Denver: RuSport race report

RuSPORT's championship weekend came within four laps of a storybook finish for their home race. AaronJustus executed a skillful starting pass on Michael Valiante to settle in 2nd behind teammate A.J. Allmendinger. The pair maintained their 1-2 running positions until a congested restart on Lap 33 pushed Justus into the wall out of Turn 1. Allmendinger went on to finish his dominating Denver drive and bring home not only his 7th victory, but also clinched the 2003 Toyota Atlantic Championship in his rookie year and in RuSPORT's first year of competition.

#3 Aaron Justus

"It's such a bittersweet day. We've won the championship which is great for RuSPORT. I'm really happy about that. Actually the race was going really great too. We're were fast in all the right spots and doing what we needed to do. We had a couple of minor problems on the restart that contributed to a stack-up and led to the end. I would have liked to have had a 1-2 for our home race."

#4 A.J. Allmendinger

"It's just unbelievable. I'm so lucky to be a part of a team like RuSPORT. It's rare that I'm at a loss for words, but right now I just can't express what this means for me and for the team. My engineer Burke Harrison gave me a perfect car to cross the line as a champion. I'm really disappointed for my teammate Aaron because it would have been great to cross the finish line 1-2 here at our home race and Aaron deserved to be right here with me."

Jeremy Dale, Team President

"All I can say is that I'm really proud of this race team. This particular weekend, because it's a home race for us, we came in with a lot of pressure not only to win the championship, but to do well in front of our family, friends, and guests. The team remained focused and put two great race cars on the track. This could have been a 1-2 for RuSPORT without question. Both guys did a tremendous job and obviously we're happy to be a rookie team and win the 2003 Toyota Atlantic Championship. Everyone should be really proud because all the hard work we've done has paid off."

Carl Russo, Team Owner

"It was a great weekend and a bittersweet weekend. The team performed well, A.J. and Aaron performed very well. It looked like we were going to win the championship and finish 1-2. We ended up winning the championship and in the tire wall. It was a great race and we did not need that last restart, but a small mistake and we were done. On the other hand for a small team in its first year, with two rookie drivers, to sit on the pole in 8 out 11 races and 7 wins is an outstanding job. "