Brumos Racing: Upholding Tradition and Honoring Their Past at VIR

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

With little time to rest from their Mexico City competition, Brumos Racing is back in action this week, on the road to Virginia for the fourth race of Grand-Am’s 2008 Rolex Series season. The Sunday afternoon race will be held on the 3.27 mile, 17 turn road course of Virginia International Raceway, a track which has long been special to Brumos.

JC France, driver for the #59 team, was pleased with their 8th place result last week. He commented, “We are really happy to head out with a top ten finish, some good points, and most importantly, to have a healthy car for VIR. I am really looking forward to the race there”. Co-driver Joao Barbosa agreed. “I’ve raced at VIR a few times, and it’s a track I really like, so I expect good things for the car this weekend. We learned a lot at Mexico and are still learning a lot about the car - we just need to start the weekend better at VIR so we can finish even stronger in that race”. Those sentiments were shared by #58 driver Darren Law, who added, “VIR has been a good circuit for us before, so we’ll hope for a podium finish there again this weekend.”

The trek to the scenic Virginia setting will bring back a mix of emotions this year for the entire Brumos team. There are many happy memories at VIR, starting back in 1971 when Hurley Haywood and Peter Gregg won their historic first IMSA GT race there. They repeated their feat the following year, with back-to-back championship seasons. Both the 1971 and 1972 Porsches wore the historic tangerine orange paint that was reported to be the favorite color of Dr. Ferry Porsche, and both remain as part of the Brumos Collection today. While the now famous white, red-and-blue Brumos livery was adopted in 1973, in a long-held tradition, those modern cars carried a bit of orange on their rear wings when racing at VIR. Bob Snodgrass always insisted it was not due to being superstitious - it was just in honor of the Brumos legacy at VIR and as a tribute to those back-to-back wins that preceded championships for the Haywood-Gregg duo.

As Brumos marks the first anniversary this week of the loss of team leader Bob Snodgrass, the thoughts of all members of the Brumos family will turn to the 2007 race at VIR, which took place just days after the unexpected death of their leader. Tributes to Snodgrass were many and heartfelt, but one of the most memorable was the tribute lap at the beginning of the race. The #58 and #59 cars, each wearing an identical black mourning stripe across their hoods, circled the track in side-by-side formation in honor of Bob.

Despite the emotion of that moment, the team quickly got down to the business of racing. When the checkered flag fell, the #58 Brumos car ended the race on the podium in third place in a thrilling finish. Driver David Donohue, in a final tribute, pulled off course after taking the checkered flag to wait for the #59 car. As Hurley Haywood rounded the track, David pulled in alongside him, ending the day as it had begun - with Bob’s two cars in a side-by-side tribute around the track. The emotional ending was nominated as one of Grand-Am’s Most Memorable Moments of the Year for 2007. It certainly made for a race that will never be forgotten by any member of the Brumos family.

Team leader Dan Davis joins his drivers and crew in sharing an optimistic outlook for the Brumos cars. “We seem to get better with each race we run, so I know it’s only a matter of time until we capture that first win. I would like nothing better than to salute Bob’s memory with a victory at VIR this weekend.”

Today, Brumos races both cars in the white, red-and-blue livery adopted thirty-five years ago. But as Snodgrass noted last year before his death, “When we race at VIR, we remember and commemorate those days with a bit of Dr. Porsche’s orange”. This weekend, Brumos will remember both Snodgrass and their legacy at VIR by honoring Bob’s tradition. Both the #58 and #59 cars will wear a flash of orange on their rear wings. And while they may say it is only a tradition, the Brumos team will also hope it will might bring some long-awaited good luck their way, and help them reach victory lane at VIR once again.

The Bosch Engineering 250 at VIR will take place on Sunday, April 27th at 1:00 PM, and will be broadcast via tape delay on Speed TV May 3rd at 12:00 PM ET.

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