SCC: Homestead: Tim George Jr. race report

George Jr. Returns to Road Racing in Homestead 200; Last Minute Opportunity Makes for Busy Off-weekend

MOORESVILLE, North Carolina (March 8, 2010) - Following a solid finish in the February 27th ARCA race in Palm Beach, Tim George Jr. got a last minute opportunity to join the Rehagen Racing team for the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series' second race of the season. George Jr. raced the No. 58 Cabana Cachaca Rum Grand Sport Mustang for Rehagen Racing, the 2009 Continental Tire S[093-1.jpg] ports Car Challenge Champions, with teammate Conrad Grunewald in the Homestead 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

George Jr. returned to RCR's shop following the Tire Kingdom 150 to prepare for the ARCA open test at Texas Motor Speedway on March 9th. Then, George Jr. took a late night flight to Miami Thursday to practice in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series on Friday.

The ARCA Racing Series driver spent 2007 competing in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series. He finished the season with three top-10 qualifiers, five top-10 finishes and 20th in overall driver points out of 101 drivers. This made for a great season, as George Jr. had only two years of prior racing experience participating in the Skip Barber Racing Series. George Jr. then moved up to the Grand-Am Rolex Series before making the switch from sports cars to stock cars.

"I am honored to be able to race with Ken Wilden and the Rehagen group," George Jr. said. "I look forward to any chance to come back, race competitively in a sports car and strengthen my road course skills. And, I am very grateful that RCR allowed me to participate."

The Rehagen Racing No. 58 team had mechanical problems in practice but worked hard to get back on the track. "We had a brake issue in practice and could not get the car ready to make qualifying. However, the guys worked very hard overnight, and it shows why this team won the championship last year. We were sixth in this morning's practice which is a good sign for the race. I'm excited to be sponsored by Cabana again; running into them at the South Beach Food & Wine Festival was great!"

Having missed qualifying, George Jr. and Grunewald took the green flag for the Homestead 200 in the 38th starting spot. The team had two and a half hours to work their way up through the field. George Jr. took the wheel and navigated into the top-10. Unfortunately, the No. 58 car had a different pit strategy than the leaders and had to pit under green for gas and a driver change. In the end, the No. 58 moved up 13 spots from their starting position and took the checkered flag in 25th.

"It's good to be back in the sports car garage driving with my good friend and pro drifter Conrad Grunewald," said the ARCA regular. "We didn't finish as well as we had hoped, but I did benefit from the experience in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge."

The RCR Development driver then flew to Atlanta, where he accompanied RCR VP of Competition, Mike Dillon on the spotter's stand and observeded his RCR teammates in the Kobalt Tools 500. George Jr. will continue to keep busy before the next ARCA race at Salem Speedway. He will test the No. 31 RCR Development Chevy at the ARCA open test at Texas Motor Speedway on Tuesday and Talladega Super Speedway in two weeks.

Tim would also like to send his best wishes for a speedy recovery to Judy Childress, who is hospitalized in Winston-Salem.

-source: tim george jr PR