SCC: VIR: SpeedSource race notes

SpeedSource Reigns on Podium at VIR and Lands Triple Crown Championship

Dreary October weather during Virginia International Raceway's VIR 200 could not dampen the spirits of SpeedSource Race Engineering. To win the team, driver, and manufacturer's championship SpeedSource needed to finish in a top ten spot. With this in mind, SpeedSource revamped their strategy. Having four SpeedSource cars in the Sport Touring class, the team took an uncharacteristic conservative approach. It was this decision and a long list of victories through the season that gave SpeedSource the 2005 Triple Crown Championship.

SpeedSource drivers Sylvain Tremblay and David Haskell piloted the # 70 car. Adverse weather conditions and periodic showers through the weekend caused teams to repeatedly switch from slick tires to rain tires and back again. Tremblay and Haskell needed to run a conservative yet solid race to secure the championship. Despite having won five times already through the season, Tremblay and Haskell knew that any wrong move during the VIR 200 could have cost them the Triple Crown.

With Tremblay and Haskell thoughtfully planning their moves, Ken Dobson and Scott Schlesinger stepped up their effort to help bring Mazda the manufacturer's championship. Dobson and Schlesinger drove the # 68 car with a vehement energy taking them straight to a 2nd place finish. During a yellow, Dobson and Schlesinger took advantage of the leaders pitting and took the lead for several laps. This VIR podium finish was the # 68 car's highest finishing position of the season.

"Ken and Scott were fast in the 68 car. The team made a great pit call, which landed Scott and Ken on the podium. With # 70, we had a different strategy. We were conservative as far as the tires went and we were on slicks for a long time. When we switched to rain tires we slid back to 5th. We remained confident and the team took the manufacturers championship," Tremblay said of his team's effort during the VIR 200.

"It was a crazy race! The team had solid pit stops and ended with no penalties. The credit goes to the team and their efforts," added Tremblay

The conservative efforts of the team were very much appreciated by driver champion, David Haskell. Tremblay and Haskell tied for the driver championship in 2004 but an incident during the Watkins Glen race gave Haskell the edge. Tremblay came in very close as 1st runner up, having scored no points at Watkins Glen International due to not driving during the race.

"The race was hectic and we at least needed to finish 10th. We followed the # 95 car, tried our best and took a conservative approach. The # 68 car led for a long time. The team effort was excellent and the pit stops were perfect," stated Haskell.

Haskell added his appreciation for those all involved with this championship season, "I have the best co-driver and on our team everyone works for the same goals. I want to thank the Grand-Am officials and competitors.

John Bisignano, Rich Walker, Jose Armengol, and Jacques Guenette, Jr. also finished out the season with Speed Source Race Engineering. Bisignano and Walker came in at the 14th spot in the SpeedSource # 67 car. Armengol and Guenette co-drove the SpeedSource # 65 car at the Grand-Am Cup finale.

Coverage of the race will be broadcasted on SPEED Sunday, November 13th at 3:00pm EST. For more race coverage log onto TheRaceSite.com

-ssr-