KINETIC MOTORSPORTS MAKES STRONG PUSH AT THE GLEN
Buford, Ga.
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Kinetic Motorsports took part in the 9th installment on the KONI Challenge schedule this weekend at the Supercuts 200 at the Glen. The team entered is flagship No. 79 BMW M3 driven by Bryan Ortiz and Shawn Price.
Qualifying went well for the team with Ortiz behind the wheel. The young driver from Puerto Rico managed to put the car in the 12th position with a time of 2:07.657 even though he was not able to run his fast lap due to black flag conditions as a result of an incident elsewhere on track. He had just crossed the line to complete a try for the front of the pack when the flag came out. Due to the incidents on track, Ortiz did not make it back out to secure a top spot.
Starting in the 12th spot, Ortiz took the green flag and immediately showed his skill by moving up in the field. In only 13 laps, Ortiz had driven the car up to the third position when he entered the pits for fuel. Ortiz reentered the race in the 31st position overall but made short work of the field and by Lap 41 he had moved the No. 79 up into the 2nd spot. Ortiz entered the pits on Lap 50 to hand the wheel over to Price for the remainder of the event.
During Price's stint on-track incidents caused officials to throw the yellow flag twice resulting in a total of only eight laps under green flag conditions. Price, who had entered the field in the 27th position, was able to take the car to 19th but with the lack of ability to run all out as a result of the cautions he was unable to move further ahead.
Price was overtaking for position as the second caution flag was waved. Unfortunately Grand Am deemed that Price had not attained position prior to the yellow flag being waved resulting in a 30 second penalty which was added to his final time after the race. As a result of the penalty, the team finished in the 27th position.
"We definitely had the car to beat out there this weekend," said Crew Chief James Pauly. "Our drivers did a great job and we were able to run in the top five quite a bit. I must say that the crew did an excellent job with the car at the Glen and we managed to stay incident free. Unfortunately others were not as lucky as witnessed by the cautions at the end of the race which kept Shawn from getting the car back to the front. We had a great car this weekend and I am proud of our crew and drivers."
The next event for Kinetic Motorsports' KONI Challenge effort will be at Barber Motosports Park July 19 – 22. For more information about Kinetic Motorsports please visit www.kssmotorsports.com.
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