SCC: VIR: Compass360/Racing preview

Compass360/Racing Heads to VIR

Compass360/Racing heads to the Grand Am Cup season closer in Virginia this weekend with the hope of continuing the team's remarkable success in its sophomore year in the series. With five top-ten finishes in nine races -- and with the team's #06 car in ninth place in the standings -- there's a good chance that they'll grab their first podium in the rolling hills of VIR.

"We've had a great year so far," said Lead Driver Karl Thomson. "We've worked with a bunch of great drivers, and every race our BMW Z3 Coupes seem to work better and better. That's entirely due to the amount of preparation Crew Chief Ian McQuillan and the Hockley Autosport crew do between races."

Thomson and McQuillan recently tested their replacement for the team's #36 car, which was damaged beyond repair at Mid Ohio earlier this year. "Our new #36 car (which is actually last year's car!) works really well. We'll have two cars at VIR that can get to the podium -- it'll be all up to our drivers."

Two drivers return for repeat rides with Compass360: Joe Hrymack and David Sterenberg, the latter being a two-time Rolex race winner in LMP2. Joining the team for the first time is Daniel Herrington, an Engineering student from North Carolina State University who's also running Formula BMW this year. "We're pleased to welcome Daniel to the team," said McQuillan. "He's got great local track knowledge, and we're hoping that will translate into more good results from both cars."

The VIR 200 runs October 7-8, 2005, and will be televised on SPEED November 13 at 3:00pm.

-www.compass360.com/racing