Mustang Takes 2nd at VIR
4/22/06, 08:53 PM
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ALTON, Va. (April 22, 2006) -- In a race marred by five caution periods and sporadic rainfall, No. 33 Playboy Racing Nissan 350Z co-drivers Blake Rosser and David Murry outlasted the field of 83 cars to claim victory in Saturday's VIR 200, Round 2 of the 2006 Grand-Am Cup Series.
Despite being the third machine to take the checkered flag in the 200-mile event, outstanding penalties on the No. 4 and No. 5 Blackforest Motorsports Ford Mustangs--stemming from earlier incidents--allowed Playboy Racing to clinch its first Grand-Am Cup Series victory in just the team's second start.
"The team made a great call to bring Blake in with about an hour to go and put dry tires on, even though it was pretty wet," Murry said. "We knew the weather was clearing up and it was going to dry up. The yellows were long. We put drys on and went back out and every time I'd come by they'd say, 'you're 28th now, you're 24th, you're 19th,' so we picked up a lot of spots just because of the pit strategy. Once we got out and ran the race at the end, it was a really aggressive, hard race. We just ended up coming out on top. I'm pretty happy with that. We just had to be patient. I knew this race was going to reward patience."
Murry took control of the machine during a caution period and ran near the front of the pack throughout the remainder of the race to log his fifth-career Grand-Am Cup Series win. As qualifying for the race was washed out by pestering showers earlier in the day--and the starting grid was set by team points--Rosser started the machine from the 35th position, based on the team's 46th-place class finish in the season-opening race at Daytona.
"It was a pretty good job to get a win here," Rosser said. "We had to start so far back because we had a broken axle in Daytona. Based on points, I think we were gridded 35th. To come from 35th to the front is pretty amazing with the conditions what they were. I didn't make it any easier for my teammate, because unfortunately I got on the grass trying to avoid an ST car. It would have been a huge accident on the back straight on a restart. I think I lost about another four spots. We were 40th, but then a few people came in and I stayed out. I think I got back to 25th or 26th, and then we just made the right call to put the tires on. It was definitely luck. I could see the car moving forward. We weren't there on speed, but I think a lot of guys made passes under yellow. I know I got passed quite a bit under yellow. It's great. We deserved the win, because we've done such hard work, so I'm pretty excited. It's awesome for our new sponsors, Playboy and Palms, so I'm pretty excited about it. I didn't really like Virginia because of the rain, but now it's my favorite track."
A series of incidents throughout the race dramatically changed its outcome. On Lap 38, James Gue--in the No. 77 Blackforest Motorsports Ford Mustang--passed the No. 96 Turner Motorsport/Gleason Financial BMW M3, driven by Bill Auberlen, for the overall race lead. Moments later, a stopped car along the front straightaway prompted the race's fifth full-course caution and the field was frozen.
However, David Empringham in the No. 4 Mustang and Patrick Long in the No. 81 Wheel Enhancement/Synergy Racing Porsche 997--who passed Auberlen just after Gue--passed the race-leading No. 77 machine during the caution, incurring "drive through" penalties for their errors. When the race resumed for the seven-lap sprint to the checkers, Empringham elected not to serve his penalty and 45 seconds was added to his final time. The time penalty moved Empringham and co-driver Valerie Limoges to a 10th-place overall finish. Long and co-driver Brent Martini wound up eighth.
The No. 5 Mustang incurred a penalty earlier in the race, when Ian James made avoidable contact with Terry Borcheller in the No. 2 Feeds the Need Racing Mustang GT for Blackforest Motorsports. Like Empringham, James did not serve his penalty before the end of the race, and also had 45 seconds added to the car's time. With the penalty, James and co-driver Tom Nastasi finished 15th.
On a Lap 24 restart, Tony Buffomante in the No. 181 Kaiser Customs/Marcus Motorsports Cadillac CTS-V made contact with then-race leader Jason Martinelli in the No. 14 Martinelli Motorsports BMW M3, sending the No. 14 machine hard into the outside tire barrier, ending its race. As a result of the five caution periods, only 12 of the 49 total laps were completed under green flag conditions.
