Autobahn Gives Thrill Ride for GTsJoliet, IL (July 26, 2009) - Jeff Courtney, driver of the No. 99 KENDA Tires Woodhouse Performance Dodge Viper Competition Coupe ran at the first-ever professional race held at the Autobahn Country Club, the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Grand Prix. Courtney completes his second top ten finish of the season.
After a few practice runs on the 3.56 mile road course, the Woodhouse Performance Team made some adjustments to the Viper which turned in consistently better practice times. When the team made the switch from the old practice tires to fresh tires for qualifying, it set the team back on lap times. "The car was definitely running different on fresh tires, we miscued a bit on qualifying," said Courtney.
Courtney qualified for a 15th starting position and quickly moved up the field after the mad rush start. "It was an all-out, brawling Chicago bar-fight out there," said Courtney. "We had several double-yellow flag laps, we were moving up in the field near the end so a few more green flag laps would have helped us."
A double-file restart added to the melee; Courtney watched as cars came flying in from the back, crashing into one another. "I was forced to go really wide in the grass to avoid major contact," said Courtney. "I lost some ground there, I had to fight my way back through the field."
Later in the race, Courtney took another substantial hit in the right rear-wheel and quarter panel from a late-breaking Porsche and sustained minor damage.
Courtney charged his way back to a respectable 8th place position, which he held to the end of the race.
"All in all, it was an exciting, scrappy race," said Courtney.
Courtney and the Woodhouse Team had the opportunity to meet the sponsors from Empress Casino. "They were great, it was really nice to meet them, they did a fabulous job and we really appreciate their support," said Courtney.
The No. 13 Woodhouse Performance Dodge Viper Competition coupe was idle this weekend, but that all changes for the upcoming races of the 2009 season. At the next SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT event at Mid-Ohio, Charlie Putman will join the Woodhouse Performance team as the No. 13 driver. "It's going to be great to have Charlie on board, we raced together in the Grand Am and Panoz series and I'm looking forward to teaming up with him again."Racing action is certainly heating up here in the Midwest and race fans everywhere are anxiously awaiting the Mid-Ohio race set for August 7-9, 2009. Watch this weekend's Autobahn Grand Prix on the SPEED channel on August 18, at 2:00 p.m. (EDT).
