Contential Tire Series - Kinetic Motorsports BMW Finishes Top 10 At Laguna

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Laguna Seca, July 11, 2011: It was the first time at Laguna Seca for both Jade Buford and Ben Clucas of the Kinetic Motorsports #33 BMW M3 E92 in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, and the Laguna rookies brought it home in ninth place.

Ben Clucas, in his second GS race with Kinetic Motorsports, started the #33 in eighth position, and led six laps (lap 24-25 and lap 27-30) early in the race. After a minor incident with an ST car, Buford was able to finish the race ninth.

The Kinetic team had worked hard to repair the BMW from the last race at Road America, where it was involved in an incident that nearly totaled the car. Both Buford and Clucas were pleased with the well-handling car they received after the quick rebuild.

Russell Smith, owner, Kinetic Motorsports: "Ben qualified eighth with only four tenths of a second off pole and he did a great job. He was obviously disappointed that it was eighth, but the time was very close. He ran a really solid first half of the race. He crept up to the lead and played it very safe, avoiding any trouble. It was a very impressive performance for Ben and he handed the car over in the lead. Jade got in and did a great job. This is probably the first race he's driven where he’s been up against consistently quick guys that he doesn’t normally get to race with, and he handled himself very well. I think he got a little bit of confidence after today, so it was very good."

Jade Buford, driver #33 Kinetic Motorsports BMW M3 E92: "The race went pretty good today, very smoothly. We did have minor contact earlier in the race. An ST car kind of threw the front of our car out of whack and we developed a pretty bad push for the rest of the race, but we were able to deal with it. I think Ben did a really good job and was able to hand over the car in as good of shape as possible. We’re happy with a Top 10 finish. We were on the right strategy and had a good race."

Ben Clucas, driver #33 Kinetic Motorsports BMW M3 E92: "Qualifying was okay on Friday; we were only a few tenths off pole but ended up starting eighth. We were just hoping to get the best out of that starting position. My goal for my stint in the car was to stay clean and to just keep moving up. I gave the car to Jade when we were running really well. I’m pretty happy with the race. The car was good, very good actually, and we were in the Top 3 lap times of the race, I think. Overall, today was good for Jade and I."