Posted (10/11/1998) -
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lanet Earth Motorsports came to Road Atlanta focused on winning the championship. Three cars were entered, and the driving talents of GT race winner Shane Lewis were utilized in the third car. Lewis is no stranger to the Planet Earth Motorsports team. In 1996 Lewis teamed up with Bill Pate to produce the first in a record string of five straight wins at Daytona for the team. Qualifying was a success for the three cars as Joe Nonnamaker captured the pole, Lewis was third, and Dick Starita in the #41 Mazda was fifth. The one car that Planet Earth Motorsports had to beat to win the championship was sitting in second.
The very first turn of the race saw a multi-car accident that damaged both the #43 machine of Joe Nonnamaker and the #41 machine of Starita. An amazing job by the crew got Nonnamaker out in a competitive car. Starita suffered more extensive damage, and didn't rejoin the race for 20 minutes.
Lewis found a way through the wreck, and led the race for the next hour and a half. During this time Nonnamaker had found his way up to third with his damaged MX-6. Pate got in to finish for Joe Nonnamaker but a transmission failure in #43 and a similar failure in the #49 car cost the team a chance at the win, and at the championship. The Planet Earth Motorsports team ended tied with its competitor for points this season, and the championship was given to the other team on the basis of their two wins versus Planet Earth Motorsports one win. A tough break, but the team will be back in full-force next year for another shot.
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