After Third Race, Davis Finds Himself in Familiar Place
MILLVILLE, N.J. (May. 2, 2009) - Brandon Davis finished third in his No. 10 Applied Computer Solutions/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang Cobra for the third time this season at New Jersey Motorsport Park’s Thunderbolt Raceway. Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., and Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., finished first and second for K-Pax Racing Volvo.
Starting in the third spot, Davis quickly moved up to second when Pobst crept up a bit before the lights went out to start the race resulting in a stop-and-go for the K-Pax Volvo driver Pobst.
After Pobst’s penalty, Davis ran second in his No. 10 Applied Computer Solutions/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang Cobra for the first half of the race. Just before the rain came, he came under attack from Tony Rivera’s No. 97 Tax Masters/Mirage Group Porsche 911 GT3 for the position. On the restart, Pobst moved through and Rivera bobbled, falling back to seventh. Davis had a new nemesis to deal with though, with hard charging Eric Curran.
The two ran nose-to-tail for the final five laps, with Curran finally getting alongside on the last lap. He couldn’t make it stick though, and Davis brought the Mustang home for his third podium finish of the year.
“I was driving pretty hard – maybe a little bit harder than I should have,” Davis said. “The tires started to go away. Actually, when the rain came out, Tony [Rivera] was all over the back of me. I was actually happy to see the rain because whenever it would sprinkle a little bit, he seemed to back off a little bit.
“When Eric got by Tony, I knew he was coming. We were pretty even for the most part except for the slow speed decreasing radius and the left hander. My car was not so good there. He would gain a lot of ground through there. When it came to the last few laps, he began to catch me there. That was the only place he could do anything. It is a tight area of the track. So, I made the car really wide. I was able to stay ahead of him. He was able to get by me at Long Beach, but this time we were able to hold him off. Hopefully, we can get a little closer and pass him in the championship next race.”
Curran’s No. 30 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette wouldn’t start on the grid. After changing out the battery, the point leader started from pit lane. He sliced through the field, turning laps faster than everyone but the Volvos. Curran’s pass on James Sofronas for fourth and side-by-side run with Davis earned him the AutoWeek Move of the Race. However, post-race technical inspection revealed a non-compliant throttle body spacer, and the car was disqualified.
Davis takes over the point lead going into Round Four, with 300, followed by Sofronas (294), Rivera (279), Pilgrim (274) and Curran (222). Porsche maintained its Manufacturers’ Championship Presented by RACER lead with 21, followed by Ford (15), Volvo (12), Chevrolet (12) and Dodge (five).