Craig Stanton Two-For-Two With Homestead Win

 
HOMESTEAD, FLA., March 28, 2004 - Californian Craig Stanton's
love-affair with Florida race tracks continued today with an overall win
in the Grand-Am Cup 250 here at Homestead-Miami Speedway (HMS). Stanton
has now won the two opening rounds of the 2004 Grand-Am Cup season. The
Long Beach-resident qualified the No. 44 TheRaceSite.com Racing Porsche
996 on the outside of the front-row for the three-hour/ 250-mile event,
and took the Grand Sport (GS) and overall lead on lap 40, one hour and
ten minutes into the event. Stanton drove the Porsche to a comfortable
lead before handing the driving chores over to his co-driver, Terry
Borcheller of Gainesville, Ga. at the one hour, 37 minute mark, lap 56,
of the race. Borcheller was able to maintain the lead through the end of
the race completing 105 laps at the end of three hours. 
 
The Grand-Am Cup 250 victory gives Stanton and Borcheller a perfect
start to the Grand-Am Cup season and extends their points' lead. The duo
will try to add a third victory to their Daytona International Speedway
and HMS titles on April 9 at Phoenix International Raceway.
 
Craig Stanton: 
about his race: "We're two-for-two but that doesn't mean it will go that
way the rest of the year. We are very optimistic for Phoenix but
anything can happen. The 91 car lost all of its vital fluids right in
front of me up in NASCAR three and four [turns three and four of the
oval portion of the track] but we saved it somehow. With all the
restarts we thought we would come in early for fuel so I had to fight my
way back up to the front without burning up the tires or the brakes so
Terry would have a great race car at the end. I was able to do that and
TheRaceSite.com crew only changed the rear tires when Terry and I made
our driver change. That made a big difference. The restarts were
exciting because you'd build-up a comfortable lead and then you'd have
to fight your way back up through a lot of really good competition." 
 
about the team's race strategy: "We knew that we wanted a two-stop deal
so we wouldn't have had to stop for a splash of fuel at the end. We
ended-up stopping for a splash anyway for insurance but I don't think we
needed to. I think Terry could have made it."
 
about the Nonnamaker family-owned No. 44 Porsche: "The Nonnamakers have
a great organization. The teamwork starts at the family and they set the
tone. All the other crew guys and gals just follow suit. They are
passionate racers. They want to win as much as Terry and I do. It's
really exciting. The person who gets the drive of the day was Wayne. He
had to come back a little and worked his way back up to fourth. If the
yellow hadn't come out at the end, I think he would have been up on the
podium with us."
 
Since moving from moto-cross/super-cross to automobiles in 1986, Stanton
has positioned himself as one of the premier drivers in sports car
racing. A desire to win in all kinds of machines has led to drives in
closed and open cockpit sports cars, sedans, NASCAR stock cars, open
wheel formula cars and midgets and in off-road competition. He has won
three championships and a Driver of the Year award in Sports Renault and
is the 1997 Speedvision Cup Rising Star Award winner. Stanton began
competing in the top echelon of sports car racing in 1999 and has class
wins in both the Grand-Am and ALMS. He takes his fitness training very
seriously with the goal of being the fittest race driver in the world
and has competed in 27 triathlons in his career. For more on Craig
Stanton please visit www.craigstanton.com. For more on TheRaceSite.com
Racing team, please visit www.theracesiteracing.com. For more on AASCO
Motorsports' Rolex Series effort, please visit www.aascomotorsports.com
.