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There is light at the end of the tunnel!! |
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 Curran finishes 2nd at Road America in SPEED World Challenge
August 16, 2009
Elkhart Lake, Wis.
“It has been enough to make a person paranoid, but today’s second place finish erases all my memories of the last two races. Ok, it only erases some of them, but this is good! Maybe it is the clear Wisconsin air. Whatever it is, I ready for more positive results!”
Eric Curran was more than just pleased with his second place finish in today’s SCCA SPEED World Challenge GT race on the 4.048-mile Road America circuit in the #30 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette. “I have been itching for a win all season but the fourth 2nd place finish isn’t terrible.” Eric commented.
Eric took the green flag sixth on the series Driver Championship point’s chart, and closed the gap on a number of drivers with this second place finish.
 “What really helped that was that of the five guys ahead of me in points – Brandon Davis in a Mustang, Jim Sofronas and Tony Rivera in Porsches, and Volvo teammates Randy Pobst and Andy Pilgrim – Tony was the only one who finished in front of me, so I did gain some points on the rest of them,” Eric said.
“Plus, Sonny Whelen, my team owner, had an excellent day and finished ninth. He won the Sunoco Hard Charger award for the weekend, after picking up nine spots in the race. That’s excellent considering he had some problems and didn’t even get in a qualifying time and started last.”
After qualifying ended, Eric and the #30 Whelen Corvette were fifth quickest, and with a chance of starting the race from the pole position if the traditional coin flip – to invert the top five or not – went the way Eric wanted. It did not go his way. Eric stayed in his 5th starting position for the race.
Road America is usually a “horsepower track,” as any driver will tell you. The straights are the longest in the business in America, and with the exception of the fast, 180-degree Carousel turn, most of the turns are 90-degree angles. “Three times a lap we were over 150 mph while still going through 14 turns on this big 4 mile road course.” Eric said
“As the race started, the Porsche of Sofronas broke an axle and Rivera and I came very close to rear-ending him, but managed to avoid it,” Eric said.
“Swerving around the Porsche caused me to lift off the gas and Dino Crescentini snuck by me on the left side going into turn one. After that I put a charge on towards the front getting back by Dino, and running on the bumper of Brandon’s Mustang, looking for a way by.
“A few laps later, Kuno Whitmer’s Viper slowed quickly in the carousel and caused Brandon and I to check up, which allowed Rivera and his Porsche to get away even further. After Kuno’s Viper broke I continued pushing hard and got by Brandon after he went wide in turn 3.
“At that point the goal was really to keep my second spot. Rivera’s Porsche has gotten away and I didn’t have much hope in catching him. The goal really became keeping the Dino behind me until the end. We really didn’t expect the Porsche’s to be soooo strong on such a horsepower track but they were.”
Sonny Whelen was up to 10th spot, running only one second a lap slower than Eric. On lap 13, Sonny took away ninth spot.
“All and all a good day for the Whelen Motorsports program and a good way to end a tough weekend,” Eric summarized.
The points keep Eric in sixth place, but now 26 points behind Andy Pilgrim, and 31 behind Randy Pobst. Eric’s finish also helped Chevrolet move past Volvo for third in the Manufacturer Championship points.
The next World Challenge race is Sept. 18-20 at Road Atlanta, where the SCCA GT and Touring cars will join the ALMS Petit Le Mans race.
The SPEED TV broadcast of the Road America race will be Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 2pm ET.
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