THE FINISH LINE? "Just a huge amount of relief because it was a fairly dramatic last couple of hours. Even with half-an-hour to go, we were short on fuel and I had a car behind me and in front of me that could still win the championship. When I say behind and in front, they were directly in front of me and directly behind me. It was just a lot of pressure, for that last hour especially. Just a lot of relief and a big burden off my shoulders as we crossed the line."

DRIVER QUOTES TRACKSIDE

Hugh Plumb (No. 60 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT): "This is an amazing day for the Sunset Hills Vineyard car, we've had a run of bad luck this season but we finally did it and got the win today. I thought that there was going to be a huge pile up with how slippery the track was on the last two laps. I had a really big battle with Dean (Martin) going, and it was great to come out of that on top and have Rehagen Racing finish 1-2. After I got hit on the first lap I had to take an extra pit stop to fix the damage and then I just had to put my head down, be consistent, and catch the field. But the car was great, and we just kept moving forward all day. This is a great result, and I'm happy to be able to share it with Mike and Matt."

Matt Plumb (No. 60 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT): "I'm just happy the team waited until I got involved to win a race! A big thanks to (crew chief) Quinn Conda and to everyone at Rehagen Racing. The car was great today. Even though I was up front, I just tried to save the brakes as much as possible, and Hugh did the rest of the work to get back to the front and stay there to the finish. It was a nail biter to have the green-white-checker like that to finish the race, a lot more exciting than I was hoping for. But Hugh just stayed cool and did a great job."

Mike Canney (No. 60 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT): "This is my first win in this series, so it's really exciting, especially to do it like we did today. Our crew chief Quinn Conda had a great set-up on the Mustang and the car handled really well during my stint. I'm happy to get a 1-2 finish for Rehagen Racing.  It's an exciting way to finish this season off and it's also a great way to get things going for next year. I've learned a lot this year, so I'm thrilled to end the season on a high note like this!"

Dean Martin (No. 59 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT): "We were racing hard, and I knew Hugh was light on brakes. I had brakes, but I was being a little conservative, and Hugh came in just a little bit deep. I knew he was going too light on brakes at the end, and I knew that when he hit me. I got crossed up and he got by me. At that point, I was thinking, ?don't let Andy by, he left me in the clutches of Andy Lally, I've got to get out of here.' I had some opportunities to get back around Hugh, but they were all going to be risky. The last thing I wanted to do was take my teammate out. We had a good finish, 1-2; I was more focused on getting away from Andy and bringing it home 1-2. Having a Rehagen car win was a team win. It was unfortunate that we got hit and turned sideways, because we might have won it. But Hugh was certainly fast, and that's the way it worked out. I'm not too upset about it, just disappointed. Jack and Ryan Phinny did an awesome job all day, we all took turns at the front of the field."

Jack Roush Jr. (No. 59 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT): "I was very happy with the way the year went. We had some unfortunate problems early in the year that hurt our championship run, but we had a lot of good finishes. This is a nice way to finish, with our best finish of the season. The car felt very strong out there. At one point, it felt like I was taking positions at will. It got a little harder at the end, when the tires went away, but the No. 59 Roush/Valvoline Mustang was awesome all day."

Andy Lally (No. 41 TRG Porsche 997): "In the corners and under braking I had something for them at the end, but they've got way too much juice. Even if they make a mistake, they can get on the gas and drive away from us. They're both very good drivers, but I think with a little more juice on our side, we could have done it. It's a testament to the car and how good the TRG guys have been thrashing on it. We had the first and second place Porsches today, and I'm proud of that. This is a horsepower track, and we just got beat. I overdrove the heck out of it, I threw it off probably three or four times hustling it, but third was the best we could do today."

Scott Schroeder (No. 41 TRG Porsche 997): "This Porsche ran real strong all weekend. Peter did a great job. Andy did a great job. We just had to be there at the end. We didn't have anything for those Mustangs, they just have too much straight-line speed. I'm looking forward to next year. I think this is a good way to end the year. I can't say enough about the team."

Peter Ludwig (No. 41 TRG Porsche 997): "I ran the middle shift, and it was a good experience. It's nice to finish strong in the last race of the year. I've had a lot of bad luck this year. In my stint, we had a shock go out. That was a little scary, I had a lot of rear end motion. But Andy was able to deal with it perfectly in his stint and brought the car home, so we're real happy."

Scott Maxwell (No. 55 Hyper Sport Ford Mustang GT): "We were trying to save fuel near the end. We were two laps short on fuel with a half an hour to go, so I was a little concerned. I started short shifting. I knew the point scenario, so I started fading back to try to save enough fuel. The last caution was a Godsend. If we had to pit, I knew the championship was over. We needed to make up two laps of fuel, because we were two laps short. We had a great car the first two hours, then Joe got hit and got spun, and the front end got bent a half-hour into his stint. It was tracking sideways, so it was a bit of a handful the last four hours. It definitely wasn't as easy as it might have looked. For the first two hours, the car was great and I thought not only could we win the championship, we could win the race. At the end, it was just survival."

Joe Foster (No. 55 Hyper Sport Ford Mustang GT): "Obviously, it was a crazy race with a lot of excitement on the track. It was a good car in the beginning. Unfortunately, we had contact with a car that was not involved in the championship about the middle of the race, and that definitely affected the handling of the front end of the car. The steering wheel was pointed at nine o'clock instead of 12 o'clock. I can't thank Scott enough for driving the wheels off at the end to stay ahead. We had to play a conservation game at that point, because the car was not going to go to the front as it had early in the race, so we did the lap times we needed to get it to the end. Winning the championship was an amazing thing. It's something Hyper Sport hasn't done before, and team owner Patrick Dempsey and Rick Skelton, the partners in the team (haven't either). I know Patrick, on the set of Grey's Anatomy, was watching online all day. Personally, it's the culmination of a lot of hard work by about 100 people sharing in this."

HEMI666:  HemiDude, the real deal here is that five of the six Mustangs entered in this six-hour race at a challenging track finished in the top ten (including the win and second place), despite most of them getting racing damage to one degree or another.  The FR500C has only gotten better in four years of racing in the Grand-Am, despite all the restrictions that have been placed on 'em over the years.  It was great to see Rehagen Racing get a one-two finish that they have worked so hard for since even before the FR500C was introduced at Daytona in 2005.
Sadly, The Speed Channel apparently will not have a delayed broadcast of this race...

Note that Porsche pilot Andy Lally was third--Lally got the chance to pilot a Grand-Am Mustang earlier this year and got a top five finish his first time out.  Lally, as fast in a Porsche as any man alive, knows better than most how to race against a Mustang since he's raced one--few things can be more disheartening than seeing Andy Lally filling up your rear view mirror!  Great race, Andy!  And the Plumbs showed that they can haul ass in Mustangs just like they haul ass in Porsches--Hugh Plumb is within a hundredth of a percent as fast as Andy Lally in a Porsche, and evidently a little faster than Andy in a Mustang.  Great race, Hugh!

I didn't find this snippet about the Mustang FR500C that finished second in the 6-hour VIR event until 2/11/09:

THE NO. 37 JBS TEAM PROVES THAT AS THEY MAY BE THE LOWEST FUNDED TEAM IN THE SERIES AND THEY FINISHED SECOND IN THE STANDINGS. "Hats off to the JBS guys. They came in second, but they easily could have been first. The real testament there is that the car that they drove is one of the first five cars that we developed and sold, and it's the only car on the grid that has been campaigned since 2005. We really have proof point of a car that was purchased in the first five cars and has been campaigning for four solid seasons."

[Nethead]

From the National Auto Sports Association's 25 Hours of Thunderhill website:

TC Motorsports & Ford Racing Unite to take on the 25 Hours of Thunderhill
October 17, 2008 12:04 PM

TC Motorsports announces today that they have joined with Ford Racing and Brembo to take on the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) 25 Hours of Thunderhill, Presented by the U.S. Air Force, which is December 6-7 at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, CA.

With support from Ford Racing and Brembo, TC Motorsports will campaign a 2008 Ford Racing FR500S Mustang Challenge Series racecar in the top level ES class. The ES class allows unlimited preparation of the cars making it challenging to win without the perfect combination of performance, durability, and teamwork. With parts and technical support from Ford Racing and Brembo, a strong driver lineup, and an experienced crew, the team is working towards putting together the winning combination.

Team principal Carlo Sparacio will join Rick Edwards, Ted Anthony, Jr., Steve Miller, and Jeff VanLierop in the driving duties. Both Sparacio and Edwards are seasoned Mustang Challenge veterans, both finishing in the top ten in 2008 series points. Anthony won the final race of the Mustang Challenge season at Miller Motorsports Park. Miller brings 24 Hours of Daytona experience to the table along with Mustang Challenge series experience. Van Lierop won the 2008 ICSCC BMW Pro3 championship. All of the drivers have driven in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill.

TC Motorsports has made three successful appearances at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill, finishing second and third in the E2 class in 2005 and 2004, respectively, in a Mazda Spec Miata, and finishing in the top ten in 2006 with a BMW E30 in the E1 class.

The 25 Hours of Thunderhill is one of the most demanding endurance races in existence. Over the course of the race, the team is expected to cover a distance of nearly 2,000 miles, make multiple pit stops for fuel, tires, and driver changes, and use numerous BFGoodrich racing tires. The challenging road racing circuit at Thunderhill twists and turns over the rolling hills of Northern California, and 14 hours of the event will be in the pitch black of early winter darkness.

To find out more about the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill, the event sponsors, NASA or the Thunderhill Raceway circuit, please visit the event website at www.nasa25hour.com.

TC Motorsports, LLC is a client-based motorsports company that provides racecar preparation, maintenance, and transportation, as well as full arrive and drive support, driver coaching, and racecar rentals for amateur and professional racing series. To find out more about opportunities to drive with TC Motorsports please visit the company website at www.tcmotorsports.net.

Source: TC Motorsports press release

[Nethead]

Robin Burnett: NASA American Iron National Champion

At the NASA?s National Championship Series at the fabulous Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, The Burnett Racing Team?s Steeda Mustangs once again showed the competition that Steeda is the force to beat in the NASA American Iron class.

Both Friday and Saturday qualifying races were rain soaked from what was left of Hurricane Ike, but Steeda had its own hurricane in central Ohio, young 17-year-old driver Rusty Ferguson. Rusty took both poles in the rainy conditions by showing both his skill and the prowess of his Burnett Racing Steeda Mustang.

Conditions for Sundays big race were beautiful with cool temperatures and sunny blue skies ? perfect for the Steeda Q-Series of Mustangs to show what they are made of. After the green flag was dropped, in short order, Robin Burnett in his red Steeda #21 captured the lead and Chris DeSalvo in his pony fought through the field to take a position immediately behind Robin. The race would continue around the and when it was over, the Steeda Mustangs finished in the top two podium positions with Robin Burnett in first and Chris DeSalvo finishing a close second. With this victory, Robin won his 3rd consecutive Nationals podium and his first National Championship in American Iron.

Congratulations to Robin Burnett and the entire Burnett Racing Team!

[Nethead]

James Ray, Taylor Ray, and Jim Edwards: The Race for NASA Southeast Champions

Steeda performance proves itself again

The cards are stacked for a potential 1-2-3 finish for Steeda Mustangs in the NASA Southeast race series. All season long James Ray, his son Taylor, and Jim Edwards have been carrying the Steeda banner to various tracks in pursuit of a 1-2-3 Regional series championship. Recently at NASCAR's historic Rockingham Speedway (aka: "THE ROCK") with a road course that featured stints on both the high banked oval as well as the infield road course, the track was exceptionally challenging but proved to be no match for the Steeda prepared cars that were there to defend the Steeda honor.

And defend they did. With one more event for the season in the NASA Southeast competition, (Road Atlanta, December 6-7) James has already clinched the Championship this season. With his two recent wins at the ROCK, James? 2007 Steeda Q-400+ proved to be too much for the competition in the highly competitive TTS Class Championship. His is the only Mustang in a class of 18 cars which include a variety of Corvette Z06's, Panoz Racers, BMWs, and fully stripped-out turbocharged Rice Rockets!

Not to be overshadowed, Taylor Ray and Jim Edwards found themselves in the envious position of being in a very tight challenge of making it possible for a 1-2-3 Steeda podium for the season. Taylor, in his 2001 Steeda GT is all but a TTC podium finish for the season, but which position? We'll have to wait until Road Atlanta to find out.

Jim Edwards in his '03 Steeda Cobra is making-up ground in a hurry in TTA.
Jim got a late start on the season, but with a good finish at Road Atlanta, could see a podium finish for the 2008 season as well.

To quote James Ray: ?We are having a ball driving Steeda Mustangs and leaving the competition behind us!?.

Congratulations to James Ray, Taylor Ray, and Jim Edwards !

[Nethead]

Ponies Running Wild as Mustang Challenge Racers Make Assault on Thunderhill
December 2, 2008 8:42 AM

The 2009 Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup season will open with a double header at Homestead Miami Speedway next March, but for some Mustang Challenge racers, the 2009 season will get an early start with some endurance racing action this weekend.

Several Mustang Challenge teams, drivers, and Ford Mustang FR500S machines are prepared to take on the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) 25 Hours of Thunderhill, presented by the U.S. Air Force. Staged in Willows, California at Thunderhill Raceway, the ultra-endurance event will start on Saturday, December 6, before taking the checkered flag some 25 hours later.

The 2008 edition of the grueling 25 Hour marks a return to the race for the Ford Mustang, as two prototype versions of the FR500S took first and second in class last year. The Ford Mustang FR500S is the first rung in the Ford Mustang competition ladder, and serves as the platform for the Mustang Challenge.  The FR500S has also impressed in a variety of categories outside of Mustang Challenge competition in both sprint and endurance racing formats.

While the 2007 Thunderhill outing was originally intended to serve as a data-gathering mission for the FR500S prototypes, the flawless performance saw the Mustangs take the 1-2 class result as well as fifth overall. The Thunderhill 25 rules package allows for a wide scope of racers, with everything from MX-5's to Daytona Prototypes slated for entry.

This weekend's race will see a strong Mustang Challenge presence, thanks in part to the support of Mustang Challenge partners Ford Racing, BFGoodrich Tires, and Miller Motorsports Park. The three series sponsors have each stepped up to cover entry fees, provide one set of g-Force R1 racing tires, and on-site hospitality, respectively, for Mustang Challenge teams. 

In addition, in an event that is an ultimate test of machine, the racers won't have far to go if they encounter any problems, as the teams will also enjoy the full support of the Mustang Challenge parts trailer, which will be on-site for the race and staffed by the same familiar faces that were in the Mustang Challenge paddock all season long.

Three teams have entered the FR500S for the race, and each have their own reasons for optimism ahead of the race weekend.

The "Media Car" that shone under the primetime spotlight as it was auctioned at the inaugural Barrett-Jackson auction in Las Vegas in October will return to the track as Mike Davis will take his new Mustang right where it belongs--on the track, sharing the driving duties with Boris Said, Brandon Davis, and Eric Curran.   Said has his own enviable record of success behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang, with both Brandon and Mike Davis also sporting a long history with the Mustang. Curran, who closed the KONI Challenge season out on the podium at VIR, will look to add to his impressive racing resume with a strong run this weekend.

TC Motorsport, which won the very first Mustang Challenge race ever held, will also campaign a FR500S in the Thunderhill event, entering the ES Class with a roster full of drivers with previous experience in the race. Team principal Carlo Sparacio will join Rick Edwards, Ted Anthony, Jr., Steve Miller, and Jeff Van Lierop in the driving duties. Sparacio and Edwards finished in the top ten in the 2008 Mustang Challenge standings, as Anthony added his name to the list of winners with a strong run in the final race of the 2008 Mustang Challenge season.

RP Motorsports will enter a StableOne Racing FR500S, with Andrew Hendricks, Pratt Cole, Nicolas Woodman, and Jamie Slone slated for the driving duties in the GoProCamera.com-backed machine. Hendricks, Cole, and Slone were all featured in Mustang Challenge competition through the 2008 season, and will look to bring both speed and experience to bear in this weekend's Thunderhill event.

In addition to the three FR500S machines entered, Miller Motorsports Park will also be represented with the Larry Miller Racing entry of Mitch Wright, Dan McKeever, Cindi Lux, and James Burke. The familiar foursome will utilize the same Ford Mustang specification that participants in the Miller Performance Training Center employ. The team should be another strong contender, having been key players in last year's 1-2 finish in the race.

"We're really excited to have three FR500S Mustangs entered for this kind of race because it is a great showcase for what the car is capable of," said Mustang Challenge Series Director Lynda Randall. "We're also thrilled that our drivers are taking up the generous support offered for this race from Ford Racing, BFGoodrich Tires, and Miller Motorsports Park. It's been a while since the Miller race, so everyone is also looking forward to this weekend to catch up with everyone else and see some friendly faces at the racetrack once again before going racing."
 
The 2008 Mustang Challenge season will be featured in the reality show "WHY WE RACE- THE MUSTANG CHALLENGE."  The show will follow every twist and turn through the season and will be aired on Discovery's HD Theater for three consecutive Sunday's starting December 7 at 8 PM Eastern.

www.millercup.com

Mustang Challenge-related teams and drivers to follow this weekend:

Drivers:
Ted Anthony, Jr.
Andrew Caddell
Pratt Cole
Mike Harvison
Andrew Hendricks
Rick Edwards
Steve Miller
Jamie Slone
Carlo Sparacio

Teams:
TC Motorsports
RP Motorsport
ACS Express Racing 
About Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup:

The Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup is a new professional racing series co-developed by Ford Racing and Miller Motorsports Park. Utilizing the new Ford Mustang FR500S and sanctioned by the Grand American Road Racing Association, the Mustang Challenge series is a support series to major professional road racing events across North America. A competitive point structure and generous purses make the Mustang Challenge THE Place to Race, with an affordable, challenging platform for racers who want to compete in a V8-powered, rear-wheel-drive car on a level playing field that will showcase driver ability in high-profile events.

