SCC: Terry Borcheller Daytona race notes

Daytona victories

Terry Borcheller started the 2004 race season with two trips to the winner's circle. The Gainesville, Ga., driver topped the podium for the season-opening Grand-Am Cup race, then followed with a hard-fought victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Both races were run on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Rolex 24

Borcheller used the team's new Pontiac power to qualify the No. 54 Bell Motorsports Doran JE4 third on the 55-car grid for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. He started the race, taking the lead at the green flag. He and his co-drivers - Forest Barber of Fort Worth, Tex., Andy Pilgrim of Delray Beach, Fla., and Christian Fittipaldi of Key Biscayne, Fla. - stayed in the lead pack through the 24-hour race, which was slowed by a long caution period and a race stoppage caused by heavy rain. When the race resumed with 6.5 hours to go, the team was ready. Pilgrim took the race lead 17 minutes from the finish and Barber made the final run to the checkered flag.

"The race was unbelievable!" Borcheller said. "We had a really good start. We struggled a little bit during the night with overheating, so we were in protection mode from nine o'clock until the end of the race. We had to run as hard as we could, but still make it last."

Cup win

Fuel strategy was the key to Borcheller's victory in the Grand-Am Cup race. Craig Stanton of Long Beach, Calif., qualified the No. 44 TheRaceSite.com Racing Porsche 996 fifth and drove the first stint. Carefully conserving fuel, he moved up to first before handing off to Borcheller, who maintained the same pace for the race win.

"Craig Stanton did a great job of qualifying," Borcheller said. "He was fifth for most of his stint, but he was so good on fuel, he ended up first. I had a really good race with Mike Speck [Zoom Motorsports], who I've worked with at Bondurant for a long time. He was my drafting buddy for the last eight laps, which enabled us to go with just one stop."

more support

Stand 21 has joined Borcheller's sponsor group, which also includes K&N Performance Filters, Alpinestars, Bell Helmets, Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, Goodyear and Infinity2 Nutrition.

next

Borcheller's next race will be with the Rolex Sports Car Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Feb. 28.

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