Gentilozzi Looks to Continue Buckeye State Success As
Trans-Am Series Visits Mid-Ohio
GENTILOZZI LOOKS TO CONTINUE BUCKEYE STATE SUCCESS AS TRANS-AM SERIES VISITS MID-OHIO
CLEARWATER, Fla. (June 25, 2002) - There typically isn't a lot of love lost between inhabitants of Michigan and the state of Ohio, particularly when it comes to athletic pursuits.
But one could hardly blame Lansing resident Paul Gentilozzi for being the exception to that rule.
Gentilozzi, the three-time and defending Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup champion, has displayed a real fondness for competing in Ohio, judging from his recent run of success in the Buckeye state. He and his Trans-Am Series rivals return to Ohio for the next two rounds of the 2002 championship, beginning with Saturday's Trans-Am Buckeye 100 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington.
The Buckeye 100, Round 4 of the championship, will be the first of three consecutive Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup events to be televised nationally by CBS Sports. Air time for Saturday's same-day, tape-delayed telecast will be 4 p.m. ET.
Gentilozzi (#3 Johnson Controls/Microchip/MatrixOne/Futaba Jaguar XKR) has claimed pole positions and subsequent race victories at each of the past five Trans-Am Series events contested in Ohio, including the past three at Mid-Ohio. In each of those instances - 1998, '99 and 2001 - he went on to win the BFGoodrich Tires Cup, emblematic of the Trans-Am Series driving championship.
"I think part of the reason I've enjoyed so much success at Mid-Ohio is because I've developed such an affection for it," Gentilozzi says. "I drove my first-ever road race here and right from the start, [late Mid-Ohio owner] Jim Trueman had always been so kind and generous to me. It made me feel special.
"The other part is that the track is incredibly technical, which absolutely fits my driving style and the Rocketsports cars," Gentilozzi added. "It requires more than just a 'stab and steer' style. As a driver, you've got to be able to put a whole lap together...flawlessly.
"Mid-Ohio is absolutely my favorite track and I think that's also played a part over the years. It's like coming home or visiting an old friend. I'm just very comfortable here."
Gentilozzi also owns consecutive wins from the pole at Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport, where Round 5 of the championship will be contested on Saturday, July 13. The Ohio portion of the Trans-Am schedule comes along at an opportune time for Gentilozzi, who stands third in the BFGoodrich Tires Cup standings following three of 12 rounds in the 2002 title chase.
With 73 points, Gentilozzi is 21 behind championship leader Boris Said (#33 Applied Computer Solutions Panoz Esperante), who leads the Trans-Am Series with 94 points. Said has put together a spectacular start to the season, with a runner-up finish to Gentilozzi in a thrilling season opener at Long Beach, followed by back-to-back victories in Rounds 2 and 3 at Mosport and Lime Rock, respectively.
Said has made two career Trans-Am Series starts at Mid-Ohio, with a best finish of third last year. His only other start on the 2.25-mile, 13-turn road course came in 1994, when he finished seventh.
Second place in the Trans-Am Series standings is currently being held down by Gentilozzi's Rocketsports Racing teammate, Johnny Miller (#64 Automation Direct/Eaton/Cutler Hammer Jaguar XKR), who stands just a point clear of Gentilozzi, at 74. Miller, whose 15 consecutive top-10 finishes are the longest active streak in the series, owns a best finish of fourth in five career starts at Mid-Ohio, in 1998.
Justin Bell (#40 Allied Machine and Engineering/XtremeLens Chevrolet Corvette), the 2001 AmeriSuites Rookie of the Year, will be looking for his first victory of the 2002 season to improve on his fourth-place position in the championship standings. Bell, who comes to Mid-Ohio with 62 championship points, logged an impressive runner-up finish to Gentilozzi in his Mid-Ohio debut last year, part of a run of four podium finishes in his final five starts, including back-to-back victories at Laguna Seca and Houston.
Other contenders for victory at Mid-Ohio include Michael Lewis (#12 AmeriSuites Jaguar XKR), Randy Ruhlman (#49 Preformed Line Products Chevrolet Corvette), Tomy Drissi (#5 Rocketsports Racing Jaguar XKR), Stu Hayner (#02 Trenton Forging/Tom Bell Chevrolet/Precision Anodizing and Plating Chevrolet Corvette), Tony Ave (#53 LAC Motorsports Panoz Esperante) and Butch Leitzinger (#88 Tommy Bahama/Tom Gloy Chevrolet Corvette).
Hayner travels to Mid-Ohio after earning his first career Trans-Am pole position at Lime Rock, where Ave and Leitzinger posted career-best finishes of second and third, respectively.
The entry list for the Trans-Am Buckeye 100 includes 27 drivers, a season high for the Trans-Am Series. The previous season high of 22 entries was established at Mosport last month.
Following the Trans-Am Buckeye 100, the Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Cup travels to Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland for Round 5 on Saturday, July 13. The race will be nationally televised by CBS Sports, beginning at 5 p.m.
FAST FACTS FOR THE TRANS-AM BUCKEYE 100
WHAT: Trans-Am Buckeye 100.
WHERE: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio.
WHEN: Friday-Saturday, June 28-29.
