SRO America

Fitzgerald sweeps Road Atlanta weekend

BRASELTON, Ga. (Sept. 29, 2000)-- Mike Fitzgerald, of Pheoenix, Ariz, won the Speedvision World Challenge GT Championship Round Seven Race, part of the Petit Le Mans Weekend at Road Atlanta, becoming the first driver ever to sweep both World ...

Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

BRASELTON, Ga. (Sept. 29, 2000)-- Mike Fitzgerald, of Pheoenix, Ariz, won the Speedvision World Challenge GT Championship Round Seven Race, part of the Petit Le Mans Weekend at Road Atlanta, becoming the first driver ever to sweep both World Challenge races on the same weekend. Jeff McMillin, of Erie, Pa., and Terry Borcheller, of Phoenix, Ariz., completed the top-three. Fitzgerald, started sixth in the No. 38 Westward Ho Hotel Vegas/MPIE Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, steadily moved through the field to take the 8.071-second win, averaging 89.200 mph. The win was the second-straight for Fitzgerald, who also won the Speedvision GT race at Texas Motor Speedway in his first-ever appearance in the class. He took his first win in the Speedvision Touring Car class earlier in the day, which gave him the opportunity to turn the unique double--the first such occurrence in the 11-year World Challenge history. "I'm speechless," said Fitzgerald. "I was catching the leaders, but I got a lot of help from attrition." Fitzgerald had pulled to within sight of leaders Peter Cunningham, Terry Borcheller and Bill Cooper on lap eight. Cooper's Les Stanford/Pirate Racing Corvette C5 was the first to encounter problems, when a coolant hose let go. Borcheller was next, when he spun his AASCO Saleen SR in turn six and fell back to 11th. Fitzgerald caught Cunningham's RealTime Racing BMW M3 and passed him as the two encountered traffic and a local caution. "That's the most unlucky thing I've ever seen happen to someone," said Fitzgerald. "There was a local yellow for a car off the track and another car going slowly. Cunningham had to slow up so he wouldn't pass the other car and I timed it so I went by both of them at the same time. I must have had 60 mph on him. Something happened to him a couple laps later." Cunningham's run was ended on lap 25, when his transmission let go. Driving the No. 25 JJ's Snacks/John Hancock BMW M3, McMillin recorded his first podium finish after six-straight top-10s to take the points lead. He had a steady run from fifth. "Honestly, I never thought I'd be leading the points," said McMillin. "I thought we'd be in the hunt, but it's great to be on top right now. We'll just stick with our strategy and see how the rest of the season shakes out." Borcheller recovered to finish third, making a late run to get by Justin Jackson, of Alpharetta, Ga., and Bobby Archer, of Fort Worth, Texas. "[Spinning] really rattled me," said Borcheller, who started from the pole. "I think something must have been on the track. I went to turn and nothing happened. I straddled the curb in turn six and spun in turn seven. Honestly, I thought the car broke, but it was okay." Jackson moved up from 12th to finish fourth in him hometown race to win the Borla Performance Award and remain atop the Rookie points championship standings. Archer came home fifth. McMillin now leads Archer in points 154 to 148. Cunningham is third, with 123, followed by Galati and Jackson, with 120.