[Nethead]

Close, But Not Quite, for Miller Motorsports Park Team in Thunderhill 25-Hour Enduro

With 35 minutes remaining in last weekend's National Auto Sports Association (NASA) 25-hour endurance race at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, Calif., the No. 98 Ford Mustang representing Miller Motorsports Park was in the lead with a two-lap advantage over the field of 68 cars.

However, as is so often the case in endurance racing, you never count your chickens before you see one walking around with the checkered flag.

That was indeed the case this time, as a mechanical failure in the differential sent the MMP Mustang to the pits and relegated the team to a 13th-place overall finish and third place in the ES class.

Entered under the Larry Miller Racing banner and sporting sponsorship from Miller Motorsports Park, the Miller Performance Training Center and BFGoodrich Tires, the car was one of the Mustang Challenge cars normally used in the MPTC's Ford Racing High Performance Driving School, modified for endurance racing with a fuel cell, different shock absorbers and auxiliary lighting. The driving chores were shared by MMP Director of Racing Mitch Wright, MPTC Director Dan McKeever and MPTC instructors Cindi Lux and James Burke.

The race, the seventh annual edition of North America's longest endurance event, was red-flagged for 10.5 hours for fog, but the finish time was extended by three hours, which resulted in a 17.5-hour race around Thunderhill's 3.0-mile, 15-turn circuit.

The competition included a wide variety of machinery, ranging from a Grand-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype to a highly-modified Volkswagen Beetle, with almost everything imaginable in between, and a field of 271 drivers ranging from rank amateurs to seasoned professionals.

The all-volunteer crew, led by MMP Shop Manager for Competition Vehicles Mike Morley, included Doug Graham, Logan Ewell, Dale Mead, Bo Leyva, Dan Giles, Clark Hill, Fred Lux and Scott Crossley. Hospitality and support services were provided by the staff of the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup, including Series Director Lynda Randall, Series Administrator Candice Bailey and MMP Assistant Director of Racing Jill Giles.

"It was a heart-breaker," said Wright. "The car ran like a train all day and all night, and to have victory snatched from our grasp with 35 minutes to go is tough to take. But the crew did an outstanding job, both before and during the race, and the hospitality provided by the Mustang Challenge crew made all of our jobs a lot easier.

"So we have mixed emotions, having run so well but coming up short. That's endurance racing, though, and we'll be back next year to take another shot at it."

For tickets or information regarding Miller Motorsports Park, call 435-277-RACE (7223) or visit the track's website at www.MillerMotorsportsPark.com. For more information on the Miller Performance Training Center, call 435-277-8790 or visit their website at www.MMPSchools.com.

[Nethead]

From The Chrome Pony Website:

Horsepower Ranch is Ready

As the season-opening race for the KONI Challenge series approaches, there is a mix of old and new blood heading for Daytona. This is a sure sign of some interesting racing to come.
On the established side, CMA Motorsports is returning with a two-car effort, up from one car last year, as is JBS Motorsports. The father and son Hickham Motorsports team is back with a single entry. Rehagen Racing is fielding three cars, as is Hyper Sport - who were down to one car at the end of last year.

A new team, CA Sport, is based out of Miller Motorsport Park and will be bringing their #68 Mustang to be driven by Vesko Kozarov and Keith Rossberg, both Utah residents. Another new team is Horsepower Ranch, announced in December. Mike Canney and Jack Roush Jr. are the team principals, both of whom were running under the Rehagen banner last year.

We managed to track down Mike and Jack to see how things were going with the new initiative. Jack Roush Jr. is a driver of the No. 61 ROUSH/Valvoline Mustang and Mike Canney is a driver of the No. 60 Sunset Hills Vineyard Mustang.

CP: It's a little over a week until the Grand AM KONI Challenge season opens at Daytona International Speedway. Are the Horsepower Ranch cars ready?

Mike Canney: Yes, we are ready. Our Mustangs have proven to be very reliable, and our drivers avoided any issues on-track, so the preparations are going very quickly. We've had a few parts freshened for the race and installed, so we are ready to go.

Jack Roush, Jr.: Absolutely. The test session proved to be especially fortunate for our team this year. We were able to identify and fix a few mechanical issues with the cars that could have been problematic during the race. It's nice to be able to fix these types of issues and tune the car without the frantic rush of a race weekend.

CP: What changes, if any, have you made since Test Days eariler this month?

MC: We tested the two cars with different suspension setups, and learned that our drivers were quickest with one setup. We are converting the second car to that setup. We went with our practice motors, now we are changing to fresh motors for the race. We also moved our shop from Virginia to Mooresville (N.C.) after the test days, so we spent a week or so getting moved in and stocked for the season.

JR: As Mike has alluded to, we've been collaborating very closely between our two cars (the No. 61 ROUSH/Valvoline Mustang and the No. 60 Sunset Hills Vineyard Mustang) in an attempt to combine our knowledge of what these cars like. I believe that we found a few strategies on our set-ups that will work best for this race, and that's what we've updated the cars with since the test session.

CP: You've been on a pretty fast track. What was the biggest challenge you've faced since announcing the new Horsepower Ranch project?

MC: We needed to form a team, get the cars prepped, purchase spares, and moved our shop, all in the first 60 days. So I would say that the logistics have been the biggest challenge!

JR: I have to hand it to Mike. He's been handling the logistics of the team and I know that it's a big job. As for challenges that I've been facing relating to the new team, I've been working with some of the marketing people at Roush Fenway Racing to shore up some remaining sponsorship for the season.

CP: What is your strategy going to be for the Daytona race? The track isn't going to be as crowded, since entries are down by a third over last year.

MC: We need to qualify well, stay up front and avoid abusing the car. Last year we ran well, and led the race for over an hour. I think the main thing is going to be to conserve the car so that we have a solid car in the final laps. You can't win the race in the first two hours, but you can probably lose it.

JR: Mike is spot on. Last year, Dean Martin and I had a rough start to the season (in the No. 59 ROUSH/Valvoline Mustang fielded by Rehagen Racing). We were running very well, but we had problems in some of the earlier races that ruined our finish, things like contact with other cars, pit stop errors (including when we came in), etc. Once we addressed these problems in our strategy, we began our long string of top five and top ten finishes that continue through the end of the season. These ideas will, without a doubt, apply at Daytona.

CP: What has the past season taught you to look out most for this time around?

MC: Preparation and practice. Last year, certain teams were consistently at the top of the charts and they didn't get there by accident. They were well prepared, and practiced. We are looking to the ROUSH organization to help us understand how to be better prepared to race, and to win.

JR: For me, it is the importance of staying out of trouble, and in this, it helps a tremendous amount to qualify at the front. Not only is it typically not so much of a swarm at the front, but the drivers there tend to be more in control of their cars and themselves.

CP: There are 14 Mustangs out of the 33 entries for Daytona. That's almost half of the current GS field and double the number of Mustangs that competed at VIR last year. Is this a resurgence in Mustang popularity among the racers?

MC: Absolutely. The Mustangs are surprisingly fast cars, fun and forgiving to drive, and are there at the end of the race. I think the components are under-stressed, so they work as well at the end of the race as they do at the start. For the performance and fun-factor, I think that the Ford Mustang is best value out there.

JR: I would say that that's probably true. Ford is coming out with a new Mustang this year (a 2010 model year), and it wouldn't surprise me if this surge in popularity is a result of the excitement around this new car. As with any car model, there tends to be an ebb-and-flow in its interest based on when significant changes are made. Historically, the Mustang has always been a popular car.

However, when the 2005 Mustang came out, it represented a truly historic shift in the auto industry -- one of the true muscle cars went back to the styling of its truly defining time. This new Mustang keeps on with this and adds to it with its smoother lines and other refinements. I can't speak for other racers, but for me, I take great pride in driving a Mustang against some of the other leading performance cars.

CP: Thanks for your time and best of luck in the Fresh From Florida 200 event.

[Nethead]

From the Grand American Road Racing Association website:

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 23, 2009) - In a fierce battle during Friday's season-opening Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway in the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge, Bill Auberlen led 22 of the final 25 laps to give himself and Matt Bell the victory in the three-hour race.

Auberlen passed Ken Wilden on Lap 70, then fought off Hugh Plumb for a lap before the caution flag flew on Lap 72. That gave Auberlen his second GS victory in three races and Bell his first-ever GS triumph in his first career class start. The duo drove the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3.

Auberlen took over from Bell during the first pit stop and coming off the race's fifth caution, he earned the lead on Lap 50. He held the lead for the next 18 laps - which included two four-lap caution periods - before the Ford Mustangs showed their power.

Plumb and Wilden both drove past Auberlen on Lap 68, putting the Fords up 1-2 and attempting to give the Mustangs their third GS victory at the track in five seasons. However, it wasn't meant to be.

The Mustang pilots got together on Lap 70, and Wilden drove past into the lead. Auberlen subsequently passed Plumb and set his sights on Wilden. Then, the Ontario-native - who has finished on the podium in each of his five starts with Rehagen Racing - made a mistake coming out of the bus stop, giving Auberlen a chance.

Auberlen, who took the outright lead in overall KONI victories with 12, jumped to the top of the banking and pulled alongside Wilden's No. 59 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT. Plumb pulled up behind Auberlen and the two drafted past, with Auberlen taking the lead at the line. Just moments later, the final of eight caution periods ended any chance for the Mustangs - which had led every practice and qualifying session during January - to regain the point.

Plumb drove the No. 61 Horsepower Ranch Ford Mustang GT to second with Jack Roush Jr.; the pair shared the podium in the season finale at Virginia International Raceway last October but with different teams. Wilden joined polesitter Dean Martin, who led a race-high 23 laps, one more than Auberlen.

Fourth was Billy Johnson and Tony Buffomante - making only his third career KONI start - in the No. 18 Motorsport Technology Group Porsche 997, while No. 37 JBS Motorsports Trumansburg Shur Save Ford Mustang GT co-drivers Bret Seafuse and James Gue finished fifth despite a spin by contact early in the race.

Defending race winner Craig Stanton took sixth in the No. 83 BGB Motorsports Revo Technik/Performance Drink Porsche 997, driving with Tim George Jr.

The next race on the KONI Sports Car Challenge circuit will be March 14-15, with split-class races making up the Grand-Am Fan Appreciation Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla.

POST-RACE NEWS AND NOTES

- This victory is the 12th Grand Sport victory for Bill Auberlen and first-ever for Matt Bell in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3. This is also the record-extending 14th GS win for Turner Motorsport.
- This victory is the second in three races for Turner Motorsport as well as the second in three for the BMW M3.
- This is the first-ever victory for the BMW M3 at Daytona International Speedway in KONI Sports Car Challenge competition.
- This is the fourth time a KONI Sports Car Challenge race has been won from the third starting position - all in an odd-ending year (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009).
- This is the second straight race in which Jack Roush Jr. finished second, a career best. This is also the second straight podium finish for Hugh Plumb.
- This is the second straight podium for Dean Martin, who drove with Ken Wilden. The duo has finished on the podium in all five of their races together. The race was also the seventh straight race in which Martin has finished seventh or better.
- Mustangs still dominated the top 10, with three top fives and five top 10s. The highest running Porsche 997 came from Motorsport Technology Group, with Billy Johnson and Tony Buffomante taking third in the No. 18 Porsche 997.
- Ten drivers led the race, the most ever in KONI competition at DIS. The mark broke the previous record of nine set in 2007. Those leading were Dean Martin (23), Bill Auberlen (22), Jack Roush Jr. (8), Jeff Segal (5), Joey Hand (4), Charles Espenlaub (4), Craig Stanton (3), Nick Longhi (2), Hugh Plumb (2) and Ken Wilden (1).
- Twenty-nine drivers, including 17 in the GS class, finished all 74 laps of the race.
- Horsepower Ranch and Kinetic Motorsports didn't get off to the starts they were hoping. Mike Canney's No. 60 Horsepower Ranch Sunset Hills Vineyards Ford Mustang GT got together with Nic J?nsson's No. 79 Kinetic Motorsports BMW M3, and J?nsson hit the outside wall hard. Both cars fell out of the race on that first lap incident.
- The BGB Motorsports Porsche 997 team dedicated the race to Memo Gomez, a former crewmember who lost his life in an accident before Thanksgiving of last year.
- Blackforest Motorsports finished 32nd in the GS class with the new Dodge Challenger, falling out after 48 laps with mechanical problems. But driver Tom Nastasi was optimistic. "It'll be competitive by the end of the year," he said. "Hopefully it'll have a win this year."

************

And from  The Chrome Pony  website:

"Horsepower Ranch Podiums at Daytona

Two months ago they didn?t have a race team. Two weeks ago they were moving into a new shop. Still, in their first race together in the #61 ROUSH/Valvoline Mustang, Jack Roush, Jr. and Hugh Plumb finished second in the Fresh From Florida 200 season-opening event for the KONI Sports Car Challenge.

Both drivers led the race, with Roush leading the 63-car field around the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway for eight laps; Plumb led for two circuits late in the race. Unfortunately, the race ended under caution so he never got the chance to battle for the race win as the clock ticked across the three-hour mark signaling the end of competition.

Roush qualified the No. 61 ROUSH/Valvoline Mustang in fourth, but got shuffled back to sixth in the melee on the first lap. He settled in there for 16 laps around the stadium road course, and then started his climb through the field.

By lap 23 Roush had moved up to second, thanks to some timely passes on the track and early pit stops by other teams. This positioned him right behind Dean Martin, his co-driver for the past three seasons (in the same car Roush formerly drove). He admitted that it was a little odd racing his former teammate.
"It was really strange (to be racing Martin), but it was also a lot of fun. We had a nice clean race together, but didn't cut each other any slack," Roush claimed. Roush drafted Martin through the high-banks and down the front straight into the first turn when he dove inside and took the lead on lap 29. Roush paced the field through lap 36 when he pitted and Plumb climbed into the cockpit.

On lap 68 Plumb got past the BMW M3 of Bill Auberlen and took the lead. Unfortunately, in a fierce battle with Auberlen and Ken Wilden in the No. 59 Mustang he was hit in the rear and slipped to third.

Though the No. 61 ROUSH/Valvoline Mustang was certainly quick enough for the overall win, the race ended under caution and Plumb slowly circled the track in second place when the checkered flag dropped.

"We were inches away from the win," Plumb said after the race. "We got bumped out of the lead on what turned out to be the very last lap of green flag racing. Jack drove the wheels off the car today, and was a huge part of our success."

The race was taped for a broadcast on SPEED Channel on Saturday, January 31 at 4 p.m. (Eastern). The next event on the KONI Sports Car Challenge schedule is the March 13-15 contest at Homestead-Miami Speedway."

[Nethead]

This article about Saturday's 25th Mustang victory in Grand Am roadracing is from the Grand American Road Racing Association's website:

Wilden, Martin Win KONI Challenge Grand Sport Race at Mazda Raceway
May 16, 2009

MONTEREY, Calif. (May 16, 2009) - Ken Wilden muscled his way into the lead on the final restart with 16 minutes remaining and held on to pace the final 11 circuits of Saturday's 79-lap Verizon Festival of Speed, giving the No. 59 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT co-driven by Dean Martin its first Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge Grand Sport victory of the season at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

The Street Tuner race also went down to the final restart, where Will Turner passed Tom Long and fought back several late-race challenges to win in the No. 95 Turner Motorsports BMW 328i started by pole sitter Don Salama.

While the middle portion of the two-hour, 30-minute race was slowed by five caution periods, the final 35 minutes of the event were marked by terrific battles in both classes, slowed by only one brief yellow flag period.

Todd Lamb led 26 laps down the stretch in the No. 32 Cybernation/Cobalt Friction BMW M3 started by Glenn Bocchino, challenged by the Fords of Wilden and Hugh Plumb, along with the Porsche of Spencer Pumpelly.

Plumb made his challenge with 30 minutes to go, working his way from fourth to second in the Horsepower Racing No. 61 Roush Performance/Valvoline Ford Mustang started by Jack Roush Jr.. Then, Pumpelly made his bid, charging to briefly hold the lead in the TRG No. 39 Digitrust Group/Adams Polishes Porsche GT3 started by Duncan Ende. Lamb came back with a crossover pass, with Pumpelly falling from briefly holding the lead to fourth.

The stage for the final showdown was set when the No. 171 APR Motorsport Volkswagen GTI of Josh Hurley stopped on course, bringing out a two-lap caution. Racing resumed with 16 minutes remaining, when Wilden pulling to the inside coming down the front straight and pulling into the lead exiting Turn 2.

"He (Todd Lamb) had been jumping the restart down there," said Wilden after scoring his second career victory in the series - both co-driving with Martin. "He was in first gear going full throttle coming out of the last turn, which you're not supposed to do. I caught on to it, so I was in first gear and I was ready for him and I gave it to him on the inside. It was tight and we were all over the curbs. I nicked him a little bit in the bumper, but it was nothing that would put him around or anything. It was good, strong racing here."

Lamb held on to finish second, 3.596 seconds behind, followed by Pumpelly.

"Apparently, these Cobalt Friction brakes are so good that the Mustang could stop and he drove me right off the track," Lamb said. "What are you going to do? That's racing. It was a lot of fun. We had a good car and led a lot of laps. I've got to thank Glenn - he did a great job and brought the car back in one piece."

Andrew Caddell and Mike McGovern finished fourth in the No. 54 Jim Click Racing Ford Mustang GT, while Bret Seafuse and James Gue recovered from a Saturday morning practice crash to take fifth in the No. 37 JBS Motorsports Ford Mustang GT.

