GRAND AM: Powell Motorsports Earns Second-Straight Victory
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
June 11, 2001LEXINGTON, Ohio -- Doug Goad, of Farmington Hills, Mich., and Devon Powell, of Port Perry, Ont., captured their second-straight Grand-Am Cup Street Stock Series victory today at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the Sunoco/Encompass-sponsored #11 Corvette of Powell Motorsports. The win was the third one of the season for the Powell team, which is the only Grand-Am Cup competitor to earn repeat victories thus far this season.
Goad entered the Corvette midway through the three-hour race facing a 30-second deficit from the leading Phoenix Pontiac-Buick-GMC #35 Corvette of Phoenix American Motorsports.
"The early cautions played in the favor of the #35, and that was the difference right there," said Goad, who will now hop in a Rolex Sports Car Series Corvette to compete in this afternoon's ConAgra Foods U.S. Road Racing Classic. "But you have to run all three hours."
The #35 Corvette's good luck turned bad when it began suffering from fuel pick-up problems. Despite its sister car, the #32 Corvette, attempting to run interference for the leading Corvette, Goad managed to slowly eat into the lead. Eventually he was gaining a second or more each lap on the leading Corvette, and managed to pass him with just minutes remaining in the race to take the lead.
The #35 Corvette lost its second-place position to the Majestic/Steiner-sponsored #15 Porsche TT of Motorsport Technologies when it was forced to pit for a splash of gas. However the splash was not enough, as it ran out of gas on the final lap and allowed its sister car to move ahead to take the checkered flag for third place overall and in the Super Grand Sport (SGS) class.
The Mears Motor Coach/Champion Porsche/Kikse Dynamic Suspension-sponsored #70 Porsche 911 of Speedsource took the lead early in the Grand Sport (GS) class, and managed to maintain it throughout the race. David Haskell, of Plantation, Fla., and Sylvain Tremblay, of Pompano Beach, Fla., shared driving duties in the Porsche. Tremblay had posted the top qualifying speed in the GS class on Saturday, but not in the #70 Porsche, but rather its sister car, the #65 Porsche 911 Super Cup.
The battle for second-place in the GS class was a fierce one between the Sunoco/Denon-sponsored #19 Porsche 993 of Fiorano Racing and the Katz Insurance #81 Porsche 993 of Turbo Performance Center. The two exchanged the second-place position several times, with the #19 Porsche eventually taking the checkered flag in second place in the GS class.
The Lear/BBS-sponsored #72 BMW Z3 Coupe of Team Spartanburg had luck smiling on it today in its battle for the Sport Touring (ST) class lead. The BMW was running second behind the Team Lexus #2 Lexus IS 300 early in the race, when both cars pitted during a caution. The BMW pit stop went well, while the Lexus became stuck in the pits when the pace car passed. Though the BMW did lose its second-place positioning, it was able to battle back throughout the race to pull into the leading position in the final hour. However, the BMW was facing a fuel shortage through the final laps.
"The car was cutting out on the corners in those final laps because we were out of fuel," team owner Mark Hughes, of Spartanburg, S.C., said. "When that white flag came out, I was just praying we would make it."
The MAI/www.tirerack.com/Pro-Cam/RedLine Oil-sponsored #64 Acura Integra R of King Motorsports finished only 3.378 seconds behind the BMW for second place in the ST class, while the Chambersburg Waste Paper #34 BMW Z3 Coupe of Villaconn Motorsports finished 37.721 seconds back for third in class.
It was a double celebration in Victory Lane for the Planet Earth Motorsports team, as it placed two cars on the Compact 2000 (C2K) class podium. The CompTech Sport-sponsored #42 and #41 Acura Integra GSRs finished first and third, respectively. Will Nonnamaker, of North Canton, Ohio, and Mike Fitzgerald, of Fountain Hills, Ariz., both took turns in the two Acuras, along with Bill Pate, of Lafayette, Ind., in the #42 and Will Nonnamaker, of North Canton, Ohio, in the #41.
Splitting the two Acuras in second place was the RedLine Oil/DC Sports-sponsored #00 Honda Civic Si of Honda of America Racing Team.
Today's three-hour race marked the fifth of the Grand-Am Street Stock Series season. The teams will now travel to Mosport International Raceway, June 21-24.
Text provided by Christie Hyde
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