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TRG KONI Challenge Series Drivers Carrying Momentum to Watkins Glen PETALUMA, CA - The four drivers in TRG's two Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series Porsches head to Watkins Glen International for Saturday's Watkins Glen Grand Prix carrying plenty of ...

Edited: Dec 21, 2009, 5:26 AM

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TRG KONI Challenge Series Drivers Carrying Momentum to Watkins Glen

PETALUMA, CA - The four drivers in TRG's two Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series Porsches head to Watkins Glen International for Saturday's Watkins Glen Grand Prix carrying plenty of momentum.

Coming into the fourth round of the 10-race championship this weekend, No. 39 The DigiTrust Group/Adam's Polishes/Fox River Coffee Porsche 997 co-drivers Duncan Ende and Spencer Pumpelly have finished inside the top-six positions in each of their last two KONI Challenge Series starts, while the No. 41 Cohen Financial/Wolf-Tec Inc./www.WTInc.com/Ludwig-Motorsports Porsche 997 that will be co-driven by Scott Schroeder and Peter Ludwig has finished 16th or better in all three races thus far in 2008. Both cars compete in the Grand Sport (GS) class.

"On every track this year there has been a TRG GS Porsche challenging for the front, but our straightline speed is a little down to the higher horsepower cars so we make it up in a variety of other areas" said TRG Team Manager Jason Myers. "Our program is solid and a great place for development drivers and veterans alike. The team never misses a beat. We have multiple drivers looking to get into one of our GS cars, but for the time being we've decided to remain a two-car effort. This allows us to focus more of our collective energies on the core of the team, but don't worry, we'll be expanding soon!"

Ende and Pumpelly finished sixth in the most recent KONI Challenge race at Mosport and have already earned one podium result on the season with a third-place run in Round 2 at Lime Rock Park in May. The teammates also saw a potential victory get away in the season-opening round at Daytona within the last half hour of the race when a mechanical failure ended their day just after Pumpelly took the lead. They are currently tied for seventh in the KONI Challenge point standings with the No. 41 team and head to Watkins Glen International in search of their first victory as teammates.

"I'm really excited about heading to Watkins Glen," Ende said. "It's easily one of the best race tracks we go to and it should provide a much more even playing field for us than Mosport did in regards to racing the higher horsepower cars in the field. I ran extremely well at The Glen last year, qualifying well and running in the top three for most of my stint. With some luck Spencer and I could bring home another podium finish; hopefully a win."

Schroeder and Ludwig, meanwhile, have also been extremely competitive in the No. 41 machine as evidenced by the fact that the team is inside the top 10 in the championship standings in a series that features more than 40 cars. Last time out at Mosport, Ludwig and Schroeder finished 12th for their best result in two starts together. The duo finished 12th in their first race as teammates at Lime Rock and the No. 41 machine's best result thus far in 2008 was an eighth-place run by Schroeder and Andy Lally in the Daytona opener.

"We've shown that the No. 41 TRG Porsche possesses the reliability and speed needed to finish consistently in the top five, and now we need to prove it," Ludwig said. "I feel very confident that Watkins Glen will allow that to happen this coming week. I know the track well having raced and won there in various other open wheel and sports car series. I am excited coming back to the Glen in KONI Challenge, backed by a team and car that can get the job done. We're determined to show strong results."

After one practice session on Thursday, July 3, the two TRG Porsches will be on-track for practice and qualifying on Friday, July 4. Saturday's race day schedule includes a final KONI Challenge Series practice session in the morning and the Watkins Glen Grand Prix will take the green flag at 4:40 p.m. ET. The scheduled distance is 74 laps (250 miles) and the race is subject to a two-and-a-half hour time limit.

-credit: trg

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