BRASELTON, Ga. -- Final results from Round Seven of the Speedvision World Challenge GT Championship, part of the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta with position, starting position in parenthesis, driver, hometown, car, laps complete and reason out, if any. 1. (6), Mike Fitzgerald(R), Phoenix, Ariz., Porsche GT3 Cup, 27. 2. (5), Jeff McMillin, Erie, Pa., BMW M3, 27. 3. (1), Terry Borcheller, Phoenix, Ariz., Saleen SR, 27. 4. (12), Justin Jackson(R), Alpharetta, Ga., Porsche 993 RSR, 27. 5. (13), Bobby Archer, Ft. Worth, Texas, Dodge Viper GTS, 27. 6. (10), Eric Curren(R), South Deerfield, Mass., Corvette C5, 27. 7. (8), John Heinricy, Holly, Mich., Corvette C5, 27. 8. (4), Michael Galati, North Olmstead, Ohio, Audi S4 Comp., 27. 9. (7), Reese Cox, Marietta, Ga., Corvette C5, 27. 10. (15), Daniel Eastman(R), Miami, Fla., Porsche 993 R, 27. 11. (16), Scotty B. White, Puyallup, Wash., Corvette C5, 27. 12. (9), Scott Bove(R), Avon Lake, Ohio, Porsche GT3 Cup, 27. 13. (11), Derek Bell, Pagham Sussex, England, Audi S4 Comp., 27. 14. (20), Phil McClure, Floris, Iowa, Corvette, 27. 15. (18), Jimmy Adams(R), Suffolk, Va., Dodge Viper GTS, 27. 16. (17), Paul Brown, Omaha, Neb., Saleen SR, 27. 17. (25), Cory Friedman(R), Charleston, S.C., PorscheCarreara, 27. 18. (22), Terry Lackey, Hitchcock, Texas, Corvette C5, 27. 19. (27), Henry 'Trip' Goolsby, Murfreesboro, Tenn., Porsche 911 GT3, 26. 20. (30), J. Bob Taylor, Parker, Colo., Corvette C5, 26. 21. (31), Tommy Safar_II, Farmingdale, N.J., Saleen SR, 26. 22. (21), Walter Swick, Concord, Ohio, BMW M3, 26. 23. (29), Hank Cohn(R), Atlanta, Ga., Porsche Carrera, 26. 24. (28), Rob Foster(R), Omaha, Neb., Saleen Mustang, 26. 25. (2), Peter Cunningham, W. Bend, Wis., BMW M3, 25, Trans. 26. (24), John Warner(R), Southport, Conn., Corvette, 25, Mech. 27. (37), Bill Johnston(R), Charlotte, N.C., Corvette, 25. 28. (33), Gennady Soykher(R), Owings Mills, Md., Prosche 933 RSR, 25. 29. (23), Phil Lasco(R), Fenton, Mich., Dodge Viper GTS, 25. 30. (36), Dennis Petersen, McHenry, Ill., Corvette C5, 24. 31. (35), Dick Grieser(R), Toledo, Ohio, BMW M3, 22, Mech. 32. (3), Bill Cooper, Bozeman, Mont., Corvette C5, 21. 33. (14), Matt Drendel(R), Hickory, N.C., Ferrari 355, 20, Mech. 34. (26), Kelly Bradley, Hitchcock, Texas, Corvette, 19, Mech. 35. (19), Danny Kellermeyer(R), Ortonville, Mich., Corvette C5, 14, Mech. 36. (34), Charles Wicht(R), Key West, Fla., Camaro, 13, Breaks. 37. (32), Don Istook(R), Ft. Worth, Texas, Audi S4, 9, Mech. 38. (38), David Schardt, Dayton, Ohio, Porsche GT3 Cup, 0, DNS. Time of race: 46 minutes, 07.785 seconds. Average speed: 89.200 miles-per-hour Margin of victory: 8.0710 seconds Lap leaders: Laps 1-5, Cunningham; laps 6-7, Borcheller; laps 8-10, Cunningham; laps 11-12, Borcheller; laps 13-21 Cunningham; laps 22-27, Fitzgerald Fastest race lap: Terry Borcheller, 1:32.225 (99.148 mph) Fastest qualifier: Terry Borcheller, 1:31.966, (99.428 mph)

Speedvision GT Championship Point Standings (Top-10) 1. Jeff McMillin, 154 2. Bobby Archer, 148 3. Peter Cunningham, 123 4. Michael Galati, 120 Justin Jackson (R), 120 6. Bill Cooper, 119 7. Scott Bove (R), 100 8. Reese Cox, 96 9. Daniel Eastman (R), 90 10. John Heinricy, 89

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article NA-F2000: Road Atlanta Asaro's season ends as fire destroys car

Next article SES: Staff additions announcement

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup 2 h

The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season

‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1 3 h

‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes

BMW "proud of what we achieved" after securing runner-up in 2026 WEC

WEC

WEC WEC

Monza

4 h

BMW "proud of what we achieved" after securing runner-up in 2026 WEC

The numbers that reveal how sprint races have turned the MotoGP title fight upside down

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Qatar GP

6 h

The numbers that reveal how sprint races have turned the MotoGP title fight upside down

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts