SCCA gets five on AARWBA All-America Team

TOPEKA, Kan. (Dec. 17, 2004) -- Five current SCCA drivers were selected as American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) All-Americans on Friday.

SCCA SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Champion Bill Auberlen, of Rolling Hills Estates, Calif., headlined the SCCA selections by being named to the First Team in the At Large category for his 2004 efforts, which included nine top-10 finishes, five podiums and three wins along with a second-straight series championship. Auberlen also won the Grand Touring class of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

This marks the third time Auberlen has been named to the AARWBA team, but his first as a First Team selection. NHRA legend John Force, IRL top gun Tony Kanaan and NASCAR superstar Kurt Busch were among those who joined Auberlen on the First Team.

Canadian Ron Fellows, of Toronto, Ont., was also named as a First Team selection. He joined the list out of the Road Racing category after competing in three rounds of the SPEED World Challenge and taking the Round Seven win at Mosport in addition to becoming the first three-time champion of the American Le Mans Series.

SCCA ProRally Championship Presented by Hot Wheels® driver Pat Richard, of Garibaldi Heights, B.C., was also named to the All-America list as an Honorable Mention in the At Large category. It is Richard's first selection as an All-American and comes on the heels of the most successful SCCA ProRally season of Richard's career, which included the Overall Driver Point Championship and FIA Group N class Championship.

Two more SCCA selections came from the Trans-Am ranks as both Paul Gentilozzi, of Lansing, Mich., and Tommy Kendall, of Santa Monica, Calif., were named to the Second Team. Gentilozzi, who won the Trans-Am Championship by way of tiebreaker over Kendall, earned just one more vote than Kendall, and their selections swept the second-team Road Racing slots for SCCA.

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