SCC: Driver standings notes 2004-08-26

Grand-Am Cup Driver Championship Battle Heats Up Heading into Miami
Borcheller Gains on Stanton; Turner and Salama Increase Lead

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 26, 2004) - With only four races left in the 2004 Grand-Am Cup Series season, No. 11 Powell Motorsport Cadillac CTS-V driver Terry Borcheller--who won the 2003 Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype driver championship--has substantially closed the gap on Craig Stanton in the Grand Sport class.

Prior to the Mid-Ohio 250 earlier this month, Stanton--driver of the No. 44 TheRaceSite.com Racing Porsche--had a commanding 32-point lead over his former co-driver, who moved to the No. 11 prior to Round 4 at Mont-Tremblant. However, because Stanton was unable to compete in the Mid-Ohio 250, he now leads Borcheller by only seven points (166-159).

Michiel Schuitemaker and BJ Zacharias, drivers of the No. 35 Schuitemaker Nissan 350Z, have moved into third with 141 markers. Stanton's TheRaceSite.com Racing teammates Joe and Wayne Nonnamaker slipped to a fifth-place tie in the standings after finishing 24th at Mid-Ohio due to suspension problems late in the race (140 points).

No. 52 Rehagen Racing Mustang co-drivers Larry Rehagen and Ken MacAlpine finished on the podium at the Mid-Ohio race and have moved to seventh in the point standings, while Unitech Racing driver Blake Rosser has moved into a tie with No. 38 BGB Motorsports Porsche driver Guy Cosmo for ninth (124 points). Rosser and teammate Kelly Collins scored the first Grand-Am Cup Series win for the Nissan 350Z with their victory in the Mid-Ohio 250 driving the No. 13 Unitech machine.

The No. 44 TheRaceSite.com Racing machine continues to lead the Grand Sport team standings with 172 points. Schuitemaker Motorsports moved to second with 141 points following the Mid-Ohio event, while the No. 43 TheRaceSite.com team fell to third place, just one point in arrears. In the manufacturer standings, Porsche holds a 27-point advantage over Nissan (200-173) with Ford in third with 142 points.

In the Sport Touring class, Will Turner and Don Salama, drivers of the No. 95 Turner Motorsports BMW, increased their lead to 24 points with a second-place class finish at Mid-Ohio. Their Turner Motorsports teammate, Tim Pappas, co-drove his No. 97 BMW to a fourth-place finish and moved to third with 160 points, while No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 drivers David Haskell and Sylvain Tremblay parlayed their ST class victory at Mid-Ohio into a fourth-place tie with 154 points.

Team Lexus driver Chuck Goldsborough is sixth in the driver standings with 152 markers followed by his No. 2 Team Lexus co-driver Ian James in seventh with 149. Bob Beede, driver of the No. 29 Bill Fenton Motorsports Acura RS-X, is eighth with 138 points, while No. 27 Acura driver Eric Curran is ninth with 135 markers. Marcello Abello, co-driver of the No. 66 SpeedSource Mazda, rounds out the top 10 with 134 points.

Turner Motorsports now owns the top-two team positions in the ST class. The No. 95 machine leads the No. 97 by 24 points (184-160), with the No. 70 SpeedSource team in third with 154 points. BMW leads Acura in the manufacturer standings (198-181), followed by Mazda with 172 points.

The Grand-Am Cup returns to Homestead-Miami Speedway September 10-12. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-PIT-SHOP or by visiting www.homesteadmiamispeedway.com. The race will be broadcast on SPEED Channel Sunday, August 19th at Noon ET.

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