ALMS: Huffaker/Qvale look to extend point lead
6 August 1999
DETROIT, Mich. (August 6, 1999) Chris Neville will bring his #88 Huffaker/Qvale Motorsports/ Tommy Bahama Mustang to the Johnson Controls 100, part of the Tenneco Automotive Detroit Grand Prix, with the 1999 BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am Series points lead. It's an enviable position for the 1998 Trans-Am Rookie of The Year. "The Tommy Bahama car was a great car last weekend," said Neville, "unfortunately, we didn't get the chance to show it in the race." Neville, who finished sixth after several altercations with another driver, was originally scored eighth. The other driver was penalized for reckless driving after the race, however, moving Neville up to sixth. And while the finish broke Neville's string of four straight podium finishes, capped by a win at Road Atlanta, it was good enough to move the 1998 Trans-Am Rookie of the Year into the 1999 points lead. "We scored our first podium finish here last year," said Bruce Qvale, president of Huffaker/Qvale Motorsports, and last year's driver. In 1998, Qvale finished in third at the Detroit race, one of three podium finishes in his rookie season. He finished runner-up to Neville in the Rookie standings. "This would be a great place to start another string of podium finishes for Huffaker/Qvale, Tommy Bahama, and Chris." "We always have a strong street circuit car," added Joe Huffaker, vice president and technical director of Huffaker/Qvale Motorsports. "This is a new car, and we've been developing it all year. Chris put the car on the pole at the first street race of the year, in Long Beach, and we think it’s a better car now, so this should be a fun weekend for us." "Finishing on the podium here would be a good way to continue our good relationship with new sponsor Tommy Bahama," said Qvale. Tommy Bahama, an upscale islandwear company, came on board with Huffaker/Qvale at the Road Atlanta race. "So far, we've won our first race together, and got the season points lead with the second," said Qvale. "I'm not sure what we can do to top that, but we'll try." The Speedvision Network will provide 2-day tape delay television coverage of the Detroit race. The 42-lap, 99.162-mile race around the tight, 2.361-mile, 14-Turn racetrack is scheduled to begin at 4:00 pm (EDT) on Saturday, August 7, with the broadcast scheduled for 9:00 pm (EDT) on Monday, August 9. Rebroadcast will be on The Nashville Network (TNN), on August 15, at 3:00 pm (EDT).