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Sebring: SpeedSport race notes

SpeedSport scores Sebring success. SUGAR HILL, Ga (March 19, 2003) - Any questions regarding the performance of the new partnership of Robert Baxter and Roger Foo at SpeedSport were answered in an impressive manner at Sebring. Foo qualified ...

Published: Mar 21, 2003, 5:04 AM

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SpeedSport scores Sebring success.

SUGAR HILL, Ga (March 19, 2003) - Any questions regarding the performance of the new partnership of Robert Baxter and Roger Foo at SpeedSport were answered in an impressive manner at Sebring. Foo qualified second and finished third in the first outing for his new Mazda Protege Touring Car while Baxter scored his second career B&M Holeshot Award.

The team experienced a lot of stress leading up to Sebring with putting the new program together and assembling a new car for Foo in six short weeks. "The team had a really, really good weekend and we have a successful first race behind us," said Baxter. "We'd been working a lot of late nights to make sure the whole thing came together and finally when we got to Sebring we were able to relax just a little bit." Baxter wouldn't get much of a break following a disappointing qualifying session where a mechanical problem on the first lap left him 40th on the grid and starting last. An aggressive start saw him pass 13 cars on the first lap for the B&M Holeshot Award and he reached as high as 12th position when the mechanical gremlin returned with two laps to go in the race dropping him to 28th at the finish.

Foo showed everyone he would be someone to contend with posting a sixth fastest time in the first practice session and following it up with a second place qualifying position. He credits Lex Carson of Moton Shocks with providing the baseline suspension set-up that required only two more minor adjustments to get dialed in. During the race Foo kept eventual race winner Auberlen honest and he thinks he had a sure runner-up finish in hand before a fuel starvation problem stalled his progress with five laps to go resulting in a third place finish behind Kleinubing. "I stayed with Bill for the first three or four laps and then I started overdriving the car to keep up with him," said Foo. "I decided to lay back a little bit and the gap grew to three seconds. I decided then I had to do something about that and closed up the gap to about one second before the fuel problem showed up. This race was one of the most strenuous drives of my career knowing first place was in sight."

As good as their performance was at Sebring, the SpeedSport team hopes it is an indication of what is to come. "At this point Auberlen is our main competition," adds Foo. "The team has the car, Bill is a great driver and it is up to everyone else to step up to their level. I think we are going to be the first ones to do that." Based in Sugar Hill, Ga., SpeedSport is sponsored by H&R Special Springs, Advanced Clutch Technology, BBS wheels, Mazda, Moton, and LTB Motorsports.

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