Wilden held his lead in the GS point standings, with Gue and Seafuse 12 points back (118-106).

Matt Bell captured his third consecutive pole in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 and led twice for 23 laps early in the race. He turned the car over to Boris Said, who exited after 38 laps with engine problems.

Martin led three times for 18 laps before turning the eventual winning car over to Wilden.

[Minpin]

The fact that you have 35 consecutive posts over the span of a year shows just how much we don't care about this, at all.

[Nethead]

The fact that you have 35 consecutive posts over the span of a year shows just how much we don't care about this, at all.

So Minpin, why are YOU reading and posting in this thread, eh?  Have you gotten signed proxies to speak in behalf of the forum participants who have viewed this thread 2,687 times at the point I posted this reply?

[Nethead]

On Saturday, the WifeDude and the Nethead here took a trip to a property my mother owns to take care of some things there.  On the way there, we decided to stop at a restaurant that had TVs with access to The Speed Channel to watch the tape-delayed Grand Am race at Laguna Seca/Mazda Raceway. 

Some Long Island Iced Tea, some good eats, and some tasty desserts made for an enjoyable coupla hours watchin' the race!  The Valencia Orange Wilden/Martin Mustang FR500C that took first place brought back fond memories of the race the Nethead here attended live and in person at Laguna Seca in 1970--although it was the Trans Am Series back then--and who else but Parnelli Jones hisself won that nearly-four-decades-ago race in a Valencia Orange (that's the true name of the paint, but everyone always called it "school bus yellow" back in the day) Boss 302 (the Mustang FR500C of that era).  I sat on a bank overlooking The Esses and had a grand ol' time!  The racin' was better in 1970 because there was no "mixed classes" racing--like the Grand Sports and Street Tuners that raced together at Laguna Seca this year.  The two classes make for fuller grids, but increase the number of laps run under the yellow--pretty much unavoidable when classes with so much performance disparity race simultaneously.  To be fair, the staggered class starts improves the situation noticeably--but not as satisfactorily as separate races for each class (about half the races use the staggered starts and the other half use separate races).

Thrills, chills, and spills abounded now as it did in 1970 since Laguna Seca demands the best balance of attributes of all the tracks in the Grand Am season (and ditto for yesteryear's Trans Am seasons).  More strengths in more areas come into play at Laguna Seca than anywhere else, and if your vehicle has any weaknesses, those weaknesses will show themselves here.  Breakage happens at Laguna Seca, as do many on-track mishaps, but it's all entertaining if you ain't payin' for the repairs!  'Great to see a Mustang win, and great to see four Mustangs holding positions 1 thru 4 at one point in the race.  Good stuff!

[Nethead]

From www.autoblog.com:

Ford to offer 2010 Mustang body-in-white for racers
by Sam Abuelsamid on Jun 12th 2009 at 4:57PM

At today's third annual Ford Racing Invitational at Milan Dragway in Michigan, the automaker announced the availability of a new body-in-white based on the 2010 Mustang. The bare body shells will be available to racers looking to build Mustangs for all kinds of classes. Ford will start taking orders for the shells starting in mid-July and running through the fall. In order to avoid having to carry inventory, the shells will be built in batch in late fall and then delivered in December.

In addition, a variety of interior trim kits and wiring kits will be available to meet the needs of racers depending on the rules of the class they compete in. Ford is planning to offer the shells annually for at least the next several years based on the same schedule of orders in mid-year and deliveries in December.

http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-mustang-body-in-white/2079220/
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-mustang-body-in-white/2079218/
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-mustang-body-in-white/2079217/

[Nethead]

From www.steeda.com:

Tom Ellis - 2009 SCCA American Sedan SE Division Champion
 
While it feels like the 2009 SCCA American Sedan racing season has really just begun, Tom Ellis has been hard at it this season winning 7 out of 8 races to clinch the SCCA American Sedan South East Division Championship title for the 2009 racing season! With the blistering pace Tom has maintained this season, he set yet another unbelievable record at the Daytona International Raceway when he shattered his previous record time with a new record time of 2:07.6 ? no doubt this #51 Steeda Autosports prepared and maintained Q-Series Mustang is perfectly matched to Tom?s finely honed driving skills.

It is a perfect match of a high performance Steeda Mustang being controlled by a highly experienced driver and the end result is unstoppable victories and another championship. Keep in mind that Tom is a ?weekend warrior?, not a professional driver, but his thirst for success, dedication to the sport, and his tenacity for the best results is the perfect formula for success.

The only time Tom did not finish in the top podium position was when he finished a very close 2nd place, when after leading the race, a $1 rocker arm stud broke robbing him of the ultimate power he needed. Suffice to say, that problem has been corrected and he has continued his winning championship ways. It just underscores why the Steeda Autosports Team continually track tests and races every weekend as we continually evolve our performance parts and accessories to be the very best possible. The race track is our proving ground where we test the latest performance products for you ? our customer. Steeda?s products are designed and engineered to be the very best possible, to offer uncompromising performance, and to exceed your every expectation.

While he has secured yet another championship, Tom Ellis will still be racing aggressively for the remainder of the season in high hopes of securing additional 1st place finishes as well as the overall national Championship in SCCA American Sedan. This weekend you will be able to see Tom up close and personal at the 2009 Camp Steeda at the famed Sebring International Raceway. Make sure you stop by and congratulate Tom and check out his championship Steeda Mustang in person.

Everyone at Steeda Autosports sincerely congratulates Tom Ellis for his commitment to the sport of racing and his continued championship ways!

Remember: Talk is cheap ? only winning and breaking records count! If you want the most innovative and the best quality race proven parts you have only one choice ? Steeda!

Steeda - Speed Matters

[Nethead]

Old school and new school combine in Robin Burnett's S197 Mustang, reigning champion in American Iron.  From www.steeda.com:


Robin Burnett ? Steeda 2008 American Iron Champion  

http://www.steeda.com/news/steeda_news/05-06-09-robin-burnett-update.php

Robin Burnett never dreamed that a date he was on in 1996 at Waterford Hills Raceway in suburban Detroit would would change his life. He ended up marrying that very special woman who shared his passion for racing and, with her support, eventually would become a National Racing Champion in a Steeda Mustang. Often called a ?Cowboy? for driving antics, Robin understands it takes both an aggressive and a technical approach to be successful in racing.

The many race victories, records, and championships he has won all started with a Ford Fiesta with over 109,000 miles on the odometer when campaigned and won the 1987 local SCCA Improved Touring C class at Waterford Hills. From that very first championship, Robin was hooked on speed and the thrill of victory and has never stopped or looked back since. Ultimately when the Fiesta became a bit tired, he upped the ante, changed classes and upgraded to the Mustang platform and has consistently turned to Steeda Autosports for all his performance parts and accessories.

The very first Mustang he raced was a 1989 blue Mustang GT that was previously his daily driver, but also became his race car competing in the SCCA American Sedan Series. Over the years Robin has consistently adopted new stallions to his stable including a ?94 Cobra, ?99 Cobra, and his current ride, a 2005 Mustang GT ? all fully equipped with Steeda performance parts ? a requirement he says is mandatory to ensure his winning ways.

Robin?s accomplishments are many, ranging from Regional SCCA Champion in 1992 and 1993 to his current string of three (3) consecutive Regional Championships from 2005 thru 2007. In 2008, Robin became the NASA National Champion racing his red Steeda Q-Series Mustang against a host of many other hotly prepared vehicles. As a mater of fact, ever since Robin started running in the NASA National Championships, he has never failed to make the podium and consistently waves the Steeda championship banner!

The S197 pony he is racing today has a bevy of performance parts from Steeda Autosports and an ideal engine from Ford Racing Performance Parts. A inventory of the parts he has on the car includes our competition race wing, aerodynamic front facia, full coil over suspension, hardcore engine mounts, control arms, stay bars, and a custom Steeda brake package that provides maximum cooling. The list of Steeda parts goes on and on, just rest assured he is a rolling test bed for Steeda at every race he goes to. Also included for that special ?go power? is the famed Ford Racing Performance Parts Boss 302 Stroker motor ? a potent mandatory requirement if you want to be competitive in the NASA American Iron Class he regularly competes in. It should be noted that all of these parts are readily available for sale to anyone ? they are not custom ?one-of? parts, but rather ?off the shelf parts? that you too can purchase by visiting steeda.com.

Robin?s daily driver today is a 2007 Mustang GT that also has a serious shot of Steeda improvements including a full Steeda suspension package and a few other performance tricks from Steeda. It seams like he just cannot limit his need for performance just to the race track!

This summer, in an effort to take the ?Championship to the People?, Robin Burnett and his Steeda Mustang will be touring many other various tracks in the Eastern part of the United States to showcase his driving skills and his winning Steeda Q Mustang. In April he was at Virginia International Raceway where, in his first race of the season he chalked up another podium finish by qualifying and finishing first ? a habit he has grown accustomed to !

Later, you will also be able to see him and his red Steeda Q as on this special tour at:
Sebring (June)
Mid-Ohio (August)
Road Atlanta (August)
Watkins Glen (October)
Everyone at Steeda Autosports is exceptionally proud that the 2008 NASA American Iron National Champion ? Robin Burnett is racing again this season with his Steeda Autosport equipped Mustang. Proudly defending his championship and the Mustang badge of honor, Robin is a true champion!

Steeda ? Speed Matters

[Nethead]

Mustangs Sweep the Podium at Barber Motorsports Park Grand American Road Race

Gue, Seafuse Win KONI Challenge Race at Barber
July 19, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (July 19, 2009) - Barber Motorsports Park may just be a Ford Mustang track in Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge competition.

James Gue and Bret Seafuse captured the first KONI Challenge victory for JBS Motorsports on Sunday at the 2.3-mile, 16-turn track, as Gue beat point leader Ken Wilden by 1.863 seconds for his second career KONI win and Seafuse's first. They led the second straight podium sweep for Ford Mustangs at Barber in their No. 37 Trumansburg ShurSave Ford Mustang GT.

Overall, the pair dominated. Seafuse passed Dean Martin on Lap 8 after Martin missed a shift, then pulled out to a comfortable six-second margin before pitting for his first and only time just before the halfway point of the two-and-a-half hour race. After pit stops cycled through, Gue found himself in the lead. Gue and Wilden's teams both called to their drivers to conserve fuel, but neither ran out in the caution-free race, the second consecutive GS race at Barber without a caution.

KONI Challenge GS competitors, in fact, have gone 197 laps - or more than five-and-a-half hours - without seeing a caution period. The last yellow flag to fly in a GS race was at TheGlen.com 200 at Watkins Glen International in early June.

For Seafuse, part owner in the JBS Motorsports organization - (Jim, Bret and Sandy Seafuse) - it was his first victory in 61 KONI Challenge starts, dating back to midway through the 2001 season, and the first for the JBS Motorsports team, which only has two paid fulltime members on the team - Gue and crew chief Doug Hoover. Every member of the fly-in crew is a volunteer, and Bret Seafuse said he, father Jim and Hoover do 99 percent of the work in their Montour Falls, N.Y., shop.

"It's great; I don't really know what to say about it. We've been so close so many times, James and I," Seafuse said. "I was afraid it was going to be d?j? vu from last year. I didn't know if my heart could take that. I wasn't in the car so I didn't know how much fuel was left but I was pretty sure it would run out at the checkered flag. But we made it back; there can't be more than a pint in there.

"It was a great run. I didn't get a great start but the car was perfect," Seafuse continued. "We had the same good tires last year and it was really good over the whole run. He just kept it going and didn't make any mistakes and finally the cards fell right and here we are on top. I can't say enough for the whole crew. We had a miscue here and there. James and I probably had the worst driver exchange we ever had and lost some time there. The seat belts got messed up. We could have used that extra 8 or 10 seconds we lost in the pits but it worked out - finally! I couldn't be happier."

Gue won his second race and first since 2005 at California Speedway. The duo was close last season, with Gue leading as late as the final 15 minutes before Scott Maxwell passed him. Gue and Seafuse went onto finish second, Seafuse's highest finish before Sunday.

"I think we learned something from our mistakes last year; that we could do it on a one-stop race," Gue said. "We knew that going in and kept that in the back of our mind the whole time unlike last year, where it kind of snuck up on us at the end. We knew it was going to be very close on fuel and right at the end, the last 15 laps, we had a good (margin) on third and five or six seconds on Kenny so I was basically just gapping, you know, keeping the gap constant with Kenny and right at the end there was no point in pushing. We didn't need to win by five seconds; all we needed to win by was just a hair. I was just slowing up more and more at the end to make sure we'd be good on fuel and we were pretty much on fumes there at the end."

This was the 16th top-10 finish by the No. 37 duo in the last 18 races and fifth podium in that same stretch.

The victory did little to move Seafuse and Gue closer to Wilden in the standings, however. They cut Wilden's advantage by three to 18 points - 236-218 - with only three races remaining in the 2009 season.

Wilden and Martin finished second in the No. 59 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT, while Billy Johnson and Jack Roush Jr. were third in the No. 61 Valvoline/Roush Ford Mustang GT after making two pit stops, including one at the 30-minute mark for a problem with one of the wheels. Last season, Mustangs also swept the podium at Barber, and the ponies have corralled five of six podium finishes in the last two races.

"Well, you know he was really strong and I was just happy to try to keep the gap," Wilden said. "We started to bring it in a little bit but like Dean said, we were shifting short and I'm sure those guys were trying to conserve fuel. When it got down to those 3-4 laps from the end, I was pretty sure we were going to make it and I tried to put a bit more of a push on - the last lap especially. Coming out of (Turn) 2, I thought this was going to be an opportunity here and for some reason one of the Porsches blocked me the whole way down into the hairpin. I don't know what place he was in but it was pretty upsetting.

"But, you know, for us, it was a great race," Wilden concluded. "The fuel light was coming on two laps from the end. It was touch and go and it was great for the Rehagen Racing team, three in a row here for the Mustangs. It was tight. We were on fumes so if we'd pushed any harder at any point I don't think we would have made it around. So, congrats to the winners."

Added Roush: "The No. 61 Roush Mustang was really good at the beginning; I thought we were going to be able to drive up to the front and battle with these guys. There was a wheel issue. The wheel was loose not long into my run, 20 minutes or so. The car started to get real funky. I was just holding on to try to make it to the pit stop. Luckily, it didn't cause any serious damage. Billy got out there and did an awesome job. I've got to hand it to him; he was out there a lot longer than we intended and it was tough."

The top finishing Porsche was the No. 39 DigiTrust Group/Adam's Polishes Porsche 997 of Spencer Pumpelly and Duncan Ende, while Matt Bell and Boris Said took fifth in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3.

The next race on the 2009 season is Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivi?res Aug. 16 in Trois-Rivi?res, Quebec, Canada.

Pos No. Class Pic Drivers Team/Car
1    37     GS 1 Gue / Seafuse JBS Motorsports / Ford Mustang GT  
2    59     GS 2 Martin / Wilden Rehagen Racing / Ford Mustang GT  
3    61     GS 3 Johnson / Roush Horsepower Ranch / Ford Mustang GT  
4    39     GS 4 Ende / Pumpelly TRG / Porsche 997  
5    96     GS 5 Bell / Said Turner Motorsport / BMW M3 Coupe  
6    91     GS 6 Espenlaub / Putman Automatic Racing / BMW M3 Coupe  
7    41     GS 7 Lally / Potter TRG / Porsche 997  
8    52     GS 8 Mason / Ortiz Rehagen Racing / Ford Mustang GT  
9    87     GS 9 Jeannette / Montecalvo Kinetic Motorsports / BMW M3 Coupe  
10  97     GS 10 Gleason / Marks Turner Motorsport / BMW M3 Coupe  
11  26     GS 11 Riddle / Wilson BGB Motorsports / Porsche 997  
12  83     GS 12 Cosmo / Russell BGB Motorsports / Porsche 997  
13  33     GS 13 Davis / Smith Kinetic Motorsports / BMW M3 Coupe  
14   2      GS 14 Panzer / Snyder CMA Motorsports / Ford Mustang GT  
15 07      GS 15 Grigsby Jr. / Heath Cardiosport Racing / Porsche 997  
16 99      GS 16 Hillestad / Waddell Automatic Racing / BMW M3 Coupe  
17 47      GS 17 Igdalsky / Mattioli JBS Motorsports / Ford Mustang GT  
18   3      GS 18 Ackley / Turner CMA Motorsports / Ford Mustang GT  
19 32      GS 19 Bocchino / Lamb Kinetic Motorsports / BMW M3 Coupe  

[Nethead]

From www.world-challenge.com     In the SCCA World Challenge Championship, Brandon Davis in a Ford Mustang Cobra (which appears to be a Mustang FR500GT in FRPP-catalog-speak) leads the Driver's Championship after six races, with four races yet to be run.  Here's the current top ten drivers in the standings:
                        Points  Earnings
1 Brandon Davis      598    $18200   Ford Mustang Cobra
2 James Sofronas    555    $16100   Porsche 911 GT3
3 Andy Pilgrim         539    $14900   Volvo S60
4 Tony Rivera         537    $16500   Porsche 911 GT3
5 Randy Pobst        483    $15700   Volvo S60
6 Eric Curran          467    $14100   Chevrolet Corvette
7 William Ziegler(R)  347    $ 3000    Porsche 911 GT3
8 Sonny Whelen      345    $ 4100   Chevrolet Corvette
9 Jason Daskalos     322    $10600   Dodge Viper
10 Tony Gaples       312    $ 4200   Chevrolet Corvette

[Nethead]

From the SCCA's website:

"In 2007 and again in 2008, the Shelby GT has earned the title of SCCA F-Stock Pro-Solo champion, piloted by Sam Strano of Pennsylvania."

"Sam Strano, of Knoxdale, Pa., also jumped from third to first following Wednesday?s runs. Strano took home his second-consecutive F Stock National Championship in a Strano Performance/Capital Quest Mtg. Ford Shelby Mustang by 0.369-second over day one leader Jason Burns, of Red Lion, Pa., who was also driving a Strano Performance Parts Ford Shelby Mustang. This gives Strano a total of five National Championships."

How it's done:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezeSk1UCcp0

and:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGB2_yMeBPc

That is one great-sounding Shelby GT!  And handles the autocross national finals course as great as it sounds!

[Nethead]

SCCA: Davis Wins Mid-Ohio SPEED GT
Written by: SCCA Communications   
http://www.scca.com 08/09/2009

Lexington, OH After five trips to the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT podium this season, Brandon Davis, of Huntington Beach, Calif., finally made the climb to the top step, winning the Toyo Tires Mid-Ohio Grand Prix Presented by Dish Network. Tony Rivera, of Missouri City, Texas, and James Sofronas, of Newport Beach, Calif., completed the top three for Round Seven at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Starting from pole in the No. 10 Applied Computer Solutions/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang Cobra, Davis powered away from the grid on the standing start, maintaining his lead into Turn One over second-starting Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., in the No. 8 K-PAX Racing Volvo S60. Pilgrim stuck with Davis for the opening laps, but, determined to get his first win of 2009, the current point leader put the pedal to the medal around the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course, opening up a lead of more than a second by lap 10.

?From the start, I knew the conditions would be a challenge with the heat,? Davis said. ?On the start, I cranked the launch control up as much as I could so I wouldn?t spin the tires too much. I focused on not slipping much coming out of the corners and being real smooth an real consistent.?

On lap 17, Davis? gap to second tripled, as Pilgrim pulled into pitlane with a broken transmission output shaft. Rivera inherited third with a dozen laps remaining and was able to close the gap to Davis, who had gone into conservation mode after Pilgrim?s exit. Without a single yellow flag in the 29-lap, 65.481 mile-race, Rivera was unable to make a proper bid for the lead, and Davis cruised to his fourth-career win by 1.396 seconds, averaging 91.677 mph.

?I think Andy [Pilgrim] would have been tough, had he stayed around. Getting out front, I was able to breathe a little bit and just run laps. When I saw that Andy dropped out, I was able to conserve tires a little bit and judge the gap back to Tony [Rivera]. I lost communication to the crew actually, so I didn?t know where anybody was.

?The car was pretty good at the end. Obviously, it went away, but not as bad as it has in the past, which is good. It?s unfortunate that sometimes we have to drive like that. It would be nice to go 10-tenths every lap, but sometimes that?s the way you have to go to have a good race pace.?

Davis did have one hair-raising moment toward the end of the race, when the No. 53 Dezigns Construction Dodge Viper of Michael Hartley, from Williamstown, N.J., re-entered the course after a quick off. Evasive action on Davis? part prevented Rivera from gaining too much ground.

?When [Hartley] went off, I backed off a little to see where he was going to go. Sure enough, he popped back onto the track and I was able to get around him at the bottom of ?Madness? on the outside. It was a little bit of a moment and one of those situations that we were glad we had a lead. Otherwise, it would have been pretty hairy.

?After being so close for so long, it feels great to finally win this year. We?ve been on the pole but in the races, we just didn?t have the pace to win. So it feels pretty good.?

Starting fourth, Rivera got a run on third-staring Sofronas on the opening lap as the pair exited the Keyhole. Rivera took a look going into the Esses and Sofronas took a defensive line, resulting in the two going side-by-side through the Esses. After some side-by-side contact, Rivera was by in his No. 97 Tax Masters/Brass Monkey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 at the top of the hill.

?I had the run down the back straight,? Rivera said. ?I went to the inside. Like anybody would, he defended and I decided to try the outside and we got along side-by-side. The more I think about it, I didn?t expect us to hit. I had left tires almost in the grass. I had just enough room and at the last second I kind of got a lurch forward and we touched. I hate to get by people that way. It was unfortunate.?

After inheriting second from Pilgrim, Rivera went on a charge, closing the gap to Davis to as little as 0.997-second in the closing laps. Wary of Rivera?s orange Porsche in his mirrors, Davis cranked it up at the end, pulling away and erasing Rivera?s chances for a second race win in 2009. The Sebring race winner did not come away empty handed, however, earning a D?baufr? Swiss watch for setting the D?baufr? Fastest Lap of the Race.

?I tried to focus on what was in front of me and not behind me,? Rivera said of his late-race charge. ?I started to see Brandon get a little loose and while he was getting loose, I was starting to lose the front tires a little bit and began to push. There was really nothing I could do. If we had another 10 laps, James [Sofronas] would have probably caught and passed us both!?

Eric Curran was able to follow Rivera around Sofronas in the Esses, but on the following lap, the No. 30 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette suffered a suspension failure. Running inches off of Curran?s bumper at the time, Sofronas made contact with the Corvette and fell all the way to ninth.

?Coming out of the hairpin, I didn?t get the best launch and I saw Tony right up my rear and figured I?d better be somewhat defensive,? Sofronas said. ?He made a move on the outside. It was a good pass. I wanted to run him through and make enough room for us to race. Apparently, it wasn?t enough and we had a little contact. The worst thing about it was that Eric Curran got by me as well. That?s what eventually cost me a chance to run up front. The next lap around he had a problem as I was about an inch off his bumper coming out of the Keyhole and I just plowed into the back of his car and smashed up the front of mine.

?So, I fell back to ninth and I was frustrated. I need to have a clean, 100 percent error-free race and these weren?t reallymy fault. But, that?s racing. I just sucked it up and put my head down, started cranking off some great laps. I was holding out for a yellow to get it all back, but it never came.

Sofronas was able to climb back to fourth in his No. 14 Global Motorsports Group Porsche 911 GT3, and was promoted to third with Pilgrim?s retirement.

?I?m proud of the guys,? Sofronas concluded. ?They did an unbelievable job on the car. We ran a little bit heavier this weekend than normal and the car was still pretty good. At the end, it got a little squirrelly and [Crew Chief] Todd [Ketcham] said ?don?t throw it off the track if you can?t catch these guys,? but I didn?t give up until the last lap. The last lap was pretty hairy and I almost threw it off. These guys ran a great race. I wish I could have joined them.?

Defending Champion Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., made a stunning drive through the field. Transmission trouble on the No. 1 K-PAX Racing Volvo S60 prevented Pobst from turning a single lap in qualifying, regulating him to the final spot on the grid. By lap 10, Pobst was up to seventh and continued to slice his way through the field, finishing fourth. The drive earned Pobst the Sunoco Hard Charger of the Race Award, as well as the AutoWeek Move of the Race Award for his pass on Jeff Courtney?s No. 99 Kenda/JTM/Coins of America Dodge Viper in Turn 11 for sixth.

Dino Crescentini, of Manhattan Beach, Calif., may have started and finished fifth in his No. 4 StopTech/GMG Porsche 911 GT3, but his race was anything but uneventful. The Watkins Glen race winner dropped to sixth on the opening lap, but bounced back up to fourth following Sofronas? run-in with Curran. Sofronas would eventually re-pass his teammate before Pobst sent Crescentini back to his starting spot on lap 21.

Though Pobst?s AutoWeek Move of the Race demoted Courtney to seventh, Pilgrim?s retirement moved him back up to sixth, a season-high finish for the Milwaukee, Wis.-driver. His teammate for the weekend, former World Challenge Touring Car pilot Charlie Putman (Dodge Viper) followed Courtney across the line, finishing seventh in his first World Challenge GT race.

Tony Gaples (Dodge Viper), Gunter Schaldach (Dodge Viper) and Sonny Whelen (Chevrolet Corvette) completed the top 10.

With the win, Davis strengthened his lead over Sofronas in the Drivers? Championship with 733 points to Sofronas? 656. Rivera is third with 643, followed by Pilgrim (596) and teammate Pobst (568).

Porsche continues to lead the SPEED World Challenge GT Manufacturers? Championship Presented by RACER Magazine with 45 points. Ford is second with 41, followed by Volvo (30), Chevrolet (26) and Viper (16).

The Toyo Tires World Challenge GT Mid-Ohio Grand Prix Presented by Dish Network will air on SPEED, Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 2 p.m. (EDT).

Round Eight of the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship next heads to Elkhart Lake, Wis., for the World Challenge Road America Grand Prix Presented by StopTech, Aug. 14 ? 16.

Results from Sunday's 29-lap, 65.481-mile SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship Round Seven race, the Toyo Tires Mid-Ohio Grand Prix Presented by Dish Network at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with finishing position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, laps and reason out (if any).

1. (1), Brandon Davis, Huntington Beach, Calif., Ford Mustang Cobra, 29.
2. (4), Tony Rivera, Missouri City, Texas, Porsche 911 GT3, 29, -1.396.
3. (3), James Sofronas, Newport Beach, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3, 29, -9.592.
4. (16), Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Volvo S60, 29, -21.311.
5. (5), Dino Crescentini, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3, 29, -31.220.
6. (10), Jeff Courtney, Slinger, Wis., Dodge Viper, 29, -41.740.
7. (8), Charles Putman, Mills, Wyo., Dodge Viper, 29, -47.810.
8. (11), Tony Gaples, Libertyville, Ill., Chevrolet Corvette, 29, -49.340.
9. (12), Gunter Schaldach, Aspen, Colo., Dodge Viper, 29, -49.849.
10. (14), Sonny Whelen, Old Saybrook, Conn., Chevrolet Corvette, 29, -1:05.453.
11. (9), William Ziegler(R), Jacksonville, Fla., Porsche 911 GT3, 29, -1:05.649.
12. (7), Ritch Marziale, Tempe, Ariz., Dodge Viper, 28, -1 lap.
13. (15), Mike Hartley, Williamstown, N.J., Dodge Viper, 28, -1 lap.
14. (13), Mike Borkowski, Miami Beach, Fla., Dodge Viper, 26, -3 laps.
15. (2), Andy Pilgrim, Boca Raton, Fla., Volvo S60, 17, Trans.
16. (6), Eric Curran, Easthampton, Mass., Chevrolet Corvette, 2, Susp.

Time of race: 42 minutes, 51.354 seconds.
Average speed: 91.677 mph
Margin of victory: 1.396 Seconds
Lap leaders: Laps 1-29, #10 Brandon Davis
Debaufre Fastest race lap: #97 Tony Rivera, 1:27.981 (92.392 mph)
Fastest qualifier: #10 Brandon Davis, 1:26.497 (93.977 mph)
Sunoco Hard Charger: #1 Randy Pobst
Move of the Race: #1 Randy Pobst pass of #99 Jeff Courtney for sixth
Cautions: None

SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Drivers? Championship
After Seven of 10 Rounds
Pos., Driver, Car, Points (wins)

1, Brandon Davis, Ford Mustang Cobra, 733 (1)
2, James Sofronas, Porsche 911 GT3, 656 (1)
3, Tony Rivera, Porsche 911 GT3, 643 (1)
4, Andy Pilgrim, Volvo S60, 596 (1)
5, Randy Pobst, Volvo S60, 568 (1)
6, Eric Curran, Chevrolet Corvette, 510
7, Sonny Whelen, Chevrolet Corvette, 405
8, William Ziegler(R), Porsche 911 GT3, 404
9, Dino Crescentini, Porsche 911 GT3, 384 (1)
10, Tony Gaples, Chevrolet Corvette, 380

SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Manufactures? Championship
After Seven of 10 Rounds
Pos., Manufacturer, Points (wins)

1, Porsche, 45 (3)
2, Ford, 41 (1)
3, Volvo, 30 (2)
4, Chevrolet, 26
5, Dodge, 16 (1)

[Nethead]

You can't win 'em all , but you  can  take second, third, fourth, eighth, ninth, and tenth when you can't take first !  From www.grand-am.com:

Bell, Salama Post Grand Sport Win at Trois-Rivieres
August 16, 2009


TROIS-RIVI?RES, Quebec, Canada - Matt Bell earned his second victory of the 2009 Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge Grand Sport (GS) season Sunday in the 40th edition of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivi?res, holding off Billy Johnson and giving co-driver Don Salama his first-ever GS win.

Bell led the final 45 laps of the 66-lap, 90-minute race around the 1.521-mile, 10-turn temporary street circuit in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3, Turner Motorsport's third victory of 2009. He took over from Don Salama during one of the race's three full course cautions, made his way to the front as pit stops cycled through and sprinted away following the final caution to win by 2.7 seconds. The winning pair averaged 66.238 mph.

At times during his stint, Bell owned nearly an eight-second lead, but that was cut into late in the race by Tom Long. The gap diminished on Lap 52, when the yellow flag came out for debris on the track as a result from a crash involving John Potter's No. 41 Magnus Racing Porsche 997. It marked the first time a caution period occurred in a GS race since TheGlen.com 200 at Watkins Glen International.

The green flag flew on Lap 55, and Bell was momentarily challenged before positions began changing behind him. With that racing going on, he pulled away, moving to fifth in the standings and keeping his championship hopes alive with only two races remaining this season.

"It's fantastic to get a win on this track!" said Bell, who opened the season with a win at Daytona International Speedway, his first KONI Challenge victory. "To be behind the wheel and take the checkered flag was a great feeling. When that last yellow flag came out and took away the lead I'd built up, it was like it took all the steam out of the effort I'd put in at that point. But the BMW M3 is so balanced and I had been as conservative as I could be with the brakes so on the restart I was able to build up my lead again, thankfully. Don did a great job in his stint and the Turner guys gave me an unbelievable pit stop and then I just had to do my job from there."

Salama and Bell had never triumphed before in KONI Challenge competition at Trois-Rivi?res, but Turner Motorsport has -three times now, all in odd-numbered years. Chris Gleason, who finished sixth in the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 with Justin Marks, won in 2007 with Bill Auberlen. Auberlen also won in 2005.

Salama was a substitute for Auberlen this weekend. He becomes the first winner this season to win in multiple KONI Challenge classes - he also joined Will Turner as a winner in the Street Tuner (ST) class race in May at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

"There are so few days in racing where everything works perfectly for you, but this was one of those days," Salama said. "My job was just to stay out as close to the front as possible. I am not in the championship points battle, so we had the flexibility to do the driver change when we wanted to. So when that (second) yellow flag came out, it was exactly the right time for us. Matt drove a perfect race for us today, managing the car so that when that last restart came, he had plenty of car left underneath him and no problem moving clear of the field once again."

Johnson moved through the field to take second just a couple laps after the final caution, giving himself a second consecutive GS podium at Trois-Rivi?res and the first for Jack Roush Jr. at the track. They drove together in the No. 61 Valvoline/Roush Ford Mustang GT.

Polesitter Dean Martin led the opening 21 circuits in the No. 59 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT, which satisfied the 30-minute rule (drivers must complete that amount of time on the racing surface to obtain points). Shortly after, he turned the car over to Wilden, who reentered the race seventh. For several laps, he followed Johnson through the field, and took over third from Long on Lap 59. Wilden set the race's fastest lap two circuits later, and his efforts awarded him with a two-point increase on James Gue and Bret Seafuse, who finished fourth in the No. 37 Trumansburg ShurSave Ford Mustang. Wilden's lead is now 20 points (266-246).

Rounding out the top five were Long and Charlie Putman in the No. 91 Sparco/Import Car Store BMW M3.

Potter, who was also involved in a first-lap incident that brought out the yellow flag, was not injured in either crash. On Lap 11, David Riddle and Lee Davis were involved in a tangle - when the loss of the ABS system caused an incident and sent Riddle's No. 26 C-Max Porsche 997 off course in Turn 6. Both the No. 26 and Davis' No. 32 Luna-C Clothing BMW M3 - fielded by reigning GS race-winning team Kinetic Motorsports - were eliminated from competition.

Pos No. Class Pic Drivers Team/Car Laps Best Lap (#) Avg MPH Sponsors
1    96 GS 1 Bell / Salama Turner Motorsport / BMW M3 Coupe  66 1:11.662 66 66.194 Turner Motorsports
2    61 GS 2 Johnson / Roush Horsepower Ranch / Ford Mustang GT  66 1:11.639 61 66.161 Roush Valvoline
3    59 GS 3 Martin / Wilden Rehagen Racing / Ford Mustang GT  66 1:11.288 61 66.150 Rehagenracingproducts.com
4    37 GS 4 Gue / Seafuse JBS Motorsports / Ford Mustang GT  66 1:11.744 62 66.067 Trumansburg Shursave
5    91 GS 5 Long / Putman / Russell Automatic Racing / BMW M3 Coupe  66 1:12.202 57 66.059 Sparco, Imported Car Store,  Rogue Engineering, Land Air, Engine Studios
6    97 GS 6 Gleason / Marks Turner Motorsport / BMW M3 Coupe  66 1:11.708 29 65.981 Turner Motorsports
7    99 GS 7 Hillestad / Russell / Waddell Automatic Racing / BMW M3 Coupe  66 1:12.736 48 65.893 H&S Tool, Imported Car Store, Rogue Engineering, Land Air, Engine Studios
8    52 GS 8 Mason / Michaelian Rehagen Racing / Ford Mustang GT  66 1:12.313 57 65.808 Columbus Track & Equipment
9    47 GS 9 Igdalsky / Mattioli JBS Motorsports / Ford Mustang GT  64 1:14.093 24 63.688 Pocono Raceway
10   58 GS 10 Cameron / Finlay Rehagen Racing / Ford Mustang GT  61 1:11.990 45 65.309  
11   39 GS 11 Ende / Pumpelly TRG / Porsche 997  61 1:12.364 9 60.326 DigiTrust Group, Adam Polishes, Racers Roast
12   33 GS 12 Davis / Eversley Kinetic Motorsports / BMW M3 Coupe  11 1:12.877 9 58.820 Luna-C Clothing
13   26 GS 13 Riddle / Wilson BGB Motorsports / Porsche 997  11 1:13.156 9 58.787 C-Max
14   41 GS 14 Lally / Potter TRG / Porsche 997  5 1:14.531 5 6.575 Magnus Racing
15* 83 GS 0 Stanton / Tecce BGB Motorsports / Porsche 997  0   0 0.000  

* - Withdrew

[Nethead]

Preliminary GARRA Koni Championship race results (positions 1--12) from Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, UT:

    Nbr   Driving at end  Laps  Lead       Team                         Vehicle
1    61    Billy Johnson     46                     Horsepower Ranch    Ford Mustang GT
2    96    Bill Auberlen      46      1.095     Turner Motorsport      BMW M3 Coupe
3    97    Joey Hand         46    24.685     Turner Motorsport      BMW M3 Coupe
4    37    James Gue        46    25.307     JBS Motorsports         Ford Mustang GT
5    59    Dean Martin      46    26.800     Rehagen Racing         Ford Mustang GT
6    32    Todd Lamb        46    28.513     Kinetic Motorsports    BMW M3 Coupe
7    28    Mike Borkowski 46    31.937     Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3 Coupe
8    91    Charles Espen. 46    34.494     Automatic Racing        BMW M3 Coupe
9    39    Spencer Pump. 46    34.955     TRG                             Porsche 997
10  77    Bryan Sellers    46    35.210     Maxwell Paper Rac.     Porsche 997
11  79    Gunnar Jeann.  46 1:02.389    Kinetic Motorsports     BMW M3 Coupe
12  54    Mike McGovern 46 1:02.640    Jim Click Racing            Ford Mustang GT

The results won't be official until the top three vehicles pass post-race inspection to see that the rules were obeyed. (UPDATE: The above preliminary results have been verified as correct.) In one 2008 race, the top three finishers were disqualified at post-race inspection --two were below the minimum ground clearance and I can't recall what the third vehicle failed for.  The race finished about four or five minutes before I began this post, so the official standings probably won't be out until tomorrow.  

GARRA is a protege of NASCAR so accidentally or intentionally being in violation of any rules will not cost you your finishing position, but it will remove all team, driver, and manufacturer points from the total points of the violator(s) that would have accrued in the race(s) in which the violation(s) occurred.  But the finishing order will remain unchanged

These Mustangs are FR500Cs, and they are based on the pre-2010 S197 Mustang.  Introduced in January of 2005, they had won three of the first four Grand-Am (now The Koni Challenge) races within six months of when the first 2005 Mustangs hit the dealerships in the Autumn of 2004.  

The same team that won that first Grand-Am event in an FR500C at Daytona in January, 2005--Blackforest Motorsports--had entered a Challenger in a few of the earlier races this year, but either withdrew or finished last each time.  It hasn't been entered lately, so apparently Blackforest Motorsports has moved on...

Other new models that have been in the dealerships for six months now haven't been entered by anyone this year.  'Smart on somebody's part.

The unofficial win at Miller Motorsports Park is huge--it has one decent straight and 24 curves in less than 4.5 miles of racetrack (check out the MMP website or the GARRA website to see what I'm talking 'bout here).  Getting first, fourth, and fifth--especially against Bill Auberlen and the outstanding Turner Motorsports team is a helluva feat, and may bring the championship down to the wire!  With this win--nothing other than a BMW has ever won a GS-Class race here--Mustangs have now won at all the "BMW tracks", the other two being the fairly new Iowa Speedway and Mid-Ohio.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's GARRA's official race report:

Billy Johnson/Jack Roush, Jr. Garner Last Lap Victory In Salt Lake City 200
September 18, 2009

TOOELE, Utah (Sept. 18, 2009) - In a seesaw battle with the defending race winning driver and team Friday at Miller Motorsports Park, Billy Johnson passed Bill Auberlen for the final time in Turn 1 of Lap 46 - the final lap of the two-and-a-half hour Salt Lake City 200 (SPEED, 1:30 p.m. ET, Oct. 3) - and held off the 2008 winner by 1.095 seconds to earn his second Grand Sport (GS) victory of 2009 and the first ever for co-driver Jack Roush Jr.

Johnson, who joined the Horsepower Ranch team in June at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, regained the lead with an inside pass of Auberlen, kept Auberlen at bay for the first-ever win for Horsepower Ranch. Johnson also won in March at Homestead-Miami Speedway, driving for Motorsport Technology Group.

The race, which started under bright skies and in 80-degree temperatures, ended in near pitch-black conditions - albeit the 30-plus headlights navigating the 4.486-mile course and flashes of lightning south of the track.

Johnson originally took the lead on Lap 31 from Dean Martin and led seven laps before Auberlen took the lead and held it at the line on Lap 38. Johnson put the No. 61 Valvoline/Roush Ford Mustang GT back out in front on Lap 39 on the front straightaway, and the two ran nose-to-tail for the next three circuits. On Lap 42, however, Auberlen slipped off the track momentarily, allowing Johnson to distance himself for about a lap.

It didn't last long, however. Auberlen regained his composure and, on Lap 45, blasted past Johnson - who slipped off-line - for what he was hoping for his second consecutive victory and fourth straight for Turner Motorsport, which had won every GS race at Miller prior to Friday. But Johnson fought back, and drag-raced Auberlen all the way into Turn 1, where he took over the lead once again. Auberlen dogged him around the track, but couldn't get past, instead giving himself and co-driver Matt Bell a second-place finish in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3.

"The last few laps - how about the last 30 laps!" said Johnson, who has four ST victories to go along with his two GS wins this season. "I love racing in the dark. It's awesome to have that opportunity in the KONI Challenge. Definitely having Bill Auberlen in your mirrors is not the easiest thing, especially with the blinding lights. We went back and forth I don't know how many times. It was back and forth. Neither of us could see the road. It was a rough battle at the end - definitely good, hard racing. I was able to come out on top, and can't thank everyone at Roush enough."

Added Roush after the car's third consecutive podium finish: "Man, I was sweating bullets. That was awesome. Billy did a great job. I can't be more proud of our No. 61 Roush Valvoline Mustang. I had plenty of battles during my turn, too. I was battling a little bit of a push. I knew that was going to happen, because the fuel tank was full. It was a blast out there. I rarely want to give the car up, but it was hot in there and I think I have a few blisters."

Auberlen rejoined Bell after missing the team's last race, a victory in the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivi?res last month in Quebec.

"He had the strength on the straights; I had the strength on the braking, but not enough to make up the difference," Auberlen said of Johnson. "He did a very good job and made no mistakes. One time I got by him and thought I had enough of a gap to get down the straight. To just get down the straight would be good, but he got by me. Oh, well. One time we rubbed, but I need my racing space, too. Matt did a great job - he did exactly what he's supposed to do. The guy's a front-runner every time. Turner Motorsport had won this race every year, so now, this defeat is horrible. But I guess second is okay - we'll take the points and keep on trucking."

Bell moved past Martin into third in the GS standings by one point, while point leader and fifth-place co-finisher Ken Wilden lost two points over James Gue and Bret Seafuse, who earned fourth. Wilden and Seafuse battled for the majority of the opening 22 laps, with Wilden taking the lead on the first lap, and Seafuse moving to second by Lap 6. The pair pitted within a lap of each other, with Martin holding onto the lead after Wilden brought the No. 59 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT into the pits on Lap 25.

The only caution period came out on Lap 27 for debris in Turn 6, and the green flag flew to resume action on Lap 31, the same lap Johnson passed Martin, who had held a 10-plus second lead at the time.

Wilden now has 292 points, while Gue and Seafuse, in the No. 37 Trumansburg ShurSave Ford Mustang GT, have 274 points. A 14th-place finish in the Bosch Engineering Octoberfest Oct. 4 at Virginia International Raceway, regardless of what Gue and Seafuse do, will sew up Wilden's first Grand-Am championship. Bell also has a mathematical shot at the title, but he is still 29 points behind Wilden.

Gaining six positions in the final laps was third-place finisher Joey Hand, the co-winner the 2007 GS race, in the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 he shared with Chris Gleason, despite a second pit stop. The pair came from 17th.

Earlier in the afternoon, Dan DiLeo earned the pole position with a time of 3:09.544 (85.202 mph) in the No. 77 Maxwell Paper Products Co. Porsche 997. It was first career pole, and he and co-driver Bryan Sellers went on to finish 10th.

[Nethead]

From www.mustangblog.com:

Andrew Caddell Wins Second Consecutive Ford Racing Mustang Challenge Championship
By  Matt Rigney, Author, September 21st, 2009

This past weekend at Miller Motorsports Park Andrew Caddell earned his second consecutive Ford Racing Mustang Challenge Championship by having a flag-to-flag run to victory lane in his FR500S.  With the 2010 Hurst Ford Mustang pacing the 26-car field for the final race of the season Andrew Caddell got the early lead and never looked back keeping the likes of Ted Anthony Jr. and Jason Von Kluge behind him the whole race.  Finishing second in the overall points for the 2009 series was Ted Anthony Jr followed by Jason Von Kluge who took Third.  For all the details on the final race of the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge series check below. Press Release: Andrew Caddell secured his second consecutive Ford Racing Mustang Challenge Championship with a flag-to-flag run to victory lane at Miller Motorsports Park on Saturday, with Ted Anthony Jr., sealing second in the year-end championship with his second-place finish. Jason von Kluge returned to the Mustang Challenge podium with his third-place finish to move up to third in the overall championship. The 45-minute race got off to a clean start through the tight turn one after BFGoodrich Tires ?Ride of your Lifetime? contest winner Linda Wilson threw the green flag. But as the 26-car field made raced into lap one, an incident slowed the field after D. Rick Edwards got turned around in traffic, and Pratt Cole had nowhere to go and the two made contact despite his quick evasive maneuver. Von Kluge jumped into third on the start, but his expected battle with Dan Aweida?which had significant championship implications as the two were just two points apart heading into the weekend?didn?t play out as Aweida?s run was thwarted by a throttle problem, which took him out of the front-running pack in the early laps. On the restart, Caddell again established his lead after holding off the advances of Anthony Jr., and went on to grow his lead to take the checkered flag, flown by Series Manager Lynda Randall to close out the 2009 season. As has been the case throughout the season, the racing was intense throughout the field, with the battle for fourth the hottest contest. After a full race of dicing, Zach Lutz held on to take the position, with Mike Mcgovern and Andrew Hendricks nearly on his quarter panels as the threesome crossed the line nearly in the same shadow. ?It wasn?t that easy!? Caddell said after his fourth win of the season. ?I started with a good gap but he got really close to me under braking going into one and I think I went deeper into that corner than I had all day! But it feels great to get this championship finally locked up and now I?m really ready to celebrate. It?s been a great season and this was the best possible way to wrap it up with a win here at Miller and the home track for the series.? ?I did everything I could do today, but Andrew had a great car and there was just no way to keep his pace,? said Anthony Jr. ?I was just trying to manage the front tires because we had a bit of a push this morning. It was everything I could do. But congratulations to Andrew, he is a deserving champion. This was a great season for me, and for TC Motorsports. Those guys do fantastic work and I?m happy to have had the opportunity to race with them.? ?This is great-to come home on the podium to finish out the season,? said von Kluge. ?I love to spray some champagne and to get some new hardware! I was happy to get in front of Dan (Aweida) although it?s too bad he didn?t get the chance to race more. I?m mote sure what happened with his car, but I was focused forward. I?m really happy to come out at the end of the year third in the championship. The Mustang Challenge is a great place to race and I had a blast today.? Ford Racing Mustang Challenge Special Awards: The ?Go Pro, Be a Hero? Award went to Pratt Cole in the No. 88 RP Motorsports Mustang for his sportsmanship and dedication to the Mustang Challenge Series. Series newcomer Richard Picut made quite an impression, racing with the Miller Performance Training Center team, moving from last on the grid to 17th at the checkered flag to score the BFGoodrich ?Take Control? Award. ?The car was excellent, just fantastic,? said Picut as he was part of the post-race podium ceremonies. ?I was able to avoid some of the carnage up front and just kept on moving up with how quick the car was, so it was a great day today!? High-flying skater has a blast in Mustang Challenge Skateboarding star Bucky Lasek made his Ford Racing Mustang Challenge debut on Saturday, and the high-flying skate star enjoyed himself as he brought home a 13th place finish, driving with the MPTC team. Lasek knows his way around the track, having raced on the shorter courses and he had no problem putting the pieces together as he raced the full 4.4-mile track on Saturday. ?It was awesome! I think there could have been a little more tweaking with the car but it was pretty good and I had a lot of fun out there. I am looking forward to spending more time with Dan McKeever and working on what I am doing in the car and continuing to improve. I learned a lot today, and I really want to do more of this!? Stuck throttle makes for some on-track mechanical work for Aweida Dan Aweida was looking to hold on to third in the championship, but a stuck throttle meant that he had to stop the car to effect repairs, getting out of the machine, doing the quick fix, and getting strapped back in to race to the finish. ?I didn?t want to just give up, and it was something simple to fix but of course, I was trying to do it with my helmet on, and I?m hot, and mad that I?ve lost the track position, and it was a pain to get to!? said Aweida as he decorated his Pinewood Derby Car for the Austin Hatcher fundraising activity on Saturday night. ?But I was able to fix it and get back in there. The car was great, so it was too bad that I couldn?t fight with Jason out there but I knew that I had to get back in there just in case he had a problem. It?s disappointing, but you know I love racing here so I?ll be back!? Thank you from the Mustang Challenge drivers and staff to the corner workers and staff at Miller Motorsports Park.

Press Release: Andrew Caddell secured his second consecutive Ford Racing Mustang Challenge Championship with a flag-to-flag run to victory lane at Miller Motorsports Park on Saturday, with Ted Anthony Jr., sealing second in the year-end championship with his second-place finish. Jason von Kluge returned to the Mustang Challenge podium with his third-place finish to move up to third in the overall championship.

The 45-minute race got off to a clean start through the tight turn one after BFGoodrich Tires ?Ride of your Lifetime? contest winner Linda Wilson threw the green flag. But as the 26-car field made raced into lap one, an incident slowed the field after D. Rick Edwards got turned around in traffic, and Pratt Cole had nowhere to go and the two made contact despite his quick evasive maneuver.

Von Kluge jumped into third on the start, but his expected battle with Dan Aweida?which had significant championship implications as the two were just two points apart heading into the weekend?didn?t play out as Aweida?s run was thwarted by a throttle problem, which took him out of the front-running pack in the early laps.

On the restart, Caddell again established his lead after holding off the advances of Anthony Jr., and went on to grow his lead to take the checkered flag, flown by Series Manager Lynda Randall to close out the 2009 season.

As has been the case throughout the season, the racing was intense throughout the field, with the battle for fourth the hottest contest. After a full race of dicing, Zach Lutz held on to take the position, with Mike Mcgovern and Andrew Hendricks nearly on his quarter panels as the threesome crossed the line nearly in the same shadow.

?It wasn?t that easy!? Caddell said after his fourth win of the season. ?I started with a good gap but he got really close to me under braking going into one and I think I went deeper into that corner than I had all day! But it feels great to get this championship finally locked up and now I?m really ready to celebrate. It?s been a great season and this was the best possible way to wrap it up with a win here at Miller and the home track for the series.?

?I did everything I could do today, but Andrew had a great car and there was just no way to keep his pace,? said Anthony Jr. ?I was just trying to manage the front tires because we had a bit of a push this morning. It was everything I could do. But congratulations to Andrew, he is a deserving champion. This was a great season for me, and for TC Motorsports. Those guys do fantastic work and I?m happy to have had the opportunity to race with them.?

?This is great-to come home on the podium to finish out the season,? said von Kluge. ?I love to spray some champagne and to get some new hardware! I was happy to get in front of Dan (Aweida) although it?s too bad he didn?t get the chance to race more. I?m mote sure what happened with his car, but I was focused forward. I?m really happy to come out at the end of the year third in the championship. The Mustang Challenge is a great place to race and I had a blast today.?

Ford Racing Mustang Challenge Special Awards:

The ?Go Pro, Be a Hero? Award went to Pratt Cole in the No. 88 RP Motorsports Mustang for his sportsmanship and dedication to the Mustang Challenge Series.

Series newcomer Richard Picut made quite an impression, racing with the Miller Performance Training Center team, moving from last on the grid to 17th at the checkered flag to score the BFGoodrich ?Take Control? Award.

?The car was excellent, just fantastic,? said Picut as he was part of the post-race podium ceremonies. ?I was able to avoid some of the carnage up front and just kept on moving up with how quick the car was, so it was a great day today!?

High-flying skater has a blast in Mustang Challenge

Skateboarding star Bucky Lasek made his Ford Racing Mustang Challenge debut on Saturday, and the high-flying skate star enjoyed himself as he brought home a 13th place finish, driving with the MPTC team. Lasek knows his way around the track, having raced on the shorter courses and he had no problem putting the pieces together as he raced the full 4.4-mile track on Saturday.

?It was awesome! I think there could have been a little more tweaking with the car but it was pretty good and I had a lot of fun out there. I am looking forward to spending more time with Dan McKeever and working on what I am doing in the car and continuing to improve. I learned a lot today, and I really want to do more of this!?

Stuck throttle makes for some on-track mechanical work for Aweida

Dan Aweida was looking to hold on to third in the championship, but a stuck throttle meant that he had to stop the car to effect repairs, getting out of the machine, doing the quick fix, and getting strapped back in to race to the finish.