Spencer Pumpelly and Andy Lally finished third in the No. 49 Porsche of Lexington/TRG Scooters/Cobra Powersports Porsche 997 for Marcus Motorsports. Finishing fourth were Tim Traver and Mikel Miller in the No. 83 Simplenet.com Porsche Carrera for BGB Motorsports, followed by Anders Hainer and Boris Said, who rounded out the top five in the No. 97 Turner Motorsport/Under Armour BMW M3.
With the runner-up finish, Gue moves into the Grand Sport points lead, holding a 13-point advantage over Lally, Pumpelly, Michael McDowell and Rob Finlay. Finlay and McDowell followed up a third-place run at Daytona with a 14th-place overall result at VIR.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are the Mustangs:
<table><tr><td><u>No.</u></td><td><u>Pos</u></td><td><u>Team/Car</u></td></tr>
<tr><td>77</td><td>2</td><td>Blackforest Motorsports / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td>54</td><td>6</td><td>Hyper Sport / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td>10</td><td>Blackforest Motorsports / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td>15</td><td>14</td><td>Playboy Racing / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td>15</td><td>Blackforest Motorsports / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td><font color=red>52</font></td><td><font color=red>16</font></td><td><font color=red>Rehagen Racing / Mustang Cobra SVT</font></td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td>17</td><td>Blackforest Motorsports / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td><font color=red>59</font></td><td><font color=red>20</font></td><td><font color=red>Rehagen Racing / Mustang GT</font></td></tr>
<tr><td>51</td><td>37</td><td>Stealth Racing / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td>16</td><td>38</td><td>Champion Motorsports / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td><font color=red>58</font></td><td><font color=red>39</font></td><td><font color=red>Rehagen Racing / Mustang Cobra SVT</font></td></tr>
<tr><td>37</td><td>40</td><td>JBS Motorsports / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td>47</td><td>41</td><td>TF Racing / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td>55</td><td>42</td><td>Hyper Sport / Mustang GT</td></tr></table>
[attachmentid=47614]
ALTON, Va. (April 22, 2006) -- In a race marred by five caution periods and sporadic rainfall, No. 33 Playboy Racing Nissan 350Z co-drivers Blake Rosser and David Murry outlasted the field of 83 cars to claim victory in Saturday's VIR 200, Round 2 of the 2006 Grand-Am Cup Series.
Despite being the third machine to take the checkered flag in the 200-mile event, outstanding penalties on the No. 4 and No. 5 Blackforest Motorsports Ford Mustangs--stemming from earlier incidents--allowed Playboy Racing to clinch its first Grand-Am Cup Series victory in just the team's second start.
"The team made a great call to bring Blake in with about an hour to go and put dry tires on, even though it was pretty wet," Murry said. "We knew the weather was clearing up and it was going to dry up. The yellows were long. We put drys on and went back out and every time I'd come by they'd say, 'you're 28th now, you're 24th, you're 19th,' so we picked up a lot of spots just because of the pit strategy. Once we got out and ran the race at the end, it was a really aggressive, hard race. We just ended up coming out on top. I'm pretty happy with that. We just had to be patient. I knew this race was going to reward patience."
Murry took control of the machine during a caution period and ran near the front of the pack throughout the remainder of the race to log his fifth-career Grand-Am Cup Series win. As qualifying for the race was washed out by pestering showers earlier in the day--and the starting grid was set by team points--Rosser started the machine from the 35th position, based on the team's 46th-place class finish in the season-opening race at Daytona.
"It was a pretty good job to get a win here," Rosser said. "We had to start so far back because we had a broken axle in Daytona. Based on points, I think we were gridded 35th. To come from 35th to the front is pretty amazing with the conditions what they were. I didn't make it any easier for my teammate, because unfortunately I got on the grass trying to avoid an ST car. It would have been a huge accident on the back straight on a restart. I think I lost about another four spots. We were 40th, but then a few people came in and I stayed out. I think I got back to 25th or 26th, and then we just made the right call to put the tires on. It was definitely luck. I could see the car moving forward. We weren't there on speed, but I think a lot of guys made passes under yellow. I know I got passed quite a bit under yellow. It's great. We deserved the win, because we've done such hard work, so I'm pretty excited. It's awesome for our new sponsors, Playboy and Palms, so I'm pretty excited about it. I didn't really like Virginia because of the rain, but now it's my favorite track."
