Trans-Am: Huffaker/Qvale and Tommy Bahama at Pikes Peak
2 October 1999
HUFFAKER/QVALE, TOMMY BAHAMA, AND CHRIS NEVILLE READY FOR PIKES PEAK BFGOODRICH TIRES TRANS-AM Fountain, Colo. (Friday, October 1, 1999) Chris Neville and the Huffaker/Qvale Motorsports crew hope to continue the momentum of their Houston run and carry the Tommy Bahama Mustang Cobra to the front as the BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am Series contests Round Twelve (of thirteen) at the Pikes Peak International Raceway on Sunday, October 3, 1999. It's the series' first visit to a non-street circuit since Neville took the Tommy Bahama car into victory circle at Road Atlanta last July. "I'm really glad to be back on this type of circuit," said Neville, the 1998 Trans-Am Rookie of the Year, "and I really like Pikes Peak. We did well here last year, and we're coming off a race we did pretty well at, so hopefully we'll be back up front where we belong." Neville was running a strong second at Houston last week when fading brakes and a wheel problem caused him to slip slightly back to fourth by the checkered flag. At PPIR last year, he ran strongly in the top five all day, finishing fourth. "We've been doing some more development on the car," said Huffaker/Qvale vice president and technical director Joe Huffaker, who built the chassis that Neville is campaigning this year. "Since Grand Rapids, we've been collecting data on the car, which we didn't have earlier in the year, so that is helping us some. We've also been doing some development on the motor, hoping to find that elusive last couple of horsepower." New sponsor Tommy Bahama, an upscale lifestyle apparel company, came on board midseason with Huffaker/Qvale, and Neville posted his first Trans-Am victory in their first race together. Since then, he has been scrambling to get back into victory circle, but may well be poised to do that this weekend. Neville, fastest qualifier at the season's first race in Long Beach, is third in season points heading into Pikes Peak, tied for third for most number of Fast Five qualifying appearances, and third in laps lead during the season. The race is schedule to go 74 laps, or 99.16 miles, taking the green flag at 2:00 pm MDT Sunday, October 3, 1999. Television coverage will be live on the Speedvision Network at 4:00 pm EDT. The rebroadcast, also on Speedvision, will be Saturday, October 9, at 8:00 pm EDT.