Alabama Sweet for Craig Stanton; Double Porsche Races Earns Win and Top-Five

 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., October 11, 2004 - Craig Stanton has been one of the
busiest Porsche drivers in the country in recent weeks. Since September
18th, the Long Beach, Calif.-resident has raced a Porsche 911 in six
events. He has three podium finishes and two event wins to show for his
efforts. Included in the tally was an overwhelming win in Saturday's
Barber 250 Grand-Am Cup event here at Barber Motorsports Park.
Saturday's victory made Stanton's sixth in the series driving
TheRaceSite.com Racing Porsche 996, his third with co-driver David Murry
(Cumming, Ga.). In Sunday's Porsche 250 Grand American Rolex Sports Car
Series event, Stanton teamed with Mae Van Wijk (Kingwood, Tex.) to take
fourth in the ultra-competitive SGS class driving the No. 86 G&W
Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry finishing fourth. 

 

Grand-Am Cup Notes- Stanton started the three-hour Grand-Am Cup event on
the 2.3-mile, 16-turn Birmingham, Ala.-area track. With the win as well
as the point chase on his mind, he approached the race with a smooth and
easy style. Stanton had a clean and fast opening stint handing driving
chores over to Murry at the one hour and ten minute mark. Murry made two
more stops under yellow flags putting new rear tires on the final stop.
Murry then cruised to the checkered flag. 

 

The victory closed the driver championship point gap between Stanton and
former teammate Terry Borcheller (Gainesville, Ga.). The Porsche expert
is now just four points behind the man he drove with to the first three
victories of the season. With one race and 35 points remaining in the
Grand-Am Cup year, Stanton must beat Borcheller by two positions to win
the championship at California Speedway. The hard-charging Californian
led the standings early in the season before missing one event due to
commitments with the Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing
Porsche. 

 

Rolex Series Notes- Stanton took-over the No. 86 at approximately
half-way through the Porsche 250. The race was highlighted by on-again
and off-again heavy rain. The only constants were the damp conditions
and aggressive driving. Stanton kept his nose clean while slicing
through the field going from seventh to fourth. The improvement gave
Stanton his third SunTrust Most Improved Position Award for 2004.

 

The Grand-Am Cup 250 will be shown on a tape-delay basis at noon, Oct.
17th on PEE. Stanton will take his final shot to take the Grand-Am Cup
championship at his local track of California Speedway in Fontana on
October 30th. He will also return to the No. 86 at Fontana on October
31st where he will attempt to add a second SGS class victory for 2004. 




Quotes.

Craig Stanton,

about the Barber 250 victory: "I just tried to drive smooth and easy. My
job was to give David a good car in a good position and we did that and
he did the rest. David ran a great race. He knows every nook and cranny
of this place and he put on a clinic out there. The real race was
second, third and fourth spots. We were watching that hoping another
competitor would get between us and Terry. Terry was heck-bent out there
coming up through the field. We know what we have to do at California. I
knew it would come down to this and I am excited about it. The last lap
of the last race at my home track would be a great place to win the
Grand-Am Cup championship. It isn't in the bag, that's for sure."

 

about the Porsche 250 top-five: "The 86 G&W Porsche ran flawless. The
crew had to do a last minute clutch and hydraulic change on Saturday. So
they were hustling to prepare the car for the race. Right about five
minutes before the start it began to sprinkle and never really stopped.
The pavement actually had pretty good grip and made for really good
racing in the rain. Mae did a great job. I think that was the best drive
I have seen her do yet. She handled traffic and the rain quite well. I
think I got in the car in seventh and rolled up to fourth. The way the
yellows fell we just ran out of time to get on the podium. The G&W team
did a great job with the pit stops and the strategy. I am really proud
to be a part of this."

  

For more on Craig Stanton please visit
<outbind://7/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/OLK2/www.crai
gstanton.com> www.craigstanton.com. Log-on to
<http://www.gandwmotorsports.com/> www.gandwmotorsports.com to learn
more about G&W Motorsports. For additional information on
TheRaceSite.com Racing team, please visit
<outbind://7/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/OLK2/www.ther
acesiteracing.com> www.theracesiteracing.com.