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Eric receives the Racing Electronics Hole Shot Award for passing three cars on the opening lap of the SCCA SPEED GT race.
MILLVILLE, N.J. -- (Sept. 27, 2008) Eric Curran rocketed the Whelen Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette from ninth place on the starting grid to sixth place on the first lap and into third by lap six - a move which earned Eric the event's Racing Electronics Hole Shot Award - but a faulty alternator relegated him to an 18th place finish.
Sonny Whelen, his teammate, finished 15th in this ninth round of the SCCA Speed GT Championship series, held at the Thunderbolt Raceway circuit of New Jersey Motorsports Park.
"More bad luck, It wasn't my fault or the team's fault the alternator went on the blink," said a dejected Curran following the race. "It simply failed and that's it. I certainly wish it had failed in practice or qualifying, though, because otherwise, our crew really put a great Corvette under me."
Curran held the pole position early in qualifying the day before the race, but as the track dried out from recent heavy rains the track continued to get faster each lap.
"Today's qualifying was all about getting your fast lap in at the end of the half hour session. We gambled and came into the pits to readjust tire pressures and get back out. At that time I was on the pole, but knew it wouldn't last with a drying track. I went back out with six minutes to go and had a very fast lap going until Dino Crescentini crashed hard and put out a red flag that cancelled the completion of my fast lap." Many others drivers got their quicker lap right before the crash; Eric's fastest lap was only good for 9th place on the starting grid.
 Eric's Whelen Engineerng Corvette leads Andy Pilgrim. After climbing to sixth on the first lap, Eric continued moving quickly towards the front. "It wasn't easy but I did get by Randy Pobst, Mike Galati, and Andy Pilgrim by lap six to take over the third spot before the car started loosing electrical power.
"That's about when the problem hit," Curran said. "The engine just wasn't pulling right and that's because it wasn't getting enough electrical power. I shut all the electrical sources off that I could but it wasn't enough. I dropped back pretty quickly and came into the pits on lap 10." The Whelen team was able to diagnose the problem, and sent Eric back out after they went to the team's hauler for a new alternator, but by that time, he was 10 laps down to the entire field.
"The car was great with the new alternator. It's too bad we have had such bad luck. The Whelen #30 Corvette has been a strong car but hasn't had the reliability we need. It really hurts when I ran the fastest race lap and had a car that would have fought for a win."
Eric's 2008 racing season ends this coming weekend, Sept. 3-4, in a very hectic fashion. "I'll start the weekend at Road Atlanta on Wednesday (Sept. 1) with practice in the Whelen Corvette for the Speed GT season finale. Qualifying will be Thursday after lunch, and the race Friday at 12:20pm ET," he said.
"Then I hustle to the airport to get up to Danville, Va., for the season finale of the Grand-Am Koni Challenge series. That's a six-hour race on Saturday at 2pm. I'll be driving the Georgian Bay Motorsports Chevy Cobalt SS again with Jamie Holtom. We won a week ago at Salt Lake City. There are 45 cars entered in our class, and if Jamie and I finish at least 24th, he'll win the Street Tuner class Drivers' Championship."
- end- The Thunderbolt Raceway race airs on SPEED TV, Sun., Oct 15 at Noon ET Photos courtesy of Mark Weber and SCCA Pro Racing. |
