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Trans-Am: Huffaker/Qvale, Neville, and Tommy Bahama win at Road Atlanta

26 July 1999

BRASELTON, Georgia (July 26, 1999) — Chris Neville, aboard the Huffaker/Qvale 
Motorsports Tommy Bahama Mustang Cobra, scored an exciting win today in the 
Automationdirect.com Trans-Am 100, part of the Southern Dash Weekend at Road 
Atlanta. It was the first BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am victory for Neville and 
Huffaker/Qvale, and was a great way to welcome new sponsor Tommy Bahama.

"This Tommy Bahama team is ready to rock and roll!" exclaimed Neville from 
victory lane. "The crew has worked really hard on this car, and the handling 
today was awesome!" Neville, the 1998 Trans-Am Rookie of the Year, came into 
Road Atlanta riding a string of three straight podium finishes, and finally 
broke through for the win. Finishing second was Johnny Miller, with 
points-leader Mike Lewis in third.

"The whole crew has worked really hard all year," commented Huffaker/Qvale 
Motorsports principal, Joe Huffaker. "We've been developing this car all 
year, and now we've shown it’s not only a front-runner, it’s a winner. 
There's a lot of pride in this crew, and in this car. Chris has really grown 
as a driver, and we're happy to have Tommy Bahama on board now as sponsor."

Neville had qualified the car in second position, alongside Brian Simo, and 
chased Simo in the early stages of the race. When Simo's car lost its 
gearbox, Neville was there to take the lead, but it was short-lived. Paul 
Gentilozzi, starting in 30th, came through the field to take the lead on the 
17th of 40 laps, but Neville kept the pressure on.

"I could see Paul was having to work the car very hard, and that's just what 
I wanted," said Neville. "I was just keeping close and taking care of my 
car." When Gentilozzi made a mistake in traffic and went off course, Neville 
again grabbed the lead, this time for keeps. A last-lap shootout kept it 
close, but Neville had the car to win. He now moves into second in series 
points, behind Lewis, as the season heads to the halfway point next week at 
Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada.

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