?I didn?t want to just give up, and it was something simple to fix but of course, I was trying to do it with my helmet on, and I?m hot, and mad that I?ve lost the track position, and it was a pain to get to!? said Aweida as he decorated his Pinewood Derby Car for the Austin Hatcher fundraising activity on Saturday night. ?But I was able to fix it and get back in there. The car was great, so it was too bad that I couldn?t fight with Jason out there but I knew that I had to get back in there just in case he had a problem. It?s disappointing, but you know I love racing here so I?ll be back!?

[Nethead]

The Nethead here's official pre-emptive farewell posting:  "Pre-emptive" because each day it is a new and different challenge to get logged in to carSPIN.net , and one of these days the Nethead here is gonna run out of tricks to try .  Already, it takes at least a half-hour or so to run through established tricks--which seem to cease being effective after a coupla days of usage --and come up with yet one more trick to get logged in (see my posting in "CarSPIN Feedback") yet one more time.

So I need to bid those of you whose wit and wisdom will be missed a proper farewell --'cause if the Nethead here waits until the last trick doesn't work, it's one logon too late, huh ?  There's no tellin' when that'll happen, I amaze myself at how creative I've become at getting past the myriad of logon hurdles thus far .  OTOH, it could be tomorrow that there are no more tricks left to try...

Instead of listing dozens & dozens of usernames of the witty and the wise, the Nethead here wishes I had the time to go back and copy/paste the best of your delightful/insightful postings in this posting--a Golden Hits album, as it were.  It would take too long, and I'm too effin' lazy--I'm glad that I made the effort to give each of you credit for "good/or funny/or both" postings at the time they occurred !  Great damned work, dudes!

Now, not everyone can be witty and wise--and some of you have never gotten close .  That's unfortunate, but in the spirit of "Auld Lang Syne" that I am trying to inspire in this reverie, just remember that the Nethead here bears you no ill will just because certain of you are blithering, utterly hopeless dipshits .  
You know who you are.  You can't help it, so puke and die.  Life's like that, deal with it.  

That sorta sums it up, in the event that logging on becomes impossible immediately or soon thereafter .  Otherwise, party on until further notice or the FCC pulls the plug! Whichever...          2864

In the Name of The Father, The Son, and The Nethead Here, Amen.
   

[Nethead]

Sooooo, the Nethead here was down in Newport News, VA again this past week-end, and cruised over to the tiny "metropolis" of Alton, VA to take in the season-ending GARRA Koni Challenge race at Virginia International Raceway, a beautiful track in the serious boondocks along the Virginia/North Carolina border.  Its only failing is its lack of a positions tower or even an electronic/mechanical/manual equivalent to golfing's leaderboard.  The PA system is utterly ineffective unless all the racecars are at the far end of the roughly 3.25-mile track.   Once you're at the track, you need a laptop to get the live timing & scoring data from the Grand American website.  Occasionally, you can at least determine the leader by checking out the car behind the pace car during laps under caution (and there was a caution for two laps that ended just two laps before the checkered flag).
 
Supposedly, it was to be the first head-to-head roadracing event pitting a Challenger, a Camaro, and a Mustang against each other.  Sanctioning body hype that was, since the Challenger was withdrawn before the race yet again--this time with complaints that (A) the Challenger is bigger than the Camaro and thus has more frontal area, (B) the Challenger is required to race at 100 pounds heavier than the Camaro, and (C) the Challenger's engine has less displacement than the Camaro's, and yet the Challenger must race with a restrictor plate in place whereas the Camaro is not required to race with a restrictor plate on the biggest displacement engine allowed in the Series.  To which the Nethead here would say "Whose fault is it that the Challenger is so damned big and heavy?"  The restrictor plate issue may be a valid issue, perhaps, but Mustangs are required to race with seventy percent restrictor plates using the only under-five-liter engine ever required to race with a restrictor plate and they win regularly (including yesterday, in fact--which additionally won the Driver's Championship for a Mustang driver, the Team Championship for a Mustang team, and the Manufacturer's Championship for Ford for the third time in five years).

The Nethead here had a balcony to view the race, above the entrance to pit road in the dogleg straight that has the start/finish line (visible about 150 yards downtrack).  As it happened, the Stevenson Motorsports Sunoco Camaro had the first pit position on pit row, which turned out to be fortunate for drivers Donohue & Bucknum.  More on that later.  The balcony location allowed me to easily deduce that the Gue/Seafuse #37 JBS Motorsports Mustang was clearly the class of the field without having the official race report pasted below.  'Also got to see a magnificent 270-degree spin which then reversed for a second 270-degree spin in the opposite direction by the great Bill Auberlen and his ever-formidable Turner Motorsports BMW M3 coupe.  And got to witness another spin and romp thru the meadows by a vehicle of the Porsche persuasion, with the driver managing to stay out of the tires & trees and resume the race without a caution--de facto proof that a 997 in the right hands can make a tenacious off-road vehicle!  

But I digress...the article says that the Camaro retired with clutch failure with 80 minutes left in the race (23rd in class out of 25 GS-Class racecars, 43rd out of 49 overall).  The Nethead saw the Camaro coast into its pit at 2:10 PM local, a flurry of activity ensued, the hood was raised for only about ten seconds at which point it was slammed and four dudes began the long push past roughly eight other pits to the opening that allowed it behind the wall for the afternoon.  There is a long downhill stretch of esses that ends about one hundred yards before the entrance to pit road, which aided the driver to get the Camaro to that first pit location.  This was only ten minutes into the second half of the four hour event, at which time there was 110 minutes left in the race--maybe they informed the tower that they were out of the race when there was only 80 minutes left in the race, but it entered the pits for the final time with 110 minutes left in the race.  Four dudes pushing it behind the wall was a clue.  It was the third GS-Class car to DNF out of twenty-five GS-Class cars on the grid, and it is not heartening that it DNF'd in under two hours and thirty minutes--the typical duration of a Grand Am race.  This is the longest race of the season at four hours, shortened from six hours last year because that six hour event gave Mustangs their first podium sweep ever as others fell by the wayside somewhere short of six hours.  Anyhoooo, the Camaro qualified thirteenth, and was probably running somewhere between thirteenth and ninth when it and a Mustang were the only GS-Class cars to pit during the first caution of the race.  This positioned those two racecars advantageously when the leaders pitted under the green thirty or forty minutes thereafter, and that is the point at which the Camaro ran as high as third.  The Camaro's next pitstop, under the green, sorta restored the original order, less any vehicles that may have had to make additional pitstops.  Certainly, the Camaro was not the slowest vehicle on the track (understandable, with the biggest engine in the race running without a restrictor plate--or so Dodge would maintain...), but there were seven-to-nine that were faster all the time and four-to-six others that turned faster best laps in the race, including the two GS-Class Porsches that DNF'd or wrecked (whichever) before the Camaro.

Mustangs have now won their third Grand American Road Racing Association Manufacturer's Championship in the last five, including the most recent two Championships back-to-back.  And the Camaro's 23rd place finish knocked Dodge down to fifth place (which got 5 points for a 26th place in the single race the Challenger was not withdrawn from before the start of the race) behind Mustang (346 points), BMW (345 points), Porsche (287 points), and Camaro (8 points).  

The top three driver's in the Driver's Championship drove Mustangs (Wilden, Seafuse, and Gue) and the top two teams in the Team Championship campaigned Mustangs (Rehagen Racing & JBS Motorsports).  

Here's the official article:

Gue, Seafuse Win At VIR; Wilden Takes Title
October 4, 2009

DANVILLE, Va. (Oct. 4, 2009) - James Gue and Bret Seafuse did what they set out to do - win the 2009 Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge Grand Sport (GS) season-ending Bosch Engineering Octoberfest on Sunday at Virginia International Raceway, and the Manufacturer's Championship for Mustang. However, Mustang rider Ken Wilden's sixth-place finish was enough to keep the points lead and take his first series title.

In the Street Tuner (ST) class, Christian Miller's Civic retired just over an hour into the four-hour race, but he was able to hold on to win that title, in a race won by Tom Long and Derek Whitis in the No. 145 Mazda/Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5.

Gue took the lead on Lap 83 of 108 and led the final 26 laps after taking control from Seafuse - who had led from Laps 66-82 at the point - during the JBS Motorsports team's final pit stop. Gue and Seafuse celebrated their second victory of 2009 in the No. 37 Trumansburg ShurSave Ford Mustang GT, as they led twice for a race-high 66 laps.

Seafuse - who stated before the race the goal was simply "to win" - started ninth, but Gue moved the car into the lead during his stint, and the two were never shuffled out of the top five.

Meanwhile, polesitter Wilden led the opening two laps, and he and co-driver Dean Martin participated in a different pit stop sequence, opting to stay out during the first of three caution periods while many of the leaders pitted. Martin led two laps during his stint, and Wilden was able to move into the top five during the race's final hour.

However, Wilden fell outside the top five at the beginning of the final hour, and was eighth on the race's final restart. Running conservatively enough to stay out of trouble, but aggressively enough to keep the championship lead, Wilden dropped to ninth in the first turn. He eventually finished seventh and was promoted to sixth following a penalty on Billy Johnson, showing emotion upon taking the checkered flag.

The final advantage for Wilden was nine points (317-309) over Gue - who pulled away on the final restart - and Seafuse, who had to settle for second in the championship for the second straight season. Last year, they finished six points behind titlists Scott Maxwell and Joe Foster.

"I wasn't worried (when they fell behind early in the race)," said Wilden, whose VIR finish tied his season worst. "I knew what our strategy was, and it played out. We just needed to do what we had to do, and we executed. On the first pit stop, we probably should have pitted with the leaders, but we knew we'd catch up again. We expected another yellow. On the championship, I'm just thrilled for the No. 59 Rehagen Mustang, 986 Cooling and Belesta.

"This is a really tight year for us and for Rehagen financially, and they really stepped up for me to come in here and show what we could do," Wilden continued. "Running with Dean is like having two pro drivers. Hats off to the crew, one of the best pit teams in the paddock. The car was flawless all year. We did not have one failure, and we didn't replace one body panel all year. I'm very happy and very pleased."

The championship was also the first for Wilden's team, Rehagen Racing, and the second consecutive for Ford, which defeated BMW by four points (348-344).

Disappointed with not winning the title, Gue was nonetheless content with winning the race. He held off Salt Lake City 200 race co-winner Johnson on the final restart and pulled away. Side-to-side contact between Johnson and Bill Auberlen in the No. 96 Motul BMW M3 allowed Terry Borcheller to jump ahead of both and into second, 1.305 seconds behind Gue. All 11 GS races this season finished with a margin of victory under five seconds.

"We came into this race knowing we had to win, and that's all we could control," Gue said. "I know the (No.) 59 guys had a rough time today, but they still had enough for the championship. But it's been a great year. We came up a little short in the championship, but I'm proud of Bret and all the guys. They did an outstanding job."

Borcheller co-drove with No. 28 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3 driver Andrew Hendricks, making only his second career KONI Challenge start. Borcheller led 20 laps during the race's first hour. It was the best-ever finish for Fall-Line Motorsports.

Johnson was issued a 45-second penalty for the contact as well as blocking, dropping him and co-driver Jack Roush Jr. to ninth, the final car on the lead lap, and giving Dan DiLeo and Eric Foss third in the No. 8 Maxwell Paper Products Co. Porsche 997. It marked Maxwell's first-ever KONI Challenge podium.

Auberlen and Matt Bell finished fourth, while Charles Espenlaub and Charlie Putman took fifth in the No. 91 Sparco/Imported Car Store BMW M3. Bell finished third in the points standings, one point ahead of Martin.

Virginia-based Motorsport Technology Group and the No. 18 Evolution Motorsports Porsche 997, with drivers Ryan Dalziel and Payton Wilson of Chantilly, Va., finished 14th, one lap down.

The race marked the debut of the Chevrolet Camaro in KONI Challenge competition. Second-generation drivers David Donohue and Jeff  Bucknum co-drove the No. 6 Sunoco entry fielded by Stevenson Motorsports - carrying the blue and yellow colors campaigned by Mark Donohue and Ronnie Bucknum for Penske Racing in the 1969 SCCA Trans-Am Championship. David Donohue qualified 13th and had the car up to third before turning the car over to Bucknum, who retired with clutch problems with 80 minutes remaining. They finished 23rd in class.

The race's three cautions - all for stalled cars - slowed the race's average to 88.093 mph.

NOTES & QUOTES THRU THE FIRST DRIVER CHANGES IN THE RACE:

Rough Weekend for APR (Updated Sunday at 3:15 p.m.)

After a pair of engine failures on Friday - one that sidelined the team's No. 181 entry - the APR Motorsport's remaining No. 171 VW GTI went to the garage midway through the VIR finale.

"We started to lose power just ever so slightly," Ian Baas said. "I realized that my shift points were moved back a couple of car lengths, it was just small enough to perk my interest. Sure enough, it go worse and worse. I came into the pits, they were unable to diagnose the problem. They're really unsure what was the cause of the problem. We're looking forward to next year, and see what we can do there, because it's over now. It's terrible, but that's how it goes."

Donohue: Penske and My Dad Would be Proud (Updated Sunday at 2:30 p.m.)

David Donohue (No. 6 Sunoco Camaro) - "It's been an awesome day and an awesome weekend. Stevenson Motorsports and Riley Technologies put a nice car out. For something that's right out of the box, it's doing well. They've done their homework. We've had our teething problems, but Jeff (Bucknum) have put a huge effort in and it's bearing fruit now. We've climbed the charts in every session and the car seems reasonably competitive out there. I don't know if we're ready for a win, but the light's at the end of the tunnel. Stevenson Motorsports, along with Bill and Bob Riley, have a lot of experience and depth. In the GT program they've been the underdog, but I say that tongue in cheek because they're always up front and winning races. They're not so much the underdog anymore, they're a quality organization. This new Camaro looks fantastic on the track, it looks fantastic up close. I think Roger Penske and my dad would be real proud if they saw it in real life."

Quotes Following Opening Driver Shifts (Updated Sunday at 1:45 p.m.)

Bryan Ortiz (No. 52 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT) - "Thanks to the Rehagen Racing team, the car was just perfect. I made a mistake near the beginning of the race, I was second and I lost a lot of positions but I got back on and passed everybody who had passed me. I was passing an ST car and I saw him move, and I turned too fast and went straight in turn one. But nothing happened to the car. On the last restart, I took first place and kept going. I lost a lot of time on my last lap before my pit stop, the car was stumbling because it was running out of fuel. Hopefully, we can come back and be at front at the end of the race."

Ken Wilden (No. 59 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT) - "The first hour went by fast. I think the BMW (Terry Borcheller) wanted to get out and go, so I let him go, and Bryan (Ortiz) was really quick. I just wanted to stay ahead of the rest of them. I let a couple of guys go, but they started losing their tires and I thought it would be best to stay ahead of them. I had a pretty good stint. We wanted to stretch the first stint out as much as we could, that's why we didn't come in (under caution). Hopefully, we can make up the positions before the end of the race. The car's running really good. I wasn't running over the curbs, I was short-shifting, taking care of it. The championship is definitely not over - it won't be until the checkered flag. But we're pretty confident - Dean (Martin) will be back up to the top in the points."

Bret Seafuse (No. 37 JBS/Trumansburg ShurSave Ford Mustang GT) - "We're doing what we need to do for now. Obviously, we need to win and hope they have at least a little bit of a bad race. We've got a pretty good car and are running pretty competitive lap times, so mostly it's just patience and trying to keep it in one piece. We still need to be there at the end, but we're pushing pretty hard."

Daniel DiLeo (No. 8 Maxwell Paper Racing Porsche 997) - "It was a good run. The Maxwell Paper Products car started off slow early in the weekend, but every session we got out we were moving up the charts and it's a good race car. I didn't know it, but my good friend Bryan Sellers who was supposed to co-drive with me got bitten by something, so Eric Foss got in the car. He handn't been in all weekend, but he's picking up his pace. Hopefully he can keep it on the lead lap and give me a shot at the end."

Andrew Aquilante (No. 111 Subaru Road Racing Team Legacy) - "Our goal from the start was to get the Subaru Legacy up front and stay out of trouble, and hope that something would happen to Christian (Miller) in the first 30 minutes. But it looks like he's won (the ST championship), and congratulations to him. We just want to win the race now. We've been hungry for a victory all season."

Christian Miller (No. 74 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si) - "The guys at Compass have given me a perfect car all weekend. I just got over one of the curbs a little too hard and broke an axle, but we'll get it back out, finish the race and enjoy the rest of the season. We've had a great time. It's nice to have the championship over, now I can relax and enjoy it. At the end of the day, I do this because I enjoy it. Now that the championship's over, I can go out and have fun."

Ray Mason (No. 52 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT) - "We pitted b efore the yellow, so we lost some. I got out in 21st and got it back up to seventh. Now we've got Bryan (Ortiz) back in for the finish."

Freedom Autosport To Campaign Three MAZDASPEED3s (Updated at 10:56 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 4)

Freedom Autosport will add to its three Mazda MX-5s a trio of MAZDASPEED3s for the 2010 KONI Sports Car Challenge. The team, which has campaigned three MX-5s since 2008, will add the 3s to its stable, which should give the team six cars next season.

Mazda has entered the all-new MAZDASPEED3 five-door in the hotly contested KONI Sports Car Challenge in the Street Tuner (ST) class.  MAZDASPEED engineers will work in partnership with SpeedSource to develop the car with all parts and information shared with all Mazda customers.

The KONI Challenge Spec MAZDASPEED3 will feature a "crate stock engine" with a sealed factory ECU. All SpeedSource developed parts will be sold through MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development. This will ensure the same level of customer support that has made the RX-8 the car of choice in the Grand-Am Rolex Series GT championship. The street going MAZDASPEED3 has a standard 263hp turbocharged Mazda MZR engine and has a base MSRP of $23,945.

