| Miller Motorsports Park Race Report |
|
The
ROAR Racing cars rolled off the trailers looking great with their Compass360
livery. Comments from around the paddock
Karl Thomson chases the Turner BMW during practice.
The
Compass360's involvement with the team shows immediate
In the heat of battle, the #62 car fends off the #85 BMW and the #68 Speedsource RX-8 in the early going.
Post-race,
all competitors were parked on pit lane, which received |
Salt Lake City, UT-- September 2nd, 2006 ROAR Racing's Mazda RX-8s both took the checkered flag at Miller Motorsports Park this weekend, posting the team's best finish so far this year in the process. Compass360's involvement was immediately apparent, with the cars looking great right off the trailer in their new livery. On track, they steadily improved in every practice session. Karl Thomson qualified the #62 car in eleventh place, with David Ciekiewicz putting the #63 car in fourteenth. "Miller is a really challenging track, and getting the right set-up is key," noted Thomson. "The high elevation robbed us of power, but we're happy to be the second and third-placed RX-8s on the grid, just behind Speedsource's #70 car." Additional suspension adjustments made after qualifying further improved the cars, with Billy Johnson setting the third fastest time in class in Friday's morning warm-up. Both cars made good starts, steering clear of some early-going melee. Thomson had a solid battle with the Cobalt of Brian O'Shaunessy for the latter portion of his stint, handing the car to Johnson in 8th place. Ciekiewicz, meanwhile, had gambled on an out-of-sequence early pit stop, putting Travis Walker out before the leaders pitted for their fuel. Midway through Walker's stint in #63, the car suffered a fuel pump problem which stranded the car on track. It was returned to pit lane by tow truck, where the team quickly repaired the pump, with Ciekiewicz getting back in. He did a great job bringing the car home, taking the checkered flag in twentieth place. Johnson had kept #62 in 8th place before a late-race spash-and-gid for fuel dropped the car to eleventh. This result represents a remarkable improvement for ROAR Racing, and is by far their best result this year. Thomson, however, was disappointed with the weekend. "Both cars still have a way to go to be able to run up front," he said. "The fuel issue is perhaps the most troubling, because we could only get an hour and ten minutes out of a tank of gas. That meant we had to make two stops, which knocked us out of the top ten." ROAR returns to their Greenville, NC shop to prepare for the season-ender at Virginia International Raceway, where they will field a single entry. Thomson will return to race in the #75 Kensai Racing RSX to help Acura win the manufacturer's championship. "It was fun racing the RX-8, and with a bunch more work I think the ROAR cars can be competitive," he remarked. "But the manufacturer's race is really tight, and I know we have a good chance to bring home a win with Kensai. It'll be good to finish out the year with them after the good run we've had so far." The Miller Grand Am Cup event is televised tape-delayed on SPEED Channel on September 23rd at 1:00 PM. - 30 - For more information on Compass360 contact Karl Thomson, (416) 465-2299 x21 or email karlt at compass360 dot com. Visit http://www.compass360.com for information on the firm's brand communication practice, and http://www.compass360.com/racing for racing updates. For more information on the Grand Am Cup series visit http://www.grandamerican.com |
MAIN MENU | More information on Compass360/Racing is available in our archives: 2005 | 2004 | 2003