A series of incidents throughout the race dramatically changed its outcome. On Lap 38, James Gue--in the No. 77 Blackforest Motorsports Ford Mustang--passed the No. 96 Turner Motorsport/Gleason Financial BMW M3, driven by Bill Auberlen, for the overall race lead. Moments later, a stopped car along the front straightaway prompted the race's fifth full-course caution and the field was frozen.
However, David Empringham in the No. 4 Mustang and Patrick Long in the No. 81 Wheel Enhancement/Synergy Racing Porsche 997--who passed Auberlen just after Gue--passed the race-leading No. 77 machine during the caution, incurring "drive through" penalties for their errors. When the race resumed for the seven-lap sprint to the checkers, Empringham elected not to serve his penalty and 45 seconds was added to his final time. The time penalty moved Empringham and co-driver Valerie Limoges to a 10th-place overall finish. Long and co-driver Brent Martini wound up eighth.
The No. 5 Mustang incurred a penalty earlier in the race, when Ian James made avoidable contact with Terry Borcheller in the No. 2 Feeds the Need Racing Mustang GT for Blackforest Motorsports. Like Empringham, James did not serve his penalty before the end of the race, and also had 45 seconds added to the car's time. With the penalty, James and co-driver Tom Nastasi finished 15th.
On a Lap 24 restart, Tony Buffomante in the No. 181 Kaiser Customs/Marcus Motorsports Cadillac CTS-V made contact with then-race leader Jason Martinelli in the No. 14 Martinelli Motorsports BMW M3, sending the No. 14 machine hard into the outside tire barrier, ending its race. As a result of the five caution periods, only 12 of the 49 total laps were completed under green flag conditions.
Spencer Pumpelly and Andy Lally finished third in the No. 49 Porsche of Lexington/TRG Scooters/Cobra Powersports Porsche 997 for Marcus Motorsports. Finishing fourth were Tim Traver and Mikel Miller in the No. 83 Simplenet.com Porsche Carrera for BGB Motorsports, followed by Anders Hainer and Boris Said, who rounded out the top five in the No. 97 Turner Motorsport/Under Armour BMW M3.
With the runner-up finish, Gue moves into the Grand Sport points lead, holding a 13-point advantage over Lally, Pumpelly, Michael McDowell and Rob Finlay. Finlay and McDowell followed up a third-place run at Daytona with a 14th-place overall result at VIR.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are the Mustangs:
<table><tr><td><u>No.</u></td><td><u>Pos</u></td><td><u>Team/Car</u></td></tr>
<tr><td>77</td><td>2</td><td>Blackforest Motorsports / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td>54</td><td>6</td><td>Hyper Sport / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td>4</td><td>10</td><td>Blackforest Motorsports / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td>15</td><td>14</td><td>Playboy Racing / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td>5</td><td>15</td><td>Blackforest Motorsports / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td><font color=red>52</font></td><td><font color=red>16</font></td><td><font color=red>Rehagen Racing / Mustang Cobra SVT</font></td></tr>
<tr><td>2</td><td>17</td><td>Blackforest Motorsports / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td><font color=red>59</font></td><td><font color=red>20</font></td><td><font color=red>Rehagen Racing / Mustang GT</font></td></tr>
<tr><td>51</td><td>37</td><td>Stealth Racing / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td>16</td><td>38</td><td>Champion Motorsports / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td><font color=red>58</font></td><td><font color=red>39</font></td><td><font color=red>Rehagen Racing / Mustang Cobra SVT</font></td></tr>
<tr><td>37</td><td>40</td><td>JBS Motorsports / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td>47</td><td>41</td><td>TF Racing / Mustang GT</td></tr>
<tr><td>55</td><td>42</td><td>Hyper Sport / Mustang GT</td></tr></table>
[attachmentid=47614]
4/29/06, 02:19 PM
#7
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Join Date: February 12, 2004
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That looked like the most expensive demolition derby that I've seen in a while. They really need to look at splitting up the classes. Nice save by the guy in the Playboy Nissan, though.
And Multimatic is now running the Panoz team in ALMS GT-2.
And Multimatic is now running the Panoz team in ALMS GT-2.
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