Posted (06/19/1998) -
FOR
the second year in a row Planet Earth Motorsports wins Road Atlanta to catapult into the points lead for the Speedvision Cup. Bill Pate and Joe Nonnamaker are now in the lead of the driver's points standings, and Mike Thomas is winning the team championship for Planet Earth Motorsports.
Running four cars for the second weekend in a row made for a busy weekend. The crew did a good job keeping all four cars running well. The #43 Mazda driven by Bill Pate and Joe Nonnamaker was fastest in practice. Qualifying came, and so did the rain. The Mazdas have never been very well suited to the rain, and Friday's Qualifying was to be no different. The highest place Mazda was the #43 driven by Joe Nonnamaker in 8th.
Saturday's race saw no rain, but instead saw scorching heat. Ambient temperature was in the mid-90's with cockpit temperatures reaching 120 degrees. The start of the race saw another fine start by Joe Nonnamaker, running from 8th to 3rd in a matter of a few laps. Dick Starita was not too far behind in the #42 car. When a yellow came out an hour into the 2 hour and forty-five minute race Joe relinquished the car to Bill Pate. When Joe came into the pits he was second behind the first place Honda, but when Bill left the pits he was ahead of the Honda. This was due to the fast work of the crew in the pits. Mike Thomas said of his crew "these guys always amaze me, we got our tires changed and fuel in the car, and gave Bill the car in the lead."
Although Bill led the entire rest of the race, it was one of the closest finishes in Speedvision Cup history. After almost three hours of racing Bill beat the second place Honda by a scant 14 thousandths of a second, or about four feet.
After taking over for Starita in the #42 Mazda, Will Nonnamaker brought the car home to a close 5th place finish. Will was in a heated fight for fourth and the position was not decided until the last turn. Wayne Nonnamaker took over the driving duties from team newcomer Pete Stoltz in the #49 Mazda MX-6. Pete did a nice job in his first time in the Mazdas, and Wayne finished the car in sixth place in only his third Speedvision Cup race. Jamie Tindall displayed an amazing amount of endