SCC: Phoenix: BGB Motorsports preview

BGB LEAVES LAGUNA AND HEADS FOR PHOENIX

PLUMMER AND STANTON FINISH 7th IN MONTEREY WHILE TRAVER AND MILLER HOLD ONTO 3rd PLACE IN TEAM POINTS

(PHOENIX, AZ-May 11, 2006) BGB Motorsports left Laguna Seca with a strong 3rd place in the team standings; the #83 Simplenet.com Porsche of Tim Traver and Mikel Miller carries 57 points into the Phoenix round, just 1 point behind the Synergy Racing #81 Porsche 997 of Brent Martini & Porsche Factory Driver, Patrick Long.

The #38 Porsche 996 however finished a season's best of 7th place with pilots Craig Stanton and Mark Plummer behind the wheel. Mark qualified the car on the front row of the grid at Laguna Seca last Saturday and kept the car in 2nd during his stint. Just prior to the mid-race pit stop the #38 Porsche 996 moved into the lead. That stop was delayed due to the fact that the pits were closed because of an accident at pit-in. The result was Craig Stanton's taking the car over in 20th position. Craig fought and clawed his way through the heavy traffic and dealt with the low grip track's greasy conditions to achieve the #38 Porsche's best result of the season.

The #83 Simplenet.com Porsche 996 arrived at the Laguna Seca round in 4th place in team points, and was looking at the very real possibility of leaving Laguna Seca in 1st position. Tim Traver qualified the car with a personal best of 6th. Tim managed to keep out of trouble for the first few calamitous laps that Laguna Seca is known for, but never even saw the car that was going to change his entire race. A car blindsided him from behind coming into the Corkscrew, riding up and over his left rear fender. The impact caused serious damage to the wheel and tire, requiring a pit stop to assess any further damage. The crew changed the tire, added fuel and saw no other major damage while assuring the car's integrity. Traver was back on track and focused. Midway through the race, Tim brought the car in for its scheduled pit stop, handing the car over to teammate Mikel Miller. Despite pitting before the #38, Mikel ended up one position behind Craig Stanton in the sister car. The two worked in unison, picking their way through the pack with Mikel running as high as 5th place. Shortly thereafter Mikel had minor contact with a slower car, which officials deemed as "avoidable contact." Miller served his penalty and found himself back in 20th position. He would then go on to finish 18th.

The #84 Rhinestone Roxy Porsche successfully finished its first race with BGB for 2006. During its debut race, the car was forced into retirement at VIR because of contact beyond the driver's control. Grand Am Cup competitors tried again several times at Laguna Seca. Ryan Pilla started in 29th position after an ABS failure made his car almost unmanageable in qualifying. Ryan had a good start, stayed out of the accidents that plagued the first part of the race, and had a solid pit stop. Teammate Ted Ballou's stint was bogged down however by the yellow flags and traffic. Grand Am Cup's new style of bump and run sent the car into the pits with another broken left rear wheel and tire. Ted hung on after the repairs with some bad toe out in the left rear to end the day in 28th.

Team Manager, John Tecce is optimistic about continuing the momentum of the first races of the season, and challenging for a win in the ultra-competitive Grand Am Cup GS Class:

"I think we've proven that we're back after a season in which we felt snake-bit in 2005. We've regained the reliability that we've been known for, the efficient pit stops and proven strategy. What we're really most proud of is that we have what could be considered a 'Customer Car' running in 3rd position in the points, ahead of our primary car. It shows that all of our cars are prepared to the highest of standards, and that any one of those cars can challenge for a win. And believe me, that win, by any one of the cars, is coming."

Tape-delay TV coverage of the US Sportscar Invitational from Laguna Seca will be televised on Speed TV at 1:00PM ET on Saturday, May 13th.

The green flag for the Grand-Am Cup Avondale Mazda 200 drops at 1:00 pm on Saturday, May 13th.

-teambgb.com.