Watkins Glen: TRG race report

TRG Finishes 3-4-6 and 14 at Watkins Glen

Petaluma, Ca. (June 6, 2006) - The hard-fought Six Hours of The Glen resulted in another podium finish for TRG, extending it's streak to 14 consecutive podiums. Until the last lap, it looked as if The Racer's Group would miss the podium for the first time since 2005. However, a small slip by the Synergy Racing Porsche and a late charge by the team Pontiacs allowed Paul Edwards in the #64 iRise/TRG Pontiac GTO.R and teammate Andy Lally in the #65 F1 Air/TRG GTO.R to pass. Also completing the race in fine fashion were the team Porsches. Finishing a strong 6th, after a superbly driven race, was the duo of Jim Lowe and Jim Pace in the Bernie Robbins Fine Jewelery/TRG #66 Porsche GT3.

"Wow! What an unbelievable event," exclaimed team owner Kevin Buckler. "We raced for six hours in some seriously miserable conditions. I can't belive all four cars finished the race virtually unscathed. The first day all the crew guys were begging me to wear shorts and by race day we needed heavy jackets and ponchos. The weather was all over the board. The Pontiacs made a terrific late race charge and the guys in the Porsches did fantastic."

Throughout the day the GTO's raced hard but struggled to keep pace with the leaders. The long track proved to be quite Porsche-friendly as several GT3 cars swapped the lead throughout the day. During the last lap the hard charge of the GTO's paid off as the Porsche in third hit a puddle and slowed just enough for Edwards in the #64 and Lally in the #65 to pass, putting Edwards on the podium in third place.

The surprise of the day came from the #66 GT3 driven by Jim Lowe and Jim Pace. For a significant portion of the event, they ran in second and third place before slipping back slightly for a respectable sixth place. Just as impressive were Mike Solley, Bohdan Kroczek and Murray Marden racing the #67 Solley Motorsports/TRG Porsche. A 14th place finish was superb for three drivers with much less experience in the pro circuit than most of the drivers on the course, especially given the conditions.

"I was so proud of all of our Porsche drivers last weekend. Jim Pace really led the charge for these guys but we basically threw them all off the deep end of the board with this one and they all drove like pros," Buckler commented.

Driver Andy Lally noted that "this was one of those races that the conditions are just about as bad as it gets. It's not super wet so you can actually put the power down and get up to a decent speed, but it is slippery enough that if you make a mistake you are going to slide forever. A few inches off the line and it could have been game over."

"It was frustrating because we were a bit slower than expected and we were not able to really make a charge to the front all day. I'm proud of my team for giving us a solid car, and the guys for calling a great race on the box. Fourth place is not what we were looking for this weekend and we lost some head way in the points, but we still have the lead with five races to go, and look to improve for the next event at Mid-Ohio."

TRG and the rest of the Rolex Series teams will visit Mid-Ohio on June 25 for the Emco Gears Classic. Only ten points separate TRG drivers Marc Bunting and Andy Lally from the second place team, and TRG's Paul Edwards and Kelly Collins close behind in third. Catch all the excitement of TRG racing!

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