WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (July 3, 2010) When Ron Fellows, of Mississauga, Ontario, signed a three-race World Challenge Championships deal with CRP Racing, one of the races he wanted to run was the World Challenge Grand Prix of Watkins Glen presented by Sunoco selected because the Canadian had never raced on the 3.4-mile full circuit at The Glen. After an 11.775-second GT and overall win on Saturday afternoon, Fellows can now claim a perfect record on the long course. He was joined in Victory Lane by Peter Cunningham, of Milwaukee, Wis., and Robert Stout, of Brownsburg, Ind., the GTS and Touring Car class winners, respectively. Fellows started second and bogged down at the standing start, falling 3.486-seconds behind polesitter Randy Pobst in the No. 6 K-Pax Racing Volvo S60 by the end of lap three, still in second place. With a clear track behind he and Pobst, the Corvette closed to the tail of the Volvo by the end of lap five. One lap later, Fellows took a hard look to the inside of Pobst going into turn one. Fellows initially appeared to back out of trying to make the pass under braking, but Pobst slid wide and off the track on the outside of turn one. Fellows took the point and earned the MTM Special Ops Best Move of the Race. I locked the rear tires as well, which is why I ended up moving in behind him, Fellows said. I was going to make a move to the inside, but he went in deep. He was closer to the two marker, and I was braking somewhere between the three and the two, and it was way too early in the race and we would have ended up just banging doors. My car had a bit of a twitch, but when Randy went off, I went by. From there, Fellows cruised to his second-consecutive World Challenge win, averaging 104.056 mph over the 22-lap, 74.8-mile race. Fellows also turned the races fastest lap at 1:55.672 (105.816 mph). This is my last race of three with CRP Racing, Fellows said of his World Challenge plans. We had picked three that I really wanted to do - Long Beach, my home track of Mosport on their 50th anniversary, and here because I hadnt done the long course before. Ive got to think Cragar Wheels for the opportunity. When I first started in the Trans-Am Series, we ran on the NASCAR weekend and ran the short course, and of course again in my NASCAR starts. But I must say, the long course is awesome. That is the most fun section of the race track, and its surprising how much grip you can generate through turn six. I really enjoyed it, and Im glad to get a win in the Corvette. Kuno Wittmer, of Montreal, made it two Canadians atop the podium when he was also able to get past Pobst, trying to manage the brakes on his Volvo, on lap eight. Wittmers second-place finish capped an eventful race weekend for the driver sitting second in the Drivers Championship after an accident on his first lap of the second practice session on Friday. With Wittmers car unable to be repaired at the track, the team turned to Jeff Courtneys No. 99 Kenda Tires Dodge Viper. Courtney graciously stepped out of the car to allow Wittmer to run the blue machine, now numbered as the No. 13 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Viper, in qualifying and the race. Jeff Courtney deserves all the credit today, Wittmer said. For a teammate to give up a car like that halfway through the season when hes going for points, the only other person I know who would do that for me is my brother. It was very nice of him to get out of the car yesterday and give me the ride and go on to something else. It was unfortunate the weekend got off the way it did, but things happen and thats motorsports. We were able to turn around and get a good car together for qualifying and toss a couple of things at it for the race. It was a real Dodge Viper in the race, just impeccable. It drove real nice the whole race. I saw Randy catch me a couple of times through traffic, which was really hard to get through today. Most of the time we caught them through the high speed esses, and wed get bottled up behind them and Randy would catch me. But hats off to my crew, they gave me a great car today. Courtney was able to race what was Tony Gaples Blackdog Racing back-up car, finishing 12th in a Chevrolet Corvette that he didnt get a full lap in until the first lap of the race. Despite the early-race difficulties, Pobst managed his K-Pax Volvo well enough to earn a third-place finish. We had a great start in the Volvo, Pobst said. I got out to what looked like a big lead, but Ive been around and I knew to wait and see how it sorted out. Ron reeled me in pretty quick, and my brakes just werent up to snuff in the race. I had a lot of trouble getting the car to stop, and it made it very tricky to drive. When you have a rear brake bias, the rear wheels want to lock up. I saw Ron coming, and I had been careful with the brakes. I didnt want to let him through, and I got in a little deeper and had a lot of trouble getting the car to stop. I got it a little sideways and almost spun it around. Once Ron got by, I had nothing for him. Kuno also came up in the Viper and I couldnt keep up with him either today. Were happy to have the K-Pax Volvo in the championship lead still, but its a long season and well see what we can do. Patrick Lindsey started third in the No. 57 Horton/Sloan Securities Porsche 911 GT3 and was second for two laps before falling behind Fellows on lap three. Trying to keep pace with the leaders, Lindsey spun on lap three in turn eight and dropped as low as ninth. He worked his way back through the field, earning fifth when a battle with James Sofronas in the No. 14 GMG Porsche 911 GT3 ended with Sofronas spinning in turn seven on lap 19. Dino Crescentini finished sixth from his eighth place on the grid in the No. 4 Centric Parts/Stoptech/GMG Porsche 911 GT3. The Round Two winner fought with Gaples No. 29 Kleinschmidt/Blackdog Racing Chevrolet Corvette for several laps, including running side-by-side through turns nine, 10 and 11 before Crescentini fell behind moving onto the front straight. Crescentini waited just a half-lap before pouncing again, passing Gaples going into the bus stop chicane to claim seventh place and earn the Invisible Glass Clean Pass of the Race award for his close racing. That position became sixth place when Sofronas spun. Sofronas finished seventh, one spot ahead of Gaples. Charles Morgan (No. 47 Privacy Star/TruSpeed Porsche 911 GT3) led son Rob Morgan (TruSpeed Motorsports/Querencia Porsche 911 GT3) to ninth and tenth place at the checkered flag. Despite finishing behind Wittmer, Pobst extended the lead for himself in the Drivers Championship and for Volvo in the Manufacturers Championship when bonus points for qualifying and laps led were included. Pobst now leads 653-600 over Wittmer, followed by Crescentini (515), Daskalos (467) and Sofronas (438). Volvo leads the Manufacturers Championship 38 32 over Dodge, with Porsche in third with 30 points. In taking the GTS victory by more than one lap, Cunningham extended his World Challenge wins record to 35 in the No. 43 Acura/RealTime Racing Acura TSX. Despite more wins than anyone in the history of the Series, this was his first in World Challenge at Watkins Glen. My first pro win was here in June of 1987 in the 24 hour race, but its nice to get my first World Challenge win here, Cunningham said. Its such a fun track, this long course is one of the most challenging in North America and we love it. Everything went without a hitch, so we didnt have too much commotion other than the GT cars coming up and us passing the Touring Cars to lap them. Within GTS, I had my way today. The Acura ran great and Im glad to have such a strong fini
