Petersen/ White Lightning Comes from Early Race Hit to take Second at Road America

Petersen/ White Lightning Comes from Early Race Hit to Take Second at
Road America

 

 

ELKHART LAKE, Wisc., Aug. 22, 2004 – Petersen Motorsports/ White
Lightning Racing rode the highest of highs and lowest of lows here today
in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) Road America 500. David Murry,
Cumming, Ga., started the No. 31 Westward Ho Casino/ MMPIE/ PAWS/
Michelin Porsche 911 GT3 RSR third on the GT grid for the two hour and
45-minute race but moved to the lead quickly taking the top spot in the
first two turns. However, the glory of those moves was suddenly striped
away when, on the fifth turn, he was spun to the back of the field by a
GTS-class car forcing an ill-timed pass. Murry fought from behind and
moved back to fifth in class by the one-hour mark. 15 minutes later, he
pulled the No. 31 Porsche into pit lane handing the driving chores over
to Craig Stanton of Long Beach, Calif. Stanton, who qualified the
Porsche for the Michael Petersen-owned team, immediately picked-up the
banner where Murry had handed it off and continued the pursuit of the
leaders. 

 

By the second hour, Stanton— who won the 2003 Road America 500 GT class
for Petersen/ White Lightning— had the Michelin-shod car up to third.
However, an electrical short in the pit-to-car radio caused an
interruption in communications leaving Stanton unable to hear from the
Dale White-led team. This came to head when a second full course caution
flew, which would allow the team to pit for front Michelins and fuel. At
the last minute, just before the green flew, the radio worked
long-enough calling Stanton to drop into pit lane for superior service
from the Petersen/ White Lightning crew. Stanton drove hard on the
restart gaining second position in a three-car battle for first. He held
there until the checkered flag earning the team its second, second-place
in as many race and its third-straight podium. It is the team’s fifth
podium in seven races.

 

The runner-up spot earned the Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning
Racing team its third IMSA Cup award- given to the highest-finishing
privateer team- of the season. They continue to sit second in the
pursuit of the season-long IMSA Cup standings but closed on the leader
with two races remaining. Murry and Stanton continued to close on the
driver title as well sitting in fourth, one point behind Jörg
Bergmeister.

 

The team will now have three weeks off before heading to Road Atlanta
for the Petit Le Mans endurance event on September 25th. 

 

For more, please visit www.petersenmotorsports.com.  

 

quotes… 

Dale White, team manager: “This was a rollercoaster event. We started
third, moved immediately to the led, were hit, fell to the back of the
pack, fought our way back into the top-five, had radio problems and
still came home with a second. This Petersen/ White Lightning team just
stuck with it. I am so proud of these guys; they never gave up! It was
exciting to come so close at the end. We have shown we have what it
takes, we just need to keep working at it and we will win one of these.
This was a good day for the whole the team.”

 

David Murry: “It’s really nice to come out of the box swinging. We got
into second place by turn one, by turn three I took the lead. By
turn-five the Viper was going a little slow so I passed him and had a
gap on the factory cars. The Viper was kind of impatient and re-passed
me. I tried to go a little wide to give him some room but he still ran
me into the grass and spun me around. So we went from first to dead
last. I just kept my head down and kept driving hard. We were running
pretty well. We waited until the fuel light came on. We went as far as
we could possibly go. The guys did a great pit stop and that got us back
up. Craig did a great job and we ended-up finishing second which, if you
had told me we were going to do at the end of the first lap, I never
would have believed you. The first lap looked good and the last lap
looked good and that is all that matters, right?”

 

Craig Stanton: “It was a great day today. The Petersen/ White Lightning
team did just an awesome job on the No. 31 Porsche. The Michelin tires
held in their all day which allowed us to get the full fuel load out of
the car and that made a big difference. We fought and we fought and we
fought. Each and every person on the team fought like a winner. I was
proud of them all the way along. They have fought since we arrived here.
David had a little problem with the Viper but then he came back. He did
a great stint to come from dead last to fifth. I hopped in and Dale and
Stefan (Pfeiffer, crew chief) made some very impressive calls in the
pits which moved the car forward. The way the weekend went was such a
smooth, smooth effort. Everybody on the team is just a racer from their
heart which I really enjoy! This was just a great team effort and I am
so proud to be a part of Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing.”

 

 

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Digital images and complete team and driver bios available upon request.

Editors, please do not publish any contact information other than web
sites.  Thank you.

 

contact: Tom Moore, Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing, 

615-778-1614 (office), 404-229-3703 (cell), tom@darkhorsecom.com