"With our success racing the MX-5 Miata, we look forward to applying this knowledge to the new MAZDASPEED3 in 2010," said Freedom Autosport team owner and co-driver Derek Whitis. "We will be campaigning a multi-car effort and look forward to more MAZDASPEED victories."

Added David Spitzer, Grand-Am Vice President of Competition: "The KONI Challenge has over a dozen makes and models competing for the most diverse grid in racing.  Mazda has a tremendous road racing heritage and their vision of maximizing excitement and passion with minimum cost is exactly in line with the KONI Challenge goals.  We are very happy to welcome the new MAZDASPEED3 to the series for 2010."

Automatic Goal: Two Top Fives (Updated at 10:47 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 4)

Automatic Racing team principal David Russell said his team's goal with be earning two top fives in Sunday's race.

"That's exactly what we want," Russell said, "and I think we can achieve it."

Russell, teaming with Barry Waddell and Mark Hillestad in the No. 99 H&S Tools/Imported Car Stores BMW M3 in the season finale, expects the team to do well at VIR, where two seasons ago Automatic celebrated its only championship. Last season, the team was also in contention to win a championship but finished third.

In the team's second car, the No. 91 Sparco/Imported Car Stores BMW M3, will be Charles Espenlaub and Charlie Putman, who are in their second season running together.

BGB Motorsports: "This Is Our Race" (Updated at 10:45 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 4)

BGB Motorsports team principal John Tecce said the Bosch Engineering Octoberfest is one race the team should win in KONI Sports Car Challenge competition.

After several seasons of being close, he said this may be the year. Scott Russell and Guy Cosmo will drive the No. 83 BGB Motorsports Porsche 997, while David Riddle and Kris Wilson will pilot the No. 26 C-Max Porsche 997.

"This is our race," Tecce said. "BGB earned its second-ever victory here, so we know we can win here. We nearly won last year - we ran up front, at least - and were in contention for a championship until the final hour. So this year, we're hoping for a little better luck."

Dalziel Said MTG Porsche 997 Getting Better (Updated at 10:44 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 4)

Ryan Dalziel and Payton Wilson hadn't run an entire session until Sunday morning at VIR, as they prepared the No. 18 Evolution Motorsports Porsche 997 for Motorsport Technology Group.

The only Virginia-based Grand Sport team has been working throughout the weekend on the car, making adjustments to get the car competitive. The team already has one victory this season - at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"We're working at it," Dalziel said.

Dalziel is running his second career GS race, while Wilson is running his first.

Kinetic Motorsports Gaining Momentum (Updated at 10:43 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 4)

Ryan Eversley led the final practice session Sunday morning, and he said the Kinetic Motorsports team should fare well in the race.

"We have four happy race cars," Eversley said. "We're looking for some strong finishes."

Kinetic Motorsports is one of a few teams that has run with the new BMW M3 E92 model; the three other cars are still E46s. The team's No. 33 Luna-C Clothing, with team owners Nic J?nsson and Russell Smith, as well as Lee Davis, was fifth Sunday morning.

This was the first season for Smith and Davis in GS, after spending a year in ST. They debuted in GS in last year's finale at VIR.

"We're pretty happy with the season," Davis said. "We've made strides and look forward to being up there with Ryan's car at the end of the race."

Sellers, Maxwell Paper Showing Strong (Updated at 10:42 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 4)

Several small adjustments have put the No. 8 Maxwell Paper Products Co. Porsche 997 near the front of the last two GS sessions.

Bryan Sellers moved into the top five late in Sunday's session, while DiLeo qualified fifth Saturday afternoon. The team is looking for its first-ever KONI Challenge victory.

"We're running well," Sellers said. "We haven't made many big changes, just a lot of small ones. We should be okay."

APR Motorsport Will Not Race No. 181 VW (Updated at 8:55 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 4)

APR Motorsport decided late Saturday it will not race the No. 181 Volkswagon GTI after assessing the damage from a fire in the second practice session. Dion von Moltke pulled off with engine problems, after which the resulting fire badly damaged the front end of the car.

Von Moltke and Mike Sweeney had won three of the last five races, including the most recent round at Miller Motorsports Park. They started the run with back-to-back triumphs at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio. Barber winners Ian Baas Josh Hurley will co-drive the team's No. 171 entry.

Post-Qualifying Quotes (Updated Sunday at 8:20 a.m.)

Ken Wilden - "I couldn't ask for any better. We had some problems in the last session. We got it back to the garage and got them all fixed. I didn't expect to see a (2:0)2.6 on the clock. I gave it my all. I didn't feel like I was risking the car, because that's not what we're here to do this weekend, but I wanted to give it a good effort. I think I was aggressive where I needed to be, and I was calmer in the tight stuff, and I think that paid off. I'm pleased for Rehagen and Ford - it's great to give them the last pole of the year. Hopefully, it will be a nice place to start the race, so we can get off to a good start and stay away from all that stuff in the back and I can run a good race. Usually I drive last, so I don't get the opportunity, but I think I've gotten a few poles in the past when I've had the chance. I really like qualifying. When I was racing Atlantics, I like qualifying when we only got to put in one lap.
"We know what our job is tomorrow, and that is to finish. We'll just stay with the JBS guys and not let them get too far ahead of us. We're going to settle into a good pace and see where the car is after a couple of hours. If by chance we win the championship, we're going to go right for the win as fast as we can. We want to get Ford the manufacturer's championship wrapped up as well, so we just want to be smart about it."

Terry Borcheller - "We've been on a really steep learning curve with this car and with Andrew (Hendricks). The whole purpose of this race was to get him some time in preparation for next year, whatever decision we make is going to involve KONI. We're getting him up to speed with the series, with the cars, with the traffic, with the track - he's never been here before. We're sorting this car out. There are a lot of things that could make it better. I think we've gotten many of them sorted out in qualifying, but I think there's still more for the race. The balance was off, but at least it was off with over steer so I could drive it for a couple of laps on the new tires. It's a four hour race, the longest race of the year. I think there's going to be a lot of attrition, because the KONI teams are used to going two and a half hours. Getting to start is nice, because I rarely get to qualify, and it's fun actually - it's been a long time."

Bryan Ortiz: "Qualifying went pretty good. We've been struggling a lot with the car, but we finally have a setup that will be good for the race. Tomorrow we're going to try a couple things not to be third, so we can be first in the race. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day for us."
Charles Espenlaub - "I don't get the chance to qualify in this series very often, so it's exciting to be able to do that. We've been chasing the setup this weekend. Everybody at Automatic has done a great job to give me a great car for qualifying. We've got our race setup in it, as well."

Street Tuner Qualifying
Owen Trinkler - "It was a good lap. I've got to thank Trevor (Hopwood) in the 198 who's going to be my co-driver in the 197 for the four-hour coming up tomorrow. I got a good tow. We timed it right on traffic, and he pulled me around the whole lap - even on the back straightaway. It means a lot for us to get a draft. We'll see what happens in the race. I know we've got a good car, but I know the Subaru is going to be better in the longer runs than us. We can run a quick lap right out of the box, but we're going to slow down a little bit. We're happy - another pole for us this year."

Charles Aquilante - "Qualifying was good. It's a good place to be starting tomorrow, out of the middle of the pack. It's nice to be up front. We've got our Subaru Legacy running pretty well here, and we'll see what happens. We've got to be prepared for everything tomorrow, and the crew has to be prepared as well, to make repairs if something happens."

Andrew Carbonell - "We've been trying to chase down the top times all weekend. The team has been working non-stop on the car and Freedom is doing an amazing job. I just tried everything I could, pushing it a little bit more on every lap. I came close, within four-tenths. I didn't think we could be that fast, so I', happy with how I did and I think we can hold it up throughout the race.

Ian Baas - "I'm really happy about qualifying, because that was only one lap. We had the front clip off that car about five minutes before that lap. Everything was pulled off the engine. I went out and knew I had pretty much only one lap to do it in. I'm pretty happy with that. The car is the best it's been all weekend, and I hope we've got our troubles and hardships out of the way and will be smooth sailing to a victory tomorrow."

Christian Miller - "It's a long race, so qualifying up front is nice just to be away from any bad luck that can come from being in the middle. My hat's off once again to the team. Every single race this season Compass360 has given me a flawless car, and I haven't had a single problem all season. These guys humped all day. They changed the tranny in one car, the motor in another car, and all three cars went out and qualified. It's a four-hour race, we'll do what we can. For tomorrow, ?Don't crash the car' is the message I've been given repeatedly. It's a half-hour of racing, and then go and have fun."

Hendricks Makes KONI Debut with Former Daytona Prototype Champ (Updated Saturday at 1:10 p.m.)

Andrew Hendricks, a graduate of the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge, is making his KONI Sports Car Challenge debut in the No. 28 Fall Line Motorsports BMW M3. Hendricks ran in the Mustang Challenge the past two seasons, finishing 10th in the points this season at Miller Motorsports Park and Mid-Ohio. He also was a two-time winner of the BFGoodrich Take Control Award at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Barber Motorsports Park.

Co-driving is Terry Borcheller, the inaugural Grand-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype champion in 2003 and winner of the 2004 Rolex 24 At Daytona. Jim Bell, who was crew chief on Borcheller's No. 54 Chevrolet Doran, is assisting the Fall Line team this weekend.

"Andrew is making his KONI debut, and is looking forward to running for KONI Rookie of the Year next season," Borcheller said.

This is only the third race of the season for Borcheller, who finished on the podium at both the Rolex 24 At Daytona (with Brumos) and the Central American Trans-Am Championship in Guatemala.

Borcheller will take on a new capacity next weekend at Homestead, conducting the Motorsports Ministries chapel service Saturday morning. "That's something new and exciting for me," Borcheller said.

Mark Pombo is set to make his Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge debut this weekend, joining Andrew Carbonell in the No. 146 Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5 in a pairing of second-generation drivers.

"I think it's great to be the only veteran to drive for Freedom Autosport," said Pombo, who served 16 months in Iraq in 2003-04 at the beginning of the current war.
Pombo has experience at VIR in the VW TDI Cup, winning last year and finishing second this year. He also won in that division last weekend at Road Atlanta during the Petit Le Mans weekend.
He is the son of veteran sports car racer Pepe Pombo - who frequently raced against Alfredo Carbonell, father of his co-driver. The elder Carbonell drove for Freedom earlier this year at Trois-Rivieres, where he shared in his son's first KONI victory.

"I've got big shoes to fill," Mark Pombo said. "Andrew's already won a race. I'm just looking to hand the car over to him in good position."

The two drivers raced against each other in Spec Miata. For Carbonell, this will be his third KONI race at VIR.

"I've raced here the past two years," he said. "It's a fun and exciting track. It's full of different high-speed turns that really keeps you on your toes. It's pretty challenging."

?BurHop' Reunited for RSR (Updated Saturday at 1:10 p.m.)

Andrew Burrows and Trevor Hopwood had driven together throughout their entire three seasons racing in the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge - up until the most recent event at Miller Motorsports Park in September. There, a series of mishaps had them running in separate cars after running 30 races together.

This weekend, they are back in the No. 198 RSR Motorsports Mini Cooper S, where they will be joined by Andy Bentinck-Smith.

"We've raced against Andy for years, and we always thought about having him join us in one of the longer races," Hopwood said.

Burrows and Hopwood first drove together in the 24 Hours of Moroso (now Palm Beach International), where they were joined by Bentinck-Smith in a third-place finish.
"Actually, I've known ?ABS' longer than I've known Andrew," Hopwood said.

Burrows also co-drove with ABS at VIR in the 13-hour Charge of the Headlight Brigade, winning their class.

Turner Motorsport Talking Rolex Series GT (Updated at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 3)

Turner Motorsport team owner Will Turner has championships in both KONI Sports Car Challenge classes, so it comes as no surprise he will campaign a car in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series next year.

The car and fulltime drivers are yet to be determined, Turner said, though he did admit Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana will drive in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Turner said his KONI Challenge operations should proceed as usual.

"This is obviously a great and natural step we at Turner Motorsport are undertaking," Turner said. "Our KONI Challenge program has been strong for several seasons, and we expect to be strong in the Rolex Series as well."

Beyond the Rolex 24, the team is expected to compete in at least another endurance race, with the hopes of a full season.

Spaude Hopes to End Year With Podium (Updated at 9:35 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 3)

Bret Spaude enters Sunday's race still in the running for the Mesco Solutions Building for the Future Rookie of the Year Award, but is looking for a podium finish to end the campaign.

"I'd like to get my first podium, and get some momentum on our side," said Spaude, who shares the No. 29 Bill Fenton Motorsports Conda Civic Si with Matt Plumb. "I think we'll be alright."

The Connecticut driver brings plenty of momentum to VIR. Last weekend, he finished second in T3 in the SCCA National Championship Run-Offs at Road America.

"Our gearing was not suited for that track, and we were four seconds off the pole," Spaude said. "I started seventh, but was up to second before turn one on the first lap. The track was still wet from overnight rain, and that helped us out a tremendous amount."

Spaude was second in last year's Run-Offs at Topeka, Kan. "We were hoping for a top five this year," he admitted. "I won last year in my first Run-Off at Topeka, and finishing first and second - we'll take that."

National Champ Knowles Tests New Subaru (Updated at 9:20 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 3)

From from winning his fifth SCCA National Championship in T2, Don Knowles was at VIR on Friday, testing the new Subaru of America Racing Team Subaru Impreza WRX-STI that will compete next year in KONI Challenge Grand Sport competition.

Andrew Aquilante formerly ran the car in the SCCA World Challenge, but this marked its first track appearance in KONI configuration. There were two No. 111s on track, Knowles in the red GS entry while Aquilante and Kristian Skavnes co-drove the Street Tuner Legacy that they will race on Sunday.

"We wanted to get it on track for practice yesterday," team owner Joe Aquilante said. "It's not ready for prime time right now, but handling-wise, it's about there. We learned what we wanted to learn, and got photos of the car on the track. But with Andrew and Kristian racing tomorrow, we can't afford to have it as a distaction for the team's preparation for the race."

This will be the last ride for the Legacy under the SRRT banner, with the team planning to sell their ST cars to privateers to concentrate on the new Impreza in 2010.

Knowles now won three of the last four Run-Offs in a Pontiac Solstice GXP Turbo. Last year, he led every lap but the last one. It was a long gap between titles for Knowles, who won the 1978-79 championships in a Saab 99. He leaves a group of four-time champs that includes Roger Penske, Paul Newman and Walt Hansgen.

"Winning five championships gets me in the tall cotton, the sharp end of the winners' list," Knowles said. "It's always fun."

Also winning a National Championship was Grand-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype driver Scott Tucker, winning in T1. Aquilante won that division in 2007, while Supercar Life driver Ed Zabinski was last year's champ.

Driver's Champion Ken Wilden had this to say afte the race:

Wilden Takes KONI Challenge Championship
Oct 6, 2009

DANVILLE, VA- (October 5, 2009) ? Ken Wilden of Oakville, Ontario, won the 2009 Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge Grand Sports Championship on Sunday with his run to 6th place in the Bosch Engineering Octoberfest at Virginia International Raceway.

Wilden started the race from pole position, and the No. 59 Ford Mustang stayed in the lead pack throughout the full four-hour race distance as he shared the driving duties with Dean Martin in the No. 59 Rehaganracingproducts.com Ford Mustang FR500C. The duo employed a different pit strategy than the rest of the field to ensure that the points payout would work for the championship, but were on the same page as the leaders in the final segments of therace.

With the front end of the 55-car field all fighting for a final shot at the podium in the hectic closing moments of the endurance race, Wilden played it smart as he brought the Mustang home in sixth place to close out the year and lock up the drivers championship as well as scoring the Team Championship honors for Rehagan Racing.

The KONI Championship is Wilden?s fourth career championship, having won the GM/Players Championship twice before taking the Motorola Cup (which later became the KONI Challenge) title in 1994.  

?It is a huge relief!? said Wilden, who has held the title lead since March. ?Our goal was to show that Rehagan Racing is a championship team and we did exactly that. My hat is off to Larry Rehagen and to Dean Martin, I owe it all to them. The Mustang was flawless all year long, we didn?t have a single problem in all the hours of hard racing that we did all year long and as you can tell with how close the margin was in the points, that?s really important. This series is so competitive, you have to be fast and strong every time out.?

The championship relief was one that was relished by Wilden and the entire crew as the champagne began to spray at Virginia International Raceway.

"It?s been a long ten months! This is a really tight year for us and for Rehagen financially, and they really stepped up for me to come in here and show what we could do," Wilden continued as he was greeted by his family in victory circle. "Running with Dean is fantastic and I?m really happy that we were also able to bring the team championship for the No. 59.  Hats off to the crew, one of the best pit teams in the paddock. The car was flawless all year. We did not have one failure, and we didn't replace one body panel all year. I'm very happy and very pleased."

Wilden will get his hands on the hardware next week at the KONI Challenge banquet, and will be on hand for the Rolex Sports Car Series season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway as he relishes the payoff from a long hard season of racing.

[Nethead]

From Steeda's website:

Tom Ellis - 2009 SCCA American Sedan SE Division Champion  

While it feels like the 2009 SCCA American Sedan racing season has really just begun, Tom Ellis has been hard at it this season winning 7 out of 8 races to clinch the SCCA American Sedan South East Division Championship title for the 2009 racing season! With the blistering pace Tom has maintained this season, he set yet another unbelievable record at the Daytona International Raceway when he shattered his previous record time with a new record time of 2:07.6 ? no doubt this #51 Steeda Autosports prepared and maintained Q-Series Mustang is perfectly matched to Tom?s finely honed driving skills.

It is a perfect match of a high performance Steeda Mustang being controlled by a highly experienced driver and the end result is unstoppable victories and another championship. Keep in mind that Tom is a ?weekend warrior?, not a professional driver, but his thirst for success, dedication to the sport, and his tenacity for the best results is the perfect formula for success.

The only time Tom did not finish in the top podium position was when he finished a very close 2nd place, when after leading the race, a $1 rocker arm stud broke robbing him of the ultimate power he needed. Suffice to say, that problem has been corrected and he has continued his winning championship ways. It just underscores why the Steeda Autosports Team continually track tests and races every weekend as we continually evolve our performance parts and accessories to be the very best possible. The race track is our proving ground where we test the latest performance products for you ? our customer. Steeda?s products are designed and engineered to be the very best possible, to offer uncompromising performance, and to exceed your every expectation.

While he has secured yet another championship, Tom Ellis will still be racing aggressively for the remainder of the season in high hopes of securing additional 1st place finishes as well as the overall national Championship in SCCA American Sedan. This weekend you will be able to see Tom up close and personal at the 2009 Camp Steeda at the famed Sebring International Raceway. Make sure you stop by and congratulate Tom and check out his championship Steeda Mustang in person.

Everyone at Steeda Autosports sincerely congratulates Tom Ellis for his commitment to the sport of racing and his continued championship ways!

Remember: Talk is cheap ? only winning and breaking records count! If you want the most innovative and the best quality race proven parts you have only one choice ? Steeda!

Steeda - Speed Matters

[Nethead]

From the official SCCA World Challenge GT website:

Said Wins SPEED GT Pole in Monterey, Teammate Davis Will Start First

MONTEREY, Calif. (Oct. 10, 2009)  - Boris Said, of Carlsbad, Calif., did everything his team could have hoped for in a cameo appearance for Sunday?s SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship Presented by Toyo Tires season finale, winning the pole position and then losing the coin toss to invert the top five and put teammate Brandon Davis in the first starting position at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Davis hopes to clinch the series Championship in the Applied Computer Solutions Monterey Sports Car Championship Presented by Bondurant race.

Making just his second appearance in World Challenge competition this year in the No. 3 Applied Computer Solutions Ford Mustang Cobra, Said went out late in the 20-minute qualifying session on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn circuit and turned just one lap, a 1:29.580 (89.939 mph), which put him to the top of the charts. It was his second-career World Challenge pole in 58 starts.

?The car felt really good,? Said commented. ?I didn?t think we had enough for the pole. We?d been struggling all weekend but we found out that we had three-year old tires on the car. Once we fixed that [with fresh tires], we had a really good car.?

Said?s role this weekend is one of supporter for teammate Davis, who leads the Championship in the No. 10 Applied Computer Solutions/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang GT. Said?s pole-winning time not only put him at the top of the grid, but it knocked Davis? chief title rival Tony Rivera back to second, taking three valuable points away.

?I?m really here in support of Brandon [Davis],? Said added. ?I raced with his dad [Mike] for a lot of years and he?s a great guy, one of the greatest guys I?ve ever raced for. It?s fun to come back here and race these cars and hopefully help pay him back for all the wins that he?s given me. I?m going to feel proud watching Brandon win the Championship this weekend.

?When I met Brandon, he was 14 years-old. I never thought he was going to become the racecar driver he is. I?m pleasantly surprised with how good he is. He?s a good, young, up-and-coming driver. I hope that winning this Championship can help him further his career.

?I?m going to race the other guys as hard as I?ve ever raced before. This track favors the Porsche. With the rear engine, it?s kind of a Porsche track. I don?t know how long we can run that pace. It was a pretty crazy, wide-open, sliding lap. I?m not here for points. I?m here for fun and to try to help Brandon. I?m going to have a blast whether I win or wreck. I?m just gonna have fun this weekend.?

Rivera, of Missouri City, Texas, put his No. 97 Tax Masters/Brass Monkey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 to the top of the charts on his first lap, with a 1:29.611 (89.908 mph). Looking good to secure his first-ever series pole, Rivera immediately reported to the pits and waited to see if anyone could mount a challenge. Said, who left the pits just after Rivera completed his lap, bettered Rivera?s time by just 0.031-second.

Dino Crescentini, of Manhattan Beach, Calif., was third fastest in his No. 4 Stoptech/GMG Porsche 911 GT3 with a best lap time of 1:29.773 (89.746 mph).

While the pole held drama for its championship implications, James Sofronas, of Newport Beach, Calif., had drama of his own in qualifying. Not satisfied with his initial lap in the No. 14 Global Motorsports Group Porsche 911 GT3 that placed him fourth at the time, Sofronas went back to the paddock to add fuel for another run, forfeiting his times up to that point. With approximately five minutes remaining, he returned to the track. On his initial lap, he caught a slower car, but on his second lap, he was able to turn a 1:29.891 (89.628 mph)?good enough for fourth and faster than his previous best.

Davis, of Huntington Beach, Calif., turned the fifth fastest time, with a 1:30.081 (89.439 mph), just 0.025-second faster than sixth place Randy Pobst. The fifth place effort put him in a position to start first, if Said were to lose the coin toss, inverting the top five.

Said called tails, and the coin came up heads.

?I absolutely wanted to lose the coin toss today,? Said recalled. ?The team all decided what I?d pick. Normally, I?d have picked ?heads,? but they said ?tails always loses? and I picked tails and it actually worked.?

?The two times that I lost the coin toss, I called tails,? Davis said. ?This is big for us to be able to start first. We know we need to basically not make any mistakes to win this Championship. I think that if we can get a good start and lead a lap, it?ll give us five bonus points, and help us. I don?t know that we have the pace to stay up there, but we?ll try the best we can. The Championship is the ultimate goal, though.?

The coin toss put Davis and Sofronas on row one for Sunday?s standing start. Crescentini and Rivera make up the second row, with Said and Pobst?s Volvo S60 in row three.

San Jose resident Kip Olson (Acura NSX) qualified seventh in his series debut, followed by Eric Curran (Chevrolet Corvette), Sonny Whelen (Chevrolet Corvette) and Jeff Courtney (Dodge Viper).

Rivera closed Davis? 62-point lead down to 53 points. At just 23 years-old, Davis can clinch his first professional Championship Sunday by finishing in the top eight, regardless of Rivera?s performance. Rivera needs to get to the front and hope for Daivs to encounter bad luck to win his first title.

Said?s pole also gave Ford one point toward the Manufacturers? Championship presented by RACER Magazine. Ford now trails Porsche by eight points entering the finale. Porsche can clinch the Championship by having at least one of its cars finish in the top six positions.

Sunday?s Applied Computer Solutions Monterey Sports Car Championship Presented by Bondurant race, the season finale for the SPEED World Challenge GT Championship Presented by Toyo Tires, will make its standing start at 2:45 p.m. (PDT). Live timing and scoring, lap notes and streaming audio are available at www.world-challenge.com.

Sunday?s race will be broadcast Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. Eastern, 11 a.m. Pacific on SPEED. 

[Nethead]

From the official SCCA World Challenge GT website:

Sofronas Wins SPEED GT Finale; Davis is Champion
http://www.autoblog.com/gallery/2009-speed-world-challenge-gt-at-laguna-seca/#2

MONTEREY, Calif. (Oct. 11, 2009)  - James Sofronas, of Newport Beach, Calif., captured his second SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship Presented by Toyo Tires win of the season, taking the checkered flag at the Applied Computer Solutions Monterey Sports Car Championship Presented by Bondurant. Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., and Eric Curran, of Easthampton, Mass., completed the podium at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Finishing fourth, Brandon Davis, of Huntington Beach, Calif., claimed his first World Challenge GT Championship. Sofronas' victory handed the SPEED World Challenge GT Manufacturers" Championship Presented by RACER Magazine to Porsche.

Almost as soon as the start lights flickered off to begin the 2009 World Challenge GT Finale, the yellow flags came out and the pace car was deployed, so that workers could remove Dino Crescentini?s No. 4 StopTech/GMG Porsche 911 GT3 from the sand in Turn Three. On the ensuing lap five restart, second-starting Sofronas was sandwiched between the No. 10 Applied Computer Solutions/SunMicro Ford Mustang GT of Davis and the No. 3 Applied Computer Solutions Ford Mustang Cobra of Boris Said. Sofornas was not keen on spending any more time between the teammates, and made his move to the inside of Davis in Turn Two to take the lead on lap six. The pass earned Sofronas the AutoWeek Move of the Race Award.
"On the start, I just wanted to get away from the line and establish my position,? Sofronas said. ?Brandon [Davis] had a good start and I got into Two and just kept it clean not wanting to affect the Championship at all.

?It was pretty clear that Brandon didn?t want to get in the way or become a part of any mistakes. It was a calculated move on his part. He just left it open for me and I had to take it there. He knew he had to win a Championship and he showed that he had the maturity to get it done.?

Sofronas never looked back, taking his third-career win by 4.297 seconds, averaging 82.342 mph. The Californian set the D?baufr? Fastest Lap of the Race in the process, a 1:30.919 (88.615 mph).

?The car was hooked up and once I was in the lead,? Sofronas recalled. ?I just put my head down and Todd [Ketchum] would give me some splits and then, all of a sudden, I looked in my mirror and no one was there! It kind of got boring. I want to win a race fighting for it; it?s a lot more exciting. But, don?t get me wrong, the way we did it today, I?ll take it all day long.

?I kept saying 'what?s going on behind me. Entertain me because there?s not much going on up here,? and it sounds like it was a bloodbath back there. I can?t wait to see it on TV.

?The GMG guys worked very hard. It?s very gratifying to win here. We ran five cars in two different series this weekend. They worked so hard and they were up late and I was with them here early in the morning as well. This is a great way to send them off into the offseason to get ready for next year. We love World Challenge. We?ve been doing this for a long time and look forward to doing it for years to come.?

By winning the 28-lap, 62.664-mile race, Sofronas sealed the World Challenge GT Manufacturers? Championship for Porsche. It is the German marque?s eighth Title, which it claimed by 14 points over Ford (67 to 53). Volvo was third, with 48 points, followed by Chevrolet (45) and Viper (18).

?Winning the Manufacturers? Championship for Porsche was a big one because of my business being focused on Porsche tuning,? Sofronas added. ?That was big to help them clinch that for the second year in-a-row.?

After a great start from sixth in the No. 1 K-PAX Racing Volvo S60, Pobst found himself knocking on the door of the top five throughout the first half of the race.

?It?s been a development year with the K-PAX Volvo,? Pobst said. ?One of the challenges for the team has been how to get the car to get off the line. It?s got a small engine with a big turbo. It?s got a lot of traction and it?s tough to get it going. Guess what? They figured out a system that works and it was nice to have a car that moved when I let out the clutch.?

When Said?s Mustang was turned around on lap 19 in Turn Two, Pobst finally moved into fifth. The Defending Champion picked up another spot on that lap when Curran got loose through Turn 10, allowing Pobst to slip by and into fourth. Three laps later, Pobst was around Davis for third and had his sights set on the No. 97 Tax Masters/Brass Monkey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 of Tony Rivera, Davis? only Championship threat.

?I was really surprised with the track conditions,? Pobst said. ?I just didn?t feel much grip out there. I was a little surprised at the times we were running, where a 1:32 was a good lap toward the end. I really had some good battles with Eric [Curran] and Tony Rivera. Down toward the end of the race, in the last couple laps, it was me and Tony running second and third. Especially on the last lap, I think the Volvo and the all-wheel-drive was helping me out because my car was not falling off as bad as his and I started getting a nose on him everywhere.?

After hounding Rivera for five laps, Pobst made his move on the final tour of the 11-turn, 2.238-mile course. While the move in Turn Four gave Pobst the spot, it sent River spinning into the gravel, where his race would end.

?I just timed it wrong and I turned him around in Turn Four,? confessed Pobst. ?Man, I just hate that because I?m always the one preaching not to do that to other people! It?s funny because that happened to me two years ago. And being back here at Laguna brought it all back for me and I?m still angry about that and then there I go and do it to somebody else. I?m gonna have to sleep on that and try to figure out what it all means. Anyhow, I apologize to Tony Rivera for my mistake in turning him around.?

Pobst was later fined 20 points for the incident.

Curran was far enough back in the No. 30 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette to avoid the incident and finish third.

?I had a terrible start,? recalled Curran. ?I got too much wheelspin taking off. I fell back a number of spots. On the restart, I went in the outside lane going into Two and I must have passed six or seven cars on the outside. Everybody stacked up on the inside and I just went all the way down on the outside and passed a number of cars.

?I started charging toward the front. I ran with Rivera, and then Boris [Said] and then Brandon [Davis]. There was obviously a Championship on the line for Brandon and Rivera, and I didn?t want to get involved in any of that, so I kind of stayed behind Rivera. He had a very strong car anyway. I stayed there until Rivera made a dive-bomb move [on Said] into Two. He kind of loosened them both up and then I got into the back of Boris and spun him out by mistake. I?m sure he?s not too happy about that.

?After that, I kept charging forward and got up to Brandon. I had a little bit stronger car at the end of the race, but I didn?t want to interfere with his Championship. The Whelen guys worked really hard all year and I think we finally got some reliability, which is good. We had a pretty fast racecar today. Overall, it?s been a pretty good year.?

Bringing his Mustang home in fourth, Davis secured his very first World Challenge GT Drivers? Championship, taking the title by 81 points over Sofronas (1012 to 931). Rivera fell to third, sitting in the gravel, and finished with 910 points, followed by Andy Pilgrim (851) and Curran (811).

?It hasn?t really sunk in yet,? Davis said. ?Right now, it?s just a feeling of relief. Coming into this weekend, there was so much talk about where we needed to finish to with the Championship if this or that happened. There is so much that can go wrong. We experienced that last year where a small part can just end your weekend. We knew that we needed to finish eighth coming in to clinch the Championship, but we also knew that we could break something in the drivetrain and give the Championship away on the last race. Right now, it?s more of a feeling of relief. But I will take this over anything. It feels amazing!

?Having Boris [Said] there helped a lot. We had some tire issues in practice and I think I was a little off in the setup because my car was unbelievably loose in some corners and I was trying to deal with that.

?It was unfortunate to see that Tony couldn?t finish the race after his incident with Randy, but it feels great to come away with the Championship.?

Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., completed the top five in the No. 8 K-PAX Racing Volvo S60.

Gunter Schaldach (Porsche 911 GT3) was sixth followed by the No. 47 TruSpeed Motorsports/NADA Porsche 911 GT3 of Rob Morgan, from Costa Mesa, Calif. Morgan was named the Sunoco Hard Charger for advancing seven positions in the race.

Charlie Putman (Dodge Viper), Sonny Whelen (Chevrolet Corvette) and Tony Gaples (Chevrolet Corvette) completed the top 10.

The Applied Computer Solutions Monterey Sports Car Championships Presented by Bondurant will air on SPEED, Nov. 3, at 2 p.m. (EST).

[Nethead]

From www.mustangblog.com, who gives credit to www.mustangheaven.com:

2010 Boss 302R Road Race Mustang Announced by Ford Racing
October 23rd, 2009 by Matt Rigney

This is not the Boss Mustang we were hoping for but it's a step in the right direction as Ford Racing announces an "off-road only" 2010 Boss 302R limited edition Mustang.  This Mustang was developed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Mustang Boss 302's iconic 1970 Trans-Am championship win with Parnelli Jones behind the wheel. The Boss 302R is a factory-built road racing Mustang powered by a 5.0-liter 4-valve motor mated to a six-speed transmission producing an estimated 400 horsepower.  Other goodies include a roll cage, race dampers/springs, brakes, race seats and safety harnesses.

Details are a bit scarce but we do know the MSRP will be an estimated $79,000 with production being limited to just 50 units.  Also, build and delivery dates are scheduled for sometime in the 3rd or 4th quarter of 2010.  An optional 2010 Grand-Am Homologation Spec Package for $129,000 will also be available to compete in the KONI Challenge.  The Boss 302R will be track and road race ready for a number of SCCA and NASA classes.

For more details check out the release sent out to dealers nationwide:

Release:

Ford Racing is proud to announce the development of a new race-prepared road racing Mustang ? the 2010 Ford Racing Boss 302R.

The Ford Racing Mustang Boss 302R will be a factory-built race car, ready for track days and road racing in a number of SCCA and NASA classes. An optional Grand-Am Homologation Package will be available for the Grand-Am KONI Challenge series. While details are intentionally limited at this time, the following should help you assess the product and its appeal.

Program Overview:  To continue the winning tradition of Mustang racing
Build limited to 50 units
Off-road only (VIN replaced by serial number)
Estimated pricing, $79,000 MSRP
Build/delivery in 3rd -4th Qtr 2010
Ford Racing Part #: M-FR500-BOSSR
2010 Boss 302R Mustang Specs:

400 hp (est.) 5.0L 4V engine
6-speed manual transmission
Roll cage
Race dampers/springs, brakes, tire
Race seats, safety harness  
Optional ? Grand-Am Homologation Package

2010 Grand-Am spec/approved package (Part Number: M-FR500-BOSSR1) for KONI Challenge includes:

Sealed high output race engine with upgraded cooling system
Close ratio 6-speed transmission with integral shifter
Seam-welded body
Race suspension/KONI dampers and ABS brake tuning
Race wheels/tires
Race performance exhaust
High speed balance 1-piece driveshaft
Racing fuel cell
Race data acquisition
Grand-Am spec vehicle is estimated to be $129,000 MSRP
Orders / Feedback

Vehicle orders should be placed with the Ford Racing warehouse, 800-367-3786.
Priority delivery will be given to multiple vehicle orders.
An ?off road only? competition release will be required prior to delivery of the race car to the dealer.
Production of only 50 units is under consideration for 2010, so dealers are encouraged to submit their orders before December 31, 2009.

Source: MustangHeaven.com via Ford Racing