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Pirelli World Challenge - Gleason Hits Podium At Mid-Ohio


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LEXINGTON, Aug. 5, 2012: Kevin Gleason and Napleton Porsche hit the podium in their first race together in the Pirelli World Challenge Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course where the No. 60 Napleton Porsche Cayman S both started and finished third in the opening round of this weekend’s doubleheader on the Buckeye road course.

“Thanks to the Napleton guys we had a great car today, it was very drivable, very raceable and stayed really consistent throughout the race,” Gleason said. “Not too many close calls today but it was a learning experience, the GTS class is in the middle, so you have slower Touring cars to pass while the faster GT cars are passing you. You really have to be on top of things and there is an art to driving through traffic and letting traffic by without slowing down too much. I definitely learned a lot.”

Gleason never lost sight of pole-sitting race-winner Peter Cunningham or his RealTime Racing Acura TSX teammate Nick Esayian who started and finished second in Saturday’s race.

“We ran a strong third the entire race, never really had an opportunity to make a move for second, the Acuras drove a great race,” Gleason said. “A couple of times getting caught up with Touring class traffic, and GT cars coming up from behind, I thought I would get a chance but the gap never closed enough to make a move on them.”

The new combination of Napleton Porsche and Gleason is making its Pirelli World Challenge debut at Mid-Ohio but the team and driver are far from new to racing. Gleason and his brother Chris Gleason Jr. won a GRAND-AM Challenge race in an APR Volkswagen GTI in 2011 at Watkins Glen while Napleton Porsche built and at the time maintained the No. 68 Team Hot Wheels Cayman S that Jack Baldwin drove to the GTS victory in April at Long Beach.

Sunday's Pirelli World Challenge race begins at 9:55 a.m. EDT. Live video streaming will be available on www.world-challengetv.com starting at 9:50 a.m. EDT, and NBC Sports Network will televise the race at 1:30 p.m. EDT/10:30 a.m. PDT, Saturday, August 25.