SCC: Five series titles on the line for season finale

One Grand-Am Cup Series Title Down, Five to go Heading into California Season Finale
Driver Battles Intensify; Porsche Claims GS Manufacturer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (October 22, 2004) -- With only one race remaining in the 2004 Grand-Am Cup Series season, five championship titles will be determined at California Speedway in the Lexus Grand American 250, on Saturday, October 30 (SPEED Channel, November 7 at 5 p.m. ET). Only the Grand Sport (GS) class manufacturer title has been clinched by Porsche, and the other five points races are still wide open.

No. 11 Powell Motorsport Cadillac CTS-V driver Terry Borcheller leads No. 43 TheRaceSite.com Racing Porsche 996 driver Craig Stanton--with whom Borcheller co-drove for the first three races of the 2004 season--by only four points (246-242) in the GS driver standings heading to the final race of the season. Stanton has six wins this season compared to Borcheller's four, but a schedule conflict that forced him to miss the Mid-Ohio race allowed Borcheller to sneak back to the top of the standings. Borcheller and Stanton are the only two drivers to lead the class point standings this season, and it is unlikely another driver will steal the championship.

Michiel Schuitemaker and BJ Zacharias--co-drivers of the No. 35 Schuitemaker Motorsports Nissan 350Z--are tied for third with 209 points. No. 44 TheRaceSite.com Racing Porsche 996 co-drivers Joe and Wayne Nonnamaker are in a three-way tie with No. 33 Unitech Racing Nissan 350Z driver Mike Cronin Jr. for fifth (197 points). No. 23 Unitech Racing Nissan 350Z driver Blake Rosser is eighth with 192 points, followed by No. 17 Doncaster Racing Porsche 996 driver Greg Wilkins two points back. Borcheller's co-driver, Devon Powell, is 10th with 187 points.

In the GS team standings, the No. 44 TheRaceSite.com Racing team leads its No. 43 sister team by 13 points (229-116). The No. 35 Schuitemaker Motorsports team is third with 209 tallies. Porsche wrapped-up the GS manufacturers championship with its triumph at Virginia International Raceway earlier this month, and Nissan has already clinched second place. However, third is still up for grabs as Cadillac holds a one-point advantage over Ford (200-199) heading into the season finale.

With their fourth Sport Touring (ST) class win of the season two weeks ago at Barber Motorsports Park, David Haskell and Sylvain Tremblay -- drivers of the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 -- have moved to within eight points of class-leading No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW 330i co-drivers Will Turner and Don Salama (264-256). The BMW duo has yet to win this season, but has finished on the podium five times and have not finished lower than sixth.

No. 27 Bill Fenton Motorsports Acura RSX-S driver Eric Curran scored his first win of the season at Virginia International Raceway and currently stands fifth (234 points) in ST driver points. No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW 330i driver Tim Pappas is sixth, one point in arrears of Curran, while No. 2 Team Lexus IS300 owner/driver Chuck Goldsborough ranks seventh with 223 points. No. 29 Bill Fenton Motorsports Acura driver Bob Beede is eighth with 216 markers, followed by Goldsborough's co-driver Ian James in ninth (211) and Curran's co-driver Bob Endicott rounds out the top 10 with 204 markers.

In the ST team standings, the No. 95 Turner Motorsport team leads the No. 70 SpeedSource team by eight points -- the same as the driver standings (264-256). The No. 27 Bill Fenton Motorsports team is third with 234 points. The manufacturer championship is far from decided, as BMW leads Acura by only three points heading in to the California (283-280) race, while Mazda is still in contention with 274 points.

Next weekend's Grand-Am Cup Series Lexus Grand American 250 at California Speedway will air on SPEED Channel at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, November 7. Tickets are still available by calling 1-800-PIT-SHOP or by visiting www.californiaspeedway.com.

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