Reese Cox at Charlotte

CONCORD, NC -- In an exciting season opening race, Reese Cox, in the No.98 MTI Racing C5 Corvette finished in 2nd place - just a short 2.993 seconds behind winner Bill Cooper during the Speedvision World Championship GT race held here at Lowe's Motor Speedway on March 31.

Cox ran fourth at the start and moved to third with the retirement of defending series champion Bobby Archer's Dodge Viper, who suffered an engine failure. Cox followed Schardt until the final lap of the race, when he passed for second. Schardt slid wide in the corner and spun. His stricken Porsche was then collected by the Ferrari 355 of Matt Drendel. Neither driver was seriously injured. Cox's second place was his career best.

"If people knew how hard we worked back in the shop and how little sponsor support we get, they'd be amazed we even make it to the races, let alone finish second," said Cox, driver of the No. 98 MTI Racing Corvette C5. "This is awesome. Hopefully a result like this will attract some sponsorship for the team."

In the 1999 season, the 37-year-old Cox contested eight of the 10 Speedvision GT races, recording three top-five and six top-10 finishes with a best result of second at the Western Michigan Grand Prix in Grand Rapids, MI. He finished sixth overall in the season-ending GT Championship standings.

Reese Cox, owner/driver of the No.98 MTI Racing C5 Corvette, is shown here receiving his 2nd place trophy for the SCCA Speedvision World Challenge GT season opener held at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte. (Photo by Doug Johnson)

In 1998, Cox won Rookie of the Year honors in T1 on the strength of two top-five (career-best fourths at Topeka and Lime Rock) and four top-10 finishes (Trois-Rivieres and Road America). He finished sixth overall in the Drivers' Championship, tied with Paul Brown.

In 1988, Cox served as crew chief in Corvette Challenge for current Trans-Am driver Lou Gigliotti. From 1991-1994, he served as crew chief for Tommy Morrison's Mobil One Corvette team in both World Challenge and IMSA. In 1996, he made his racing debut as a driver at Road Atlanta in A-Sedan, finishing fourth, then went on to win the A-Sedan National Championship at the Valvoline Runoffs in his first season of competition. In 1997, he made his World Challenge debut, scoring top-10 finishes at Mid-Ohio (eighth) and Mosport Park (sixth); and he was undefeated in A-Sedan competition, scoring six wins, six poles and four track records.

MTI Racing is part of MTI Motorsports - a custom Corvette high-performance tuner located in Marietta, GA.