Cinjo Viper second at Mosport

Bowmanville, Ont. - Tommy Archer drove the number 36 Cinjo Racing / Motorcity True Performance Viper to a strong second-place finish in Sunday's Trans-Am Series race for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup. But the team's first podium finish was marred by the death of fellow driver Mike Gagliardo of Chicago and serious injury to Gary Longo of Evanston, Ill.

Archer, of Duluth, Minn., started third in the 31-car field. He took the lead on the first of 50 laps on the 2.459-mile Mosport International Raceway road course, and relinquished the lead briefly for his mandatory pit stop on lap 18. He regained it on lap 31 and held it until lap 44, when he was passed by race-winner Paul Gentilozzi of Lansing, Mich. Archer won the BFGoodrich Tires Take Control Award for leading the most laps of the 125-mile race.

Tommy Archer: "Everybody at Motorcity True Performance and Cinjo Racing would like to extend their sympathy and thoughts to the families of the drivers who were involved in the accident. Racing should never end like this, a happy day turned sad. We'll remember them in our next races, because I'm sure they would want us to keep going.

	Tommy Archer drives the Cinjo Racing/Motorcity True Performance Viper to a second place finish. Photo: Cinjo Racing

"The Cinjo Viper handled great right to the pit stop. I don't know why, but after the pit stop, the car's balance was off and I couldn't get it to turn the way it had before. I was patient with it, kept trying things. The car is still in development, but we're gaining. Every race we've gone forward, so the next race [in Detroit] means Motorcity Viper here we come!"

Joe Tranchida, Cinjo Racing owner: "It's a day of mixed emotions. We're happy that we made it onto the podium. It was our goal to have continuous improvement every race weekend and we've done that. They know we're here! But we're saddened by what happened to our fellow racers. Our prayers go out to the families, drivers and crews."

Steven Veeder, Cinjo Racing general manager: "We made a lot of gains this weekend. Tommy did a great job and the team did great job. We're going to keep improving. We don't want to go backward - and we're not going to."

-CR