Inaugural Season Champions Honored in Daytona

Inaugural Season Champions Honored in Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 7, 2002) - The Grand-Am Cup Street Stock Series inaugural season champions were honored at DAYTONA USA over the weekend. John Powell and his Powell Motorsports was honored as the Super Grand Sport team owner champion, while his son Devon Powell and co-driver Doug Goad were awarded the class driver championship cups after they tied atop the standings. Chevrolet was awarded the SGS manufacturer championship due in part to the team's powerful performance in the class.  

Sylvain Tremblay was honored twice for his accomplishments, both as a team owner and driver, in the Grand Sport class. Tremblay's SpeedSource was the leading team in the class during the inaugural season, as well as Tremblay himself posting a dominating performance to earn the driver championship. SpeedSource's strong showing in the GS class helped lead Porsche to the class manufacturer championship. 

Al Vilamil and Matt Connolly accepted the Sport Touring team owner trophy on behalf of Villaconn International whose BMW Z3 Coupes won out in the closest championship race of the season. Bob Endicott, who raced in the King Motorsports Acura in the inaugural season, was honored as the ST driver champion. Endicott was one of several drivers who earned Acura its first of two manufacturer championships. 

Acura's second manufacturer championship came in the Compact 2000 class, where the Planet Earth Motorsports Acuras brought the team an inaugural season team owner championship. Joe Nonnamaker and Mike Thomas accepted the championship trophy on behalf of the team. Joe's son Will Nonnamaker was also recognized as the class driver champion. 

The 2002 Grand-Am Cup season will kickoff at Daytona International Raceway on Friday, Feb. 1, with a two-hour race as part of the Rolex 24 At Daytona event weekend. Tickets are currently on sale for the event and may be purchased online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling the Speedway ticket office at 386-253-RACE. 

More information on Grand-Am Cup is available online at www.grand-am.com/grandamcup. 

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For more information: Grand American Public Relations
Christie Hyde (386) 681-4182
email: CHyde@grand-am.com