Trois-Rivieres Race Report

GENTILOZZI TAKES TROIS-RIVIERES TRANS-AM

TROIS-RIVIERES, Quebec, Canada (August 1) - Paul Gentilozzi, of Lansing, Mich., scored his fourth BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am Series win of the season after topping runner-up Brian Simo, of Carlsbad, Calif., by 0.503-second on the streets of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada. Johnny Miller IV, of Johnson City, Tenn., finished third, followed by Bob Ruman, of Munroe Falls, Ohio, and Randy Ruhlman, of Greensboro, N.C.

Gentilozzi, driving the No. 1 Johnson Controls/HomeLink Ford Mustang Cobra, started the 55-lap, 82.83-mile race from the pole and led the first 28 laps, but fell to third behind second-place starter Simo, in the No. 2 Valvoline Mustang Cobra, and Miller IV, in the No. 64 Automationdirect.com Chevrolet Camaro, after missing a shift heading into Turn Six on the 10-turn, 1.506-mile circuit.

"I missed a gear," said Gentilozzi. "I came up on traffic and missed the shift between first and second. Once I was in third I saw Brian (Simo) and John (Miller) racing hard so I thought I should hang back and avoid any incidents - then I made my move near the end."

Once Simo was in the lead, he came under attack from Miller IV, who passed for the lead position on lap 37, only to have a resurgent Gentilozzi capture the lead, this time for good, on lap 38. Running second, Miller IV was able to hold off the charges from Simo until lap 51, when Simo was able to get the inside line at Turn Six and maintain the runner-up position to the checkered flag.

Michael Lewis, of San Diego, Calif., started the race 20th and had advanced to fifth by lap 45, but on a lap-51 restart for the second of two full-course cautions, Leighton Reese, of Minnetonka, Minn., overshot the entry to turn one, sliding into fourth-place running Ruhlman and Lewis. The trio slid off course at Turn One, ending Lewis' day with mechanical troubles, but Ruhlman and Reese were able to continue.

Following the race, sixth-place finisher Reese was moved to eighth and seventh-place finisher Lou Gigliotti was moved to 11th, both for "reckless driving."

TROIS-RIVIERES, Quebec, Canada - Results from Sunday's 55-lap, 82.83-mile BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am race at the Trois-Rivieres street circuit, with finishing position, starting position in parenthesis, driver, hometown, car, laps complete and reason out (if any).

1. (1), Paul Gentilozzi, Lansing, Mich., Ford Mustang Cobra, 55. 2. (2), Brian Simo, Carlsbad, Calif., Ford Mustang Cobra, 55. 3. (4), Johnny Miller IV, Johnson City, Tenn., Chevrolet Camaro, 55. 4. (6), Bob Ruman, Munroe Falls, Ohio, Chevrolet Camaro, 55. 5. (3), Randy Ruhlman, Greensboro, N.C., Ford Mustang Cobra, 55. 6. (9), Chris Neville, Scottsdale, Ariz., Ford Mustang Cobra, 54. 7. (16), Tom Coleman, Asheville, N.C., Chevrolet Camaro, 54. 8. (10), Leighton Reese, Minnetonka, Minn., Pontiac Grand Prix, 54. 9. (13), Steve Pelke, Lansing, Ill., Chevrolet Camaro, 54. 10. (8), Tony Ave, Indianapolis, Ind., Chevrolet Camaro, 54. 11. (7), Lou Gigliotti, Garland, Texas, Chevrolet Corvette, 53. 12. (18), James Briody, Cherry Hill, N.J., Chevrolet Camaro, 52. 13. (12), Tomy Drissi, Hollywood, Calif., Ford Mustang Cobra, 52. 14. (17), Jerry Simmons, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada, Chevrolet Camaro, 51. 15. (20), Michael Lewis, San Diego, Calif., Ford Mustang Cobra, 50, Mech. 16. (19), Glenn Andrew, Farmersburg, Ind., Pontiac Grand Prix, 49. 17. (5), G.J. Mennen, Austin, Texas, Ford Mustang Cobra, 47. 18. (14), Simon Gregg, Jacksonville, Fla., Chevrolet Camaro, 44. 19. (15), Bruce Barkelew, Columbia, Mo., Ford Mustang Cobra, 16, Mech. 20. (11), Max Lagod, Barrington, Ill., Chevrolet Camaro, 7, Mech. 21. (21), Ted Sullivan, Hampton, Ontario, Canada, Chevrolet Camaro, 1, Mech.