TRANS-AM SERIES FOR THE BFGOODRICH TIRES CUP SCHEDULE (All times EDT): FRIDAY, JUNE 28 - Trans-Am Series practice, 10:10-10:40 a.m.; Trans-Am Series qualifying, 3:10-3:55 p.m. SATURDAY, JUNE 29 - Trans-Am Series practice, 9:15-9:45 a.m.; Trans-Am Buckeye 100, 1:30 p.m.
BROADCAST: CBS Sports, Saturday, June 29, 4 p.m. ET (same-day tape delay).
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Paul Gentilozzi.
DEFENDING POLESITTER: Paul Gentilozzi.
TRACK LAYOUT: 2.258-mile permanent road course.
RACE DISTANCE: 45 laps, 101.61miles.
TRACK RECORDS: Qualifying (one lap) - 1997, Tom Kendall, 98.149 miles per hour (1 minute, 22.623 seconds). Race - 1991, Darin Brassfield, 92.340 mph. Race Lap - 1993, Jack Baldwin 95.733 mph (1:24.610).
RACE NUMBER: 4 of 12 in the Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup.
NEXT EVENT: Saturday, July 13, Burke Lakefront Airport, Cleveland, Ohio.
PAST TRANS-AM RACE WINNERS AT MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
1967 Jerry Titus (O)
Horst Kwech (U)
1968 Mark Donohue (O)
Bert Everett (U)
1969 Ronnie Bucknum (O)
Peter Gregg (U)
1970 Parnelli Jones
1971 George Follmer
1972 Milt Minter
1982 Elliott Forbes-Robinson
1983 Willy T. Ribbs
1985 Wally Dallenbach Jr.
1986 Greg Pickett
1987 Scott Pruett
1988 Hans Stuck
1989 Dorsey Schroeder
1990 Darin Brassfield
1991 Darin Brassfield
1992 Greg Pickett
1993 Jack Baldwin
1994 Tom Kendall
1997 Tom Kendall
1998 Paul Gentilozzi
1999 Paul Gentilozzi
2001 Paul Gentilozzi
PAST TRANS-AM POLE WINNERS AT MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
1973 Milt Minter
1982 Tom Gloy
1983 Elliott Forbes-Robinson
1985 Elliott Forbes-Robinson
1986 Scott Pruett
1987 Scott Pruett
1988 Irv Hoerr
1989 Irv Hoerr
1990 Darin Brassfield
1991 Paul Gentilozzi
1992 Greg Pickett
1993 Tommy Archer
1994 Tom Kendall
1997 Tom Kendall
1998 Paul Gentilozzi (starting grid established by points)
1999 Paul Gentilozzi
2001 Paul Gentilozzi
NOTEWORTHY
· Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup championship leader Boris Said (#33 Applied Computer Solutions Panoz Esperante) comes to Mid-Ohio looking to extend an impressive run that has seen him finish fifth or better in seven of his last eight Trans-Am Series starts, dating to a third-place performance at Sears Point last year. Said has won the past two Trans-Am Series events, at Mosport and Lime Rock, to take a 94-74 lead over Johnny Miller (#64 Automation Direct/Eaton/Cutler Hammer Jaguar XKR) in the chase for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup. Said also owns a podium finish of second at Long Beach in this year's season opener, as well as finishes of third at Mid-Ohio and fifth at Portland and Road America last year. Said did not compete in the 2001 season finale at Houston.
· His recent success at the challenging Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has been a good omen for defending and three-time Trans-Am Series champion Paul Gentilozzi (#3 Johnson Controls/Microchip/MatrixOne/Futaba Jaguar XKR). Gentilozzi has won the past three Trans-Am events contested at Mid-Ohio, in 1998, '99 and last year. All three victories have come from the pole, and in each of his three winning seasons, Gentilozzi has gone on to claim the BFGoodrich Tires Cup, emblematic of the Trans-Am Series championship. No other driver has earned more than two career Trans-Am Series victories at Mid-Ohio. Gentilozzi, who also earned a Trans-Am Series pole at Mid-Ohio in 1991, is attempting to become only the second driver in Trans-Am Series history to earn four season championships, joining Tommy Kendall (1990, '95, '96 and '97). In all, Gentilozzi owns seven podium results in 12 career starts at Mid-Ohio, including a runner-up effort in 1991 and third-place finishes in 1990, '92 and '94.
· Johnny Miller finished sixth in Round 3 of the Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup championship at Lime Rock Park, extending his streak of consecutive top-10 finishes to 15, the longest active streak of top-10 results in the Trans-Am Series. The streak dates to Miller's first career victory in the 2000 Trans-Am Series season finale at San Diego.
· Randy Ruhlman (#49 Preformed Line Products Chevrolet Corvette) arrives at Mid-Ohio ranked fifth in the BFGoodrich Tires Cup championship standings, with 59 points. He is on pace for the best championship finish of his 12-year Trans-Am Series career, which began in 1990. Ruhlman's best performance in the championship to date came in 1999, when he finished sixth. He has constructed his current fifth-place standing on finishes of sixth at Long Beach, fifth at Mosport and eighth at Lime Rock.
