Terry Borcheller - champion!

the champion!

Terry Borcheller finished the 2003 season on top of the podium, with his 52nd 
professional race win and his sixth professional championship in as many 
years.  Borcheller, of Phoenix, and Forest Barber of Fort Worth, Tex., combined 
for their sixth Rolex Sports Car Series win of the season in the No. 54 Bell 
Motorsports Doran JE4 Daytona Prototype.  Fittingly, Borcheller won the inaugural 
Daytona Prototype driver championship and Bell Motorsports won the class team 
title in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Barber qualified third on the 38-car grid, second in class, with a lap time 
of one minute 50.211 seconds on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway 
infield road course.  He drove the first stint of the two-hour 45-minute race.  
Borcheller took over during the first caution period and returned to the track 
sixth in class, 12th overall.  Steadily working through the field, he took 
the class lead at 1h45 and the overall race lead at the two-hour mark, and held 
his position to the checkered flag.

"I'm really, really excited to win the championship," Borcheller said.  "I 
had a lot of help from a lot of people, including Forest Barber, Jim Bell, our 
great crew and my sponsors K&N, Infinity2, Alpinestars, Bell Helmets, Bob 
Bondurant, Gatorz Eyewear and Goodyear."

long race

Borcheller didn't have an easy run to victory, battling intense competition, 
slippery track conditions and electrical gremlins.

"My fuel light came on several laps prior to when the crew thought it would 
come on, so I was worried about that," he acknowledged.  "We also had an 
electrical glitch that started about an hour before the end of the race.  In the 
last 15 minutes, it happened five or six times, where the whole dash and the 
motor just quit.  It was only for a split second, but it was just enough to really 
freak me out!  I was very happy to see the checkered flag."

Cup second

Borcheller and Barber also competed in the Grand-Am Cup race on Oct. 31, but 
in different cars.  The No. 54 Bell Motorsports BMW M3 was felled by an engine 
problem, so the drivers split up in an effort to win the GSII class 
championship.  Borcheller came close, but had to settle for second in the championship 
when his car went out with 45 minutes remaining in the three-hour race.

"We blew a piston [in the BMW] on the first day of testing," Borcheller 
explained.  "We were going to run one lap each in the race, just to get points, so 
we would lock-up second place in the championship.  But then we decided to go 
for it.  We shook hands and said, 'May the best man win'. It turned out both 
of our cars were in contention early in the race."

youth rally

Borcheller paid a visit to the community during his race week.  Working with 
Motorsports Ministries, he was the feature speaker at the First Baptist Church 
of Daytona youth rally.  He also addressed the group in 2000.

next

Borcheller will finalize his plans for 2004, including drives in the American 
Le Mans Series, the Rolex Sports Car Series, the Grand-Am Cup and the new 
European Le Mans Endurance Series.  He has signed agreements with his sponsors K&
N Performance Filters and the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance 
Driving, and hopes to complete others soon.