Time of race: 1 hour, 6 minutes, 8.857 seconds. Average speed: 75.131 mph Margin of victory: 0.503-second Fastest race lap: Paul Gentilozzi, 1:05.114 (83.263 mph), lap 44 Fastest qualifier: Paul Gentilozzi, 1:04.287 (84.334 mph) Cautions: Two for five laps. Lap leaders: Laps 1-28, Paul Gentilozzi; laps 29-36, Brian Simo; lap 37, Johnny Miller IV; laps 38-55, Paul Gentilozzi.

BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am Series Drivers' Point Standings - Seven Round Total Pos., Driver, Car, Points, Purse 1, Chris Neville, Ford Mustang Cobra, 161, $69,100 2, Michael Lewis, Ford Mustang Cobra, 157, $58,600 3, Johnny Miller IV, Chevrolet Camaro, 156, $57,000 4, Paul Gentilozzi, Ford Mustang Cobra, 152, $90,450 5, Brian Simo, Ford Mustang Cobra, 140, $69,900 6, Randy Ruhlman, Ford Mustang Cobra, 126, $39,150 7, Leighton Reese, Pontiac Grand Prix, 110, $31,100 8, Simon Gregg, Chevrolet Camaro, 106, $25,200 9, Steve Pelke, Chevrolet Camaro, 97, $16,500 10, Tomy Drissi, Ford Mustang Cobra, 94, $16,600 11, Bob Ruman, Chevrolet Camaro, 89, $24,000 12, Lou Gigliotti, Chevrolet Corvette, 82, $23,200 13, G.J. Mennen, Ford Mustang Cobra, 76, $18,500 14, Max Lagod, Chevrolet Camaro, 72, $23,300 15, Dorsey Schroeder, Ford Mustang Cobra, 70, $23,500 16, Tom Coleman, Chevrolet Camaro, 66, $13,400 17, James Briody, Chevrolet Camaro, 64, $11,000 18, Don Sak, Oldsmobile Cutlass, 45, $11,000 19, Frank Cioppettini, Chevrolet Camaro, 42, $11,200 20, Jerry Simmons, Chevrolet Camaro, 38, $7,100 21, Claudio Burtin, Ford Mustang Cobra, 35, $5,500 22, C. David Seuss, Olds Cutlass, 33, $8,100 23, Craig Shafer, Chevrolet Camaro, 27, $4,600 24, Stu Hayner, Chevrolet Camaro, 25, $6,100 25, Bruce Barkelew, Ford Mustang Cobra, 21, $4,900 26, Glenn Andrew, Pont Grand Prix, 21, $3,300 27, Peter Shea, Ford Mustang Cobra, 19, $4,900 28, Bill Gray, Chevrolet Camaro, 19, $4,600 29, Kerry Alexander, Chevrolet Camaro, 19, $4,000 30, Don Meluzio, Chevrolet Camaro, 18, $4,200 31, Dick Greer, Chevrolet Corvette, 18, $3,900 32, Gary Johnson, Ford Mustang Cobra, 18, $3,500 33, Kenny Bupp, Chevrolet Camaro, 18, $3,400 34, Mike Davis, Ford Mustang Cobra, 16, $2,800 35, Tony Ave, Chevrolet Camaro, 16, $2,700 36, Jerry Kinn, Chevrolet Camaro, 13, $2,700 37, Paul Alderman, Mustang Cobra Cobra, 12, $2,800 38, Henry Gaudens, Chevrolet Corvette, 12, $2,400 39, Ted Sullivan, Chevrolet Camaro, 12, $2,400 40, Dan Furey, Chevrolet Corvette, 10, $3,400 41, Mike Gagliardo, Chevrolet Corvette, 10, $3,300 42, Jon Leavy, Chevrolet Camaro, 10, $1,600 43, Michael Cohen, Chevrolet Camaro, 8, $1,400 44, Frank Sanchez, Chevrolet, 8, $1,400 45, Rael, Chevrolet Camaro, 7, $1,300 46, Craig T. Nelson, Chevrolet Corvette, 5, $1,100 47, Chet Williams, Chevrolet Camaro, 5, $1,100 48, Brad Smith, Ford Mustang Cobra, 4, $1,100 49, Charlie Webster, Chevrolet Camaro, 3, $1,100 50, Joe Freda, Chevrolet Camaro, 2, $1,000

BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am Series Manufacturers' Point Standings - Seven Race Total

Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ford, 63 2, Chevrolet, 31 3, Pontiac, 5 4, Oldsmobile, 0