Monday, August 18, 2008

As the Grand-Am Rolex season began drawing to a close in 2007, Brumos Racing was enjoying strong momentum, having seen their #58 car post a top ten finish in each race following Daytona’s season-opener Rolex 24.  The Infineon race seemed as if it would be the place that Brumos #58 duo Darren Law/David Donohue would break through and post a long-awaited Brumos win. Donohue had successfully defended his lead through the closing laps when the first and only yellow flag of the day was dropped with just minutes to go in the race.  Unable to hang on to the lead following the restart, Donohue took the checkered flag in second place, marking 2007’s best finish for a Brumos entry.

As Brumos readies for this year’s return to the scenic Sonoma racetrack, they would like nothing more than to beat that performance by scoring a season’s best result of first place.  Both Brumos cars are in the midst of a phenomenal season, heading into Infineon with the #58 car in 3rd place in Grand-am Team Points, closely followed by #59 in 4th place.  The #58 car has been on the podium five times in the last six races, narrowly missing the win in Montreal in a record-setting close finish that saw them fall back to third place after running out of fuel just yards from the finish line. Brumos’ #59 car has been driven by Joao Barbosa to post the fastest lap of the last two races, and co-driver J.C. France holds the lead in the Jim Trueman Sportsman Award points.  So far the only missing ingredient in the 2008 Brumos success story is a victory.

David Donohue voiced the team’s determination, saying “I think our team as a whole has really gelled and in our hearts we’ve already won one - It’s just that nobody really knows it yet. There is no entry in the record book to show the effort this team has put in.  We have a lot of resolve and I think that it just makes us even more motivated, and as I said, in our hearts and minds we have already won.  It’s just that ten years from now, no one will ever recall that we had that dramatic finish and almost won, so that’s the heartbreaking part, but that just makes us want it all the more.”

Joao Barbosa will travel to his first race at Infineon, eager to conquer some new territory at the historic Sonoma racetrack.  He is ready for that challenge, saying, “I have never raced at Infineon, so I will need to get up to speed quickly and be competitive to make sure we can continue the momentum Brumos has shown.  We have had a good result in most of the races so far, and I want to continue to show the same pace here, even if I’m not familiar with the track in the beginning.  I know we have a very good shot at being on the podium – that’s definitely my goal!”

Hurley Haywood also recalled that 2007 race, saying “We had the best showing of the year at Infineon and our drivers did a fantastic job.  We are even more on target this year, so I’m really hoping this race will be successful for both our cars.” He went on to add, “We’ve shown that our #59 car can also run up front.  Joao passed the leader in the last race, so we know that we have the drivers and our cars have the performance – we just have to be smart with our strategy and then hopefully, we will do one better than we did last year, and that will be on the top step of the podium!”

The green flag will drop on the DP-only event on Saturday, August 23rd, at 3:00 PM PT (6:00 PM ET) for the 250 mile/2.75 hour race.  It will be televised via tape delay on SPEED TV Sunday, August 24th, with coverage beginning at 12:00 PM ET.

Posted on 08/18 at 03:06 PM

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