Terry Borcheller - Daytona victories
Terry Borcheller started the 2004 race season with two trips to the winner's
circle. The Gainesville, Ga., driver topped the podium for the season-opening
Grand-Am Cup race, then followed with a hard-fought victory in the Rolex 24
at Daytona. Both races were run on the 3.56-mile Daytona International
Speedway road course in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Rolex 24
Borcheller used the team's new Pontiac power to qualify the No. 54 Bell
Motorsports Doran JE4 third on the 55-car grid for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. He
started the race, taking the lead at the green flag. He and his co-drivers -
Forest Barber of Fort Worth, Tex., Andy Pilgrim of Delray Beach, Fla., and
Christian Fittipaldi of Key Biscayne, Fla. - stayed in the lead pack through the
24-hour race, which was slowed by a long caution period and a race stoppage
caused by heavy rain. When the race resumed with 6.5 hours to go, the team was
ready. Pilgrim took the race lead 17 minutes from the finish and Barber made the
final run to the checkered flag.
"The race was unbelievable!" Borcheller said. "We had a really good start.
We struggled a little bit during the night with overheating, so we were in
protection mode from nine o'clock until the end of the race. We had to run as
hard as we could, but still make it last."
Cup win
Fuel strategy was the key to Borcheller's victory in the Grand-Am Cup race.
Craig Stanton of Long Beach, Calif., qualified the No. 44 TheRaceSite.com
Racing Porsche 996 fifth and drove the first stint. Carefully conserving fuel, he
moved up to first before handing off to Borcheller, who maintained the same
pace for the race win.
"Craig Stanton did a great job of qualifying," Borcheller said. "He was
fifth for most of his stint, but he was so good on fuel, he ended up first. I had
a really good race with Mike Speck [Zoom Motorsports], who I've worked with
at Bondurant for a long time. He was my drafting buddy for the last eight
laps, which enabled us to go with just one stop."
more support
Stand 21 has joined Borcheller's sponsor group, which also includes K&N
Performance Filters, Alpinestars, Bell Helmets, Bob Bondurant School of High
Performance Driving, Goodyear and Infinity2 Nutrition.
next
Borcheller's next race will be with the Rolex Sports Car Series at
Homestead-Miami Speedway on Feb. 28.
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Sylvia Proudfoot
spur07@cs.com
403 287 3945