Powell Victorious in Mont-Tremblant 250

MONT-TREMBLANT, Quebec (September 14, 2002) -- Powell Motorsports picked up its third Grand-Am Cup win of the season today in the Mont-Tremblant 250 at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant. Devon Powell started the #11 Corvette on the outside of the front row, and Doug Goad brought it home after an amazing battle for the lead with Bill Auberlen in the #23 Porsche of Team Turbo Performance. 

The victory by Powell and Goad moves them into a three-way tie for the lead in the unofficial Grand Sport I driver point standings with Scott Maxwell, who finished third. Maxwell started the Doncaster Racing #76 Porsche on the pole and led for the first 32 laps before Auberlen moved the #23 Porsche to the front. The pair of Porsches and the Powell Corvette battled at the front throughout the race, which saw 12 lead changes. 

Terry Borcheller and Forest Barber picked up their second Grand Sport II win of the season in the Bell Motorsports #54 BMW M3. Barber took the lead in the class on lap 12 from the Theetge Motorsports #73 Acura NSX. Borcheller entered the car midway through the race and built nearly a full lap lead over the second-place Max Q Motorsports #53 Mustang Cobra R of Emil Assentato and Nick Longhi. 

The #73 Acura appeared as though it would hold on for third place, but it ran out of gas at the end of the race, allowing the #30 Mustang Cobra R of Shreiner Racing to move onto the GS II podium. 

The Sport Touring I class featured nose-to-tail racing throughout nearly the entire race. The Team Lexus trio that dominated the class in qualifying was able to place two cars onto the class podium, with Andy Lally and Tim Gaffney taking second in the #2 IS300 and Ian James and Daniel Dror capturing third in their #3 entry. 

However, it was the #36 BMW Z3 of Villaconn International that took top honors in the class. Bransen Patch moved the BMW into the lead pack early in the race, and Don Salama was able to keep in front for the pair's third ST I win of the season. 

Brothers Will and Wayne Nonnamaker picked up their second Sport Touring II victory of the season in the HRPworld.com #41 Acura Integra LS. The pair was in front of the class for most of the race, but had their strong lead diminished by cautions several times and finished only four seconds ahead of the second-place #5 Mazda Miata of DTM Engineering. 

The brothers will move into the lead in the ST II driver and team standings due in part to the misfortune of the points leading #27 Acura Integra LS of Bill Fenton Motorsports that made an early exit from the race with mechanical trouble. 

Grand-Am Cup will travel next Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario for a 250-mile race on September 29 for ninth race of the 10-race season. Additional information on Grand-Am Cup, visit www.grandamcup.com