SAID WINS CYTOMAX SPORT DRINK 100 TRANS-AM RACE IN SAN JOSE

By Justin Anderson

SAN JOSE, Calif. (July 30, 2005) — Boris Said proved to the 50,962 fans here that he is always a threat by dominating Saturday’s Cytomax Sport Drink 100 Trans-Am Series race at the inaugural Grand Prix of San Jose. Said, driving the No. 33 ACS Express Ford Mustang, took the lead on lap nine of the 57-lap event and then held off a charging Greg Pickett to record the victory, his first this season in just his second start.

Pickett, the 1978 Trans-Am champion, finished second, just .147 of a second back, driving the No. 6 Cytomax Jaguar XKR. Rookie Klaus Graf drove from last on the Trans-Am grid to finish third in the No. 7 Jaguar R Performance XKR. Championship leader Randy Ruhlman (No. 49 Preformed Line Products Chevrolet Corvette) was fourth, and holds the championship lead going into the next race in two weeks at Denver. Hima Maher (No. 78 Centennial Motorsports of Calgary Chevrolet Corvette) was fifth.

Joey Scarallo led the event from the start in the No. 06 Group A Wheels/Auto Trend/Toyo Tires Chevrolet Corvette), but lost the point to Pickett in the hairpin on the tight 1.448-mile street course on lap eight. Said passed Pickett in turn four one lap later.

Pickett charged into the final turn and, as the checkered flag waved, he nearly took the lead from Said as the two former Trans-Am champions crossed the stripe side by side.

“I wanted to slow down, but Greg was pushing me really hard,” said Said, the 2002 Trans-Am titleholder. “I had a great time here. Greg is a great guy and he ran me really hard and the finish was really close. It was a lot of fun.

“I knew he was going to be there in that last turn,” added Said. “I was expecting it. I was just waiting for him to slow down; for his tires to go away or something, but he really ran me down at the finish. We put on a really good show. It was a riot racing here.”

Pickett held on to second, despite being involved in an incident with a GTA competitor late in the event. Pickett, from Alamo, Calif., debuted his new fuel-injected engine package this weekend, developed by longtime Toyota Atlantic Championship engine builder Hasselgren. Pickett also set the race’s fastest race lap, a 1:05.382-minute effort. The runner-up effort marked his third such finish this year, and his fourth 2005 podium. Pickett won Round 5 at Edmonton, but missed the Cleveland round due to previous business engagements.

“I have to compliment my crew,” said Pickett, who moved up to third in points, just 16 markers away from Ruhlman. “This was a very, very difficult track on the equipment. The transmission, the suspension—everything took a beating this weekend. We wanted to finish the race. That’s what we set out to do. Any time you can run like that with a guy like Boris Said, you have to be happy. Boris is a fierce competitor. I guess I might feel just a tiny bit better, but we’re happy.

“Corporately, we’re very pleased about our sponsorship of the race,” added Pickett of his company’s backing of the event through its Cytomax Sport Drink brand. “It was a big success for us. San Jose did a wonderful job getting this event together.

Graf started last on the grid after changing tires on his Jaguar prior to the race, which disallowed his qualifying time. The third-place finish marked the German rookie’s third podium this season. Graf was involved in several incidents on track and received a black-flag penalty late in the event for contact with Ruhlman.

“I think I went through the pit lane five times today,” laughed Graf, who sits second in points, just 13 markers back. “We got into it with a GTA car and that flattened a tire, so we had to come into the pits. Then, I got into the back of Randy and had to go through the pits again. At the end I had a really great car. Rocketsports Racing really worked hard this weekend. We ended up third, which is OK for where I started. We’re in the thick of the points with three races coming up, which are good.”

Moneca Kolvyn (No. 08 West Coast Hot Rods Chevrolet Monte Carlo) finished first in the GT-1 Class and earned her first Class victory. Kolvyn continues to lead the GT-1 standings.

“This has been a little bit of a tortoise and the hare story this year,” said Kolvyn. “I really wanted this win. This was an absolutely wonderful event. I feel great.”

Rudy Revak earned his second GTA victory this season in the No. 99 Symmetry Nutritional Ford Taurus. Revak is currently second in GTA points to Tim Barber (No. 97 Riverside Motorsports Park Pontiac Grand Prix).

“We had a great day,” said Revak. “We had a lot of trouble with brakes all weekend. My crew worked until the very last minute to get the brakes right. Dave Brown and Steve Kelso were right there all race and we had a great battle. This is just terrific. Being from San Jose, we had a lot of support here. We had a lot of family and friends cheering us on, which makes this even more special.”

The inaugural race ran in one hour, 15 minutes and 42.420 seconds at an average speed of 65.412 miles per hour. The race was slowed four times by the caution flag for 19 laps. The race will air on Sunday, Aug. 7 at 1 p.m. on SPEED.

KARTING: ‘Bear’ hunt ends at Mosport

OKRA GrandNationals a huge success

Courtesy The Russ Bond Agency

MOSPORT, ONTARIO With the final day of the 2005 OKRA GrandNationals now in the books, a case could be made that Pearce Herder was the best ‘bear’ hunter in attendance. The Stouffville driver took home a coveted bear each day of the event, collecting three in total. With over 240 entries over the three days, there is no doubt that Cameron Motorsports, the OKRA and all the volunteers from the clubs did an amazing job with the 2005 edition of the OKRA GrandNationals.

In Rotax Max Senior, Eric Gerrits had the pole, but an incident in the first corner brought out the red flag and Gerrits was unable to continue as he had a broken radiator. On the restart, Kyle Herder took the early lead over Mark Kitchen, Jason Keen and Marco Di Leo. On lap five, both Kitchen and Di Leo got past Herder to take the top two spots. Herder caught them back up in the late stages to make it a three way battle for the win, but Kitchen was able to hang on for the win ahead of Di Leo and Herder. Jason Keen came home fourth and Jordan Lynch rounded out the top five.

In Rotax Max Junior, Michael Vincec took the lead at the drop of the green and never looked back. Vincec had a healthy lead big enough that he spun and still kept the lead and came home with the checkered flag. Behind him came Brad Forbes and Joshua Korenyi. Fourth was Dylan Gibson and Steven Mathews rounded out the top five.

Honda Masters was all Fred Jordan as he went wire to wire for the win. Bruce Panes and Doug Bedford enjoyed a race long battle for second and third. Blair Harrison and Dave Jackson rounded out the top five.

In Canada Junior Heavy a group of four made the original break from the pack. Brad Forbes, Justin Holtom, Kevin Monteith and Chris Lane all battled amongst themselves before Forbes took control in the middle stages and went on to win by six seconds. Holtom, Monteith and Lane followed Forbes across the line with Steven Mathews rounding out the top five.

Canada Senior Light was Pearce Herder’s domain. He led from the drop of the green and cruised home to capture his third bear of the weekend. Rob Oakman had some difficulty early on, but he bounced back to finish a distant second behind Herder. Third and fourth were the Bradburn brothers, with Corey leading Jesse across the line. Fifth place went to 67 year old Kees Kroon, and he received a huge ovation when he accepted his fifth place trophy.

It took three days for Adriano Bilotta to take home a bear, but he finally did it. On Saturday, Bilotta was leading when his exhaust fell off, and this time he wasn’t going to be denied. He took the win ahead of Paul Carvahlo on the track, but Carvahlo was assessed a one position penalty that dropped him to third. That penalty elevated Corey Usher to second. Andrew Deaves was fourth and Wilson Tessari Neto was fourth.