Grand-Am
SCC: Homestead II: Automatic Racing preview
Automatic Racing: Homestead, Hurricanes and a Baby HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Automatic Racing is heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend for the Grand-Am Cup 250, which has already been delayed a week due to Hurricane Frances. Jep ...
Edited: Dec 21, 2009, 5:26 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Automatic Racing: Homestead, Hurricanes and a Baby
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Automatic Racing is heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend for the Grand-Am Cup 250, which has already been delayed a week due to Hurricane Frances.
Jep Thornton and Eric Van Cleef will be behind the wheel of the No. 09 Automatic Racing BMW M3, a Grand Sports entry, for the one-day event, which will have practice the morning of Saturday, September 18, followed by the 250-mile race in the afternoon.
The onslaught of Hurricane Frances and the anticipated foul weather from Hurricane Ivan prompted Grand-American officials to delay the race by one week, and they eliminated qualifying to help shorten the schedule.
The race date posed a problem for David Russell, who normally co-drives with Thornton. Russell and his wife are expecting their first child the week following the race, so he will not be able to co-drive this weekend.
Automatic Racing suffered some bad luck at Homestead during round two of the Grand-Am Cup season when they had a clutch failure. But after earning a third-place finish there last season, Thornton is looking forward to returning to the 2.3-mile, 11-turn track.
"We are working on some new set up ideas for the car based on the data that we collected at Homestead earlier in the season," said Thornton. "Due to the broken clutch in the last race in lap three, we had a DNF so we are looking forward to achieving a good finish this weekend. The car is in great shape and we hope to have a strong package at Homestead."
Van Cleef, who is substituting for Russell, drove with Automatic Racing last year in a second BMW M3 that the team entered at selected rounds. He and co-driver Terry Earwood made their debut during the Homestead round last season, driving to an 8th place finish in Grand Sports II.
"I'm thankful that Jep and David had the confidence to bring me back in," said Van Cleef. "I think it's a great team, and I enjoyed racing with them last year. I'm looking forward to this weekend. They both say that the car is phenomenal. I expect to feel comfortable quickly."
The Miami 250 will begin at 2:45 PM EST on Saturday, September 18, following two rounds of practice in the morning.
Fans can keep up with Automatic Racing at www.AutomaticRacing.com.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Homestead II: Finlay Motorsports preview
Next article Homestead II: G&W Motorsports preview
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
David Russell
Erebus re-signs Russell for Supercars enduros
Supercars
Supercars
Erebus re-signs Russell for Supercars enduros
Erebus retains Perkins, Russell for Bathurst
Supercars
Supercars
Erebus retains Perkins, Russell for Bathurst
Todd Kelly abandons Supercars enduro comeback plan
Supercars
Supercars
Todd Kelly abandons Supercars enduro comeback plan
More from
Automatic Racing
Deep field, deep storylines as Pirelli World Challenge heads for Mid-Ohio
SRO America
SRO America
Mid-Ohio
Deep field, deep storylines as Pirelli World Challenge heads for Mid-Ohio
SCCA Pirelli World Challenge GT, GT-A, and GTS teams head to Detroit for a double
SRO America
SRO America
SCCA Pirelli World Challenge GT, GT-A, and GTS teams head to Detroit for a double
TUDOR Championship teams test at Watkins Glen
IMSA
IMSA
TUDOR Championship teams test at Watkins Glen
Latest news
Why NASCAR's indecision led to Dodge's decision to return to Cup
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
2 h
Why NASCAR's indecision led to Dodge's decision to return to Cup
Dodge announces return to NASCAR Cup Series in 2027
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 6 h
Dodge announces return to NASCAR Cup Series in 2027
Justin Allgaier confirms he will return for 2027 NASCAR O'Reilly season
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Martinsville II
6 h
Justin Allgaier confirms he will return for 2027 NASCAR O'Reilly season
NASCAR Cup Homestead finale to feature full field of 40 cars
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
9 h
NASCAR Cup Homestead finale to feature full field of 40 cars
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe