ERIC CURRAN RACING
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2012 Racing Season
| Whelen Corvette Scores Pole at Montreal Rolex Race |
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August 29, 2010 Montreal, Quebec, Canada Boris Said put the Marsh Racing/Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette on the GT class pole for the Montreal 200 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series race, and led the race overall for a number of laps, but when the checkered flag flew, Said and co-driver Eric Curran were 9th in their class.  "We didn't win today, but it was encouraging to have our Whelen Corvette running at the front of the field all weekend, and Boris did a great job putting the Corvette on the pole," said Curran. "We raced hard all race-long but fell short with the pit strategy and a penalty. I knew we had a good car this weekend after the first practice. I was second quick and the car felt great! We are really hoping to continue this streak into the season finale Miller Park event on Sept. 11." Said, who the following day scored his career's first NASCAR series win, qualified the Marsh-engineered Corvette at a 98.614mph average speed for a lap of the 2.709-mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on an island in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, and just a bridge drive from downtown Montreal.  The Corvette was in a good position to win until the second pit stop where the Whelen team, as well as many others, choose to pit on the first available GT pit lap, refuel, change tires and slot Curran into the driver's seat. The refueling and driver change went well except it seemed to be one lap too early as many GT Teams got a wave-by and gained a lap on the Whelen car. "We didn't get out of the pits quite as quickly as some other teams," Curran said. "It was a combination of our pit stop not being a quick as we needed, and the timing of pitting one lap too early to some of the other GT cars. As a package, this Whelen team has made huge strides forward with every aspect of the race. Are we perfect? Not yet. But we are gaining quickly with the all the hard work from the Marsh team.  "That pit stop took us from the top three to ninth. Because GRAND-AM is so competitive and the cars are all running about the same speed, you really need the perfect strategy and a perfect pit stop, and we never really recovered. To make matters worse the 68 car and I got together and I had to serve a drive through the pits penalty. We finally finished 9th at the end of the race."Nonetheless, Curran was enthused with his Canadian adventure. "The whole Whelen-Marsh program is moving forward. We've now qualified on the pole for the first time, and led our class. That didn't even seem like a potentiality back in April, and now it is reality." The race was televised live on SPEED TV, earning the team and the Whelen name a lot of air-time on the popular all-racing network. The season finale is Sept. 10-11 at Miller Motorsports Park, a fast, flat 3.048-mile road course located west of Salt Lake City. Curran hurriedly left the Montreal circuit following the race and caught a flight to Chicago, so he, like his friend and teammate Boris Said, could win a race on the weekend. Eric's won on Sunday at Blackhawk Farms Raceway near Rockford, Ill., in a Chevrolet Camaro, racing in the SCCA competition. "I missed qualifying for the SCCA race because I was in Montreal on Saturday," Curran said, "so I had to start at the back of the American Sedan class field. We were able to pull off a good win though, and that assures me an entry to the SCCA's National Championship Runoffs on Sept. 20-26 at Road America. "I won the American Sedan race in 1999 and became the National Champion for the year, and I'd like to do it again. John Payne put a good car under me and I'd like to reward him for that." |