Virginia (VIR): Race summary

Dyson Racing earns crawford its first-ever win at VIR 500.

ALTON, Va. (September 1, 2002) -- Dyson Racing Team captured its fourth win of the season today at the VIR 500, but this time the team drove the #16 Judd-powered Crawford to Victory Lane. Andy Wallace and Chris Dyson partnered in the #16 Crawford, made just across the state line in North Carolina, and piloted it to a 25-second victory over the points leading #27 Judd Dallara of Doran Lista Racing.

Didier Theys and Mauro Baldi took a commanding lead in the #27 Dallara early in the race, with Theys setting the all-time full course track record on the second lap with his 118.171 mph lap in 1:39.618. The Doran Lista car led the entire field by a full lap at the midway point, however several off-track excursions by Baldi reduced the Dallara's lead when it went off track on the slippery wet grass around the racetrack caused by the heavy rainfall throughout the weekend. Eventually the team was forced to bring the #27 car into the pits to replace the nose of the car, and the extended pit stop not only gave the #16 Crawford the lead, but also put the Doran Lista Dallara a lap down.

Baldi was able to get the lap back during a pit stop by the Dyson Team before the Doran Lista team put Theys back behind the wheel in hopes of catching up to the leader. Despite turning lap times three to five seconds faster than Wallace in the #16 Crawford, there was not enough laps left in the 500-mile race for Theys to re-take the lead.

The win by Dyson will cut Theys' lead in the SRP driver point standings to only six points with Dyson closing in from second place. It will also narrow Doran Lista Racing's advantage in the team point standings to only two points over Dyson Racing.

The #7 and #8 team cars of Rand Racing gave fans an amazing battle throughout the race, which used the entire five-hour time allotment. But the most exciting action came in the final hour as Terry Borcheller in the team's #8 Nissan Lola tried to hold off Ralf Kelleners in the #7 Nissan. The pair raced side-by-side and nose-to-tail around the 3.27-mile racetrack in a heated battle for the lead, but in the end it was Borcheller who took his sixth checkered flag of the season and finished third overall.

Borcheller strengthened his lead in the SRPII driver point standings, while his co-driver Anthony Lazzaro greatly reduced the margin between him and second-place Darren Law to only one point. Law was involved in a severe accident when he lost control of the G&W Motorsports/Momentum Motorcars #70 BMW Picchio and went into the guardrail, resulting in the early exit of the car from the race.

Cort Wagner and Bill Auberlen picked up their fourth-straight win of the season in the Ferrari of Washington #33 Ferrari 360GT, setting a new record for the Rolex Series GT class for the most consecutive wins. However, the victory did not come easy for the duo, which had several spins in the grass and developed a fuel pickup problem in the final hour of racing.

Several teams took their turns at the front of the GT class during the race but fell victim to various problems. The ZIP Racing #34 Porsche GT3 R started the race in the pole position, but quickly lost the lead to the Perspective Motorsports #24 Mosler MT900 R. The Mosler led for several laps before problems with the transmission sent it into the pits for repairs. The Racer's Group #66 Porsche also fell victim to transmission woes, allowing the Ferrari team to substantially increase its points lead over its two closest rivals.

The ACEMCO Motorsports #26 Porsche picked up its best finish of the season with second place in the GT class, while ZIP Racing held on for third, both finishing one lap down to the winning Ferrari.

Kerry Hitt increased his lead in the American GT driver point standings with a victory in the ACP Motorsports #19 Corvette. Hitt, who partnered with Doug Mills and Owen Trinkler, was able to take advantage of several mishaps by other AGT competitors en route to the win.

The Morgan Dollar Motorsports #46 Corvette led for several hours, but went out with transmission problems, and the Heritage Motorsports #48 Mustang took its turn at the front of the pack before repairs to bodywork dropped it back to a second-place finish.

The VIR 500 will be aired on SPEED Channel on Saturday, September 7th at 8 p.m. ET, and again at 1 a.m. ET.

The Rolex Sports Car Series will travel next to Quebec, Canada for the 6 Heures du Mont-Tremblant on September 13-15. Tickets are currently on sale online at www.lecircuit.com. Additional information on the Rolex Sports Car Series is available online at www.grand-am.com

-grand am-