KINETIC MOTORSPORTS HAS SUCCESSFUL RACE WEEKEND AT MID-OHIO
June 22, 2208
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Kinetic Motorsports has successful weekend at Mid-Ohio in round 7 of Grand-Am's KONI Sports Car Challenge race at Mid-Ohio. The EMCO Gears Classic in Lexington, Ohio commenced on Saturday, June 20th and Kinetic's tackled the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course with a three car entry in the GS class and one entry for the ST class.
Tackling the GS class were the team of pro-driver Gunnar Jeannette and young talent, Frankie Montecalvo who qualified 11th and had an outstanding race finishing 7th with their #87 Bayshore Recycling Corp./Montecalvo Construction sponsored BMW.
The team of driver, Lee Davis and Kinetic co-owner/driver, Russell Smith in their #33 Luna-C Clothing sponsored BMW M3 did a fantastic job taking home a 9th place finish. Smith qualified the car Friday in 7th position and had a great start to the race before getting spun by a competitor early in the race. After a battling back towards the front of the pack, Smith turned the car over to Davis who maintained a great pace during a hot, long, focused stint with no cautions.
"The Kinetic crew always does a great job on our driver changes and this time was no exception.", stated Davis. "Surprisingly, the race was caution free, so there was no chance to "take a breather". We managed a 9th place finish, which I think was pretty good after being hit and having to come through the pack. Great team effort!"
Drivers Glenn Bocchino and Todd Lamb, who finished 4th in round 6th at the Glen, had a great start to the Mid-Ohio race weekend qualifying 5th in their #32 Cybernation, Cobalt Friction, Traqmate sponsored BMW M3; however a car fire in the rear forced the team to settle for a 17th place finish.
"Glenn did a great job.", stated Lamb. "We had a shot at the win aside from the fire. It looks like we're out of the points chase, but we're going to take a few more chances now and go for our first win. We learned a lot about our setup at Watkins Glen and Mid Ohio so I think we'll be a little stronger the remainder of the season."
Driver Lee Davis pulled double duty racing in both the GS and ST classes at Mid-Ohio. In ST, Davis partnered up with driver Charlie Putman in the #78 Luna-C Clothing sponsored BMW 330. Putman posted a qualifying 6th position with a time of 1:38:649. Racing the first stint of approximately 1 ½ hours, Putman took the lead for several laps before pitting under caution. Davis resumed Putman's pace and after a couple of cautions and restarts, Davis was competing in the top 10 until being struck by a competitor sending into the gravel trap. Fortunately, Davis was able to get himself out and back on track. After a hard fight gaining positions through the pack, Davis was able to bring the duo up to a 13th place finish.
"Charlie is such a great guy and a great driver, I was looking forward to the opportunity to drive with him.", stated Davis. "Unfortunately, as I was headed into the keyhole, one of the Minis had a brake malfunction and hit me, knocking me into the gravel trap. Now I just needed to put that behind me and focus on making up lost positions, which I did. That's when the fun really began! Despite some of the incidences, overall, it was a good weekend! I'm already looking forward to Barber."
The EMCO Gears Classic will air on SPEED TV June 28 at 12:30pm ET.
Kinetic Motorsports next KONI Sports Car Challenge will commence on July 18th at 3:50 PM ET at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama and will air on SPEED July 25th, 12:00 PM ET.
ABOUT KINETIC GROUP
Kinetic is an automotive group that includes Kinetic Motorsports, Kinetic-Sunbelt Engines, and Kinetic Speed Shop. Kinetic Motorsports taps into every aspect of professional and amateur racing, from car builds to prep and trackside support. Every resource needed to develop, manage and run a professional race team in any series is located onsite. Kinetic-Sunbelt Engines have powered amateur and professional racers to numerous championships in North America. Kinetic Speed Shop caters to aftermarket street performance. Kinetic's 42,000 square foot, state-of-the-art showroom and race complex is located in Buford, Georgia, just 15 minutes from Road Atlanta. More information can be found online at www.kssmotorsports.com.
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