TRANS-AM: Huffaker/Qvale, Tommy Bahama and Neville look toward 2000
29 October 1999
SONOMA, Cal. — Chris Neville drove a steady race to fourth in the #88 Tommy Bahama Mustang Cobra fielded by Huffaker/Qvale Motorsports at the BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am Series season finale at Sebring International Raceway on Sunday, October 17. His finish clinched third place in the final point standings for the year, and left the team in a strong position to move into the year 2000 season with the factory DeTomaso Mangusta effort and an eye toward the championship. Paul Gentilozzi won the Sebring race. "It was a pretty uneventful race," noted Neville afterward, "but that was okay, after the up and down season we've had. What we needed was a good, clean race, which we got, and to finish up strong in the season points, and we did that too. I really want to thank Bruce Qvale (Huffaker/Qvale president), and Joe Huffaker (Huffaker/Qvale vice president and technical director) for sticking with me this year. We had some bumpy times, and didn’t know if we could finish the season. But we got a win at Road Atlanta, managed to bring Tommy Bahama aboard, and finished up here doing what we needed to do. I just can't express the feelings I'm having now." Neville, the 1998 Trans-Am Rookie of the Year, scored his first career pole at this year's season opening race at Long Beach. He very nearly got his first career win two races later when he and series runner-up Brian Simo staged a wild, back-and-forth battle at Lime Rock. Neville finished second there, and followed that up two races later with another podium finish at Road America. Neville and the Huffaker/Qvale crew beat all comers at the Road Atlanta round, scoring a strong, well-calculated race win the first time out in Tommy Bahama livery. Tommy Bahama, the upscale lifestyle and apparel company, signed on to be team sponsor for the rest of 1999 and 2000, and Neville went on to lead the series points for several rounds before running into a series of on-track incidents that kept him from the podium again. He wound up third in wins on the season, third in laps led, and tied for third in Fast Five Qualifying appearances. "We were developing the Huffaker Engineering chassis all year," said Huffaker, designer of the car. "To have finished our first year with a pole, a win, nine Fast Five Qualifying spots and one fastest race lap speaks volumes about Chris and the entire Huffaker/Qvale crew. They really worked their tails off this year, and I'm really proud of the job they've all done. We've proven our chassis is the match of any, and we're ready to show that, by next year, it will be a cut above the rest." "I think we've positioned ourselves very well," said Qvale. "With sponsor Tommy Bahama, we're ready to take on the challenge of being the factory DeTomaso Mangusta team. We think the combination of a great sponsor, an exciting new car, and the proven Huffaker/Qvale Motorsports crew and chassis, we are going to be setting the standard for the Trans-Am series as we head into the year 2000. This has been a tremendous year, and next year will only be better." The televised rebroadcast of the Sebring season finale will be on the Speedvision Network at 2:00 pm EDT on Saturday, October 30. # # #