SWC Laguna Seca...Season Finale (possible spoilers)

CHAMPIONSHIP TO BE SETTLED AT LAGUNA SECA
TMS Drivers On Top For Last Race
Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey, CA - October 13, 2004 - All three Turner Motorsport drivers return to their home track for the season finale. Justin Marks led the BMWs in his Turner Motorsport/H&R Springs/BMW of Watertown BMW 325i at Road Atlanta in Georgia two weeks ago. His second place finish secured the Manufacturer’s Championship for BMW. Dino Crescentini joined him in the top ten with a ninth place finish. Series points leader Bill Auberlen, finished the race in the twelfth spot and kept a hold on the overall Championship points lead.

This weekend’s race is the last round of the 2004 SPEED Touring Car Championship. Bill Auberlen holds a 15 point lead over Nic Jonsson and a 19 point lead over Matt Plumb in the overall standings. Auberlen has three wins in 2004 with the last coming at Sears Point/Infineon Raceway in July. This weekend, Auberlen will be aiming for his fourth win and to earn his second SPEED Touring Car Driver’s Championship in a row. He calls Laguna Seca home and finished second last year (also the same race he clinched the 2003 Championship).

Justin Marks is another California resident with his background centered around Laguna Seca. Marks currently sits in fifth place in the overall standings with six top five finishes in nine races. He finished in second place at the last round at Road Atlanta and is looking to finish the season on an equally high note.

Rookie-of-the-Year hopeful Dino Crescentini has been racing at California racetracks for over thirty years. The youthful Crescentini has three top ten finishes at the West Coast tracks this year, including a fourth place at Sears Point/Infineon Raceway in July. Dino leads the Rookie-of-the-Year standings by 20 points over Chip Herr.

This final round of the SPEED Touring Car Championships gets underway with practice on Friday and qualifying on Saturday at 12:15pm (PT). The standing start to the season finale is at 10:25am (PT) on Sunday. The SPEED Channel will be broadcasting this race later in the day on Sunday, October 17, 2004 at 3:00pm (ET). Watch for the flying blue and yellow as Bill Auberlen goes for his second Driver’s Championship!
************************************************** *******************

In a very interesting development, Matt Plumb has withdrawn from the weekend due the expecting birth of his first child. Plumb was only 19 points behind Bill Auberlen and in 3rd in points. However, Plumb has 3rd position secured and will end the season in that spot. That leaves the battle to two friends and former teammates....Bill Auberlen and Nic Jonnson. Should be interesting. For anyone interested...the second practice session of the day begins in 5 mins (8:05 ET) and you can watch live timing here:
http://leaderboard.vfx.com/SCCA/TC/LiveTiming_800.asp

It was great to see the team at the track again (especially Ali)

I'll see when I can get some of the pics back.

(race just ended )

Already sent Ali a text message

What a great job by the whole crew throughout the year. They fought through comp adjustments, waaaaay too much REWARDS weight, and numerous other roadblocks throughout this season. Dino pulled through with the Rookie of the Year honors too.

Also, great finish to the season for Tripoint with their first victory in the new Mazda 6

Congrats to Bill for the Back to Back!

When I talked to Bill yesterday, he was very leary of people assuming it was in the bag. He knows how quickly things can change, and then they had lost a second off of his practice pace. It looks like they got things figured out well enough to get the job done, and again, a lot of hard work goes into having cars that always finish races.

Congrats to Bill Auberlen, Dino Crescentini and the whole TMS Team

Originally Posted by scottn2retro

Congrats to Bill Auberlen, Dino Crescentini and the whole TMS Team

I left Justin out, lets not forget him. What a great, talented and VERY young driver he is

Originally Posted by dhabes

I left Justin out, lets not forget him. What a great, talented and VERY young driver he is

Agree. I was talking to him with Ali yesterday and they were confident they could move him up.

Hey, looks like you guys don't have to change numbers for next year

Some pics from SpeedArena.com

bonus points if you can locate the comedy on justins car. Too bad there arent any pics of the back of Dino's car

Originally Posted by dhabes

bonus points if you can locate the comedy on justins car. Too bad there arent any pics of the back of Dino's car

Besides Burgerworld.com?

You are right, Justin's been looking good all year

Did Dino know that sitcker was on the back of his car.

Ok to justify the I (heart) ASS sticker on the back of Dino's car. One of our crew members good friend owns a snowboarding company called ASS industries or something to that effect. In years past we have had decals he has made up on the cars somewhere, just none as blatant as this one.

For obvious reasons it wasn't on Bill's car and Justin opted out of having it on his.

Originally Posted by TMS_CrewChic

Ok to justify the I (heart) ASS sticker on the back of Dino's car. One of our crew members good friend owns a snowboarding company called ASS industries or something to that effect. In years past we have had decals he has made up on the cars somewhere, just none as blatant as this one.

For obvious reasons it wasn't on Bill's car and Justin opted out of having it on his.

Bill's not an ASS man huh?

I must say while Bill couldn't justify putting it on his (at that point hopefully) Championship winning car, Yvette was amused.

Originally Posted by TMS_CrewChic

Ok to justify the I (heart) ASS sticker on the back of Dino's car. One of our crew members good friend owns a snowboarding company called ASS industries or something to that effect. In years past we have had decals he has made up on the cars somewhere, just none as blatant as this one.

For obvious reasons it wasn't on Bill's car and Justin opted out of having it on his.

Any pics?