Petersen/ White Lightning Qualifies In Sebring Top-5

Petersen/ White Lightning Qualifies In Sebring Top-5 
 
SEBRING, Fla., March 18, 2004 - Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning
Racing qualified the No. 31 Westward Ho Casino/ MMPIE/ PAWS/ Justice
Brothers Porsche 911 GT3 RS fifth in GT class here today. Craig Stanton,
of Long Beach, Calif., piloted the Michelin-tired Porsche to 29th
overall for the American Le Mans Series' (ALMS) 52nd Annual Mobil 1
Twelve Hours of Sebring. Stanton turned a lap of two minutes, 6.180
seconds around the 3.7 mile facility in central Florida. David Murry, of
Cumming, Ga., will co-drive with Stanton in the Michael Petersen-owned
Porsche. The Las Vegas-based race team is utilizing its 2003 Porsche 911
GT3 RS chassis- a car that won the 24 Heures Du Mans and the ALMS-round
at Road America in 2003- to keep its new RSR chassis fresh for the
remainder of the 2004 season. Petersen/ White Lightning, which finished
second here last season in GT class, has focused on its race setup for
what is universally recognized as the toughest endurance event to
complete. The White Lightning Racing-prepared Porsche qualified with the
seventh fastest time in class but the disqualification of two
competitors for technical violations moved the team up to fifth. The
ALMS season-opener will be shown live on Saturday, March 20th  from
start to finish on The SPEED Channel.
 
Dale White, team manager: "We're working on race setup. This isn't a
sprint race. In a sprint race you work to make the car super quick. The
race setup is a lot closer to qualifying setup in a sprint race. We are
going to make the full race distance. We aren't really pushing the car
too hard at this point. We want a comfortable car that runs the lap
times we need with the guys still feeling like they are on a Sunday
drive. It's our style to always push as hard as we can in the sprint
races but in the endurances races, we lean back on our off-road
experience. We aim to get the car across the finish line and our
strategy usually puts us up there fighting for the win at the end.
That's what we are doing here this weekend too."
 
Craig Stanton, driver: "The car is really race ready. I know a lot of
guys say that when they don't run a pole lap but for us, it's true. Mike
[Petersen] and Dale [White] came here with a strategy and from the first
wheel we turned, we turned it for a race setup. We've been working on
our race setup all week. We can run our qualifying lap every lap of
every stint for the whole race. It's really great to be back with
Petersen/ White Lightning. This year we have just carried the momentum
from last season. It's great."
 
Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing began operation as an
off-road team in the 1980s winning over 50 truck victories, including
three-consecutive overall wins at the Baja 1000, and multiple
championships. Since beginning sports car racing, the effort has scored
victories in the ALMS, the Trans-Am Series, Speed Challenge Series and
endurance sports car wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Alex Job
Racing, Watkins Glen and at the Rolex 24 of Daytona. In 2003, they won
the ALMS GT class of the Road American 500 and finished second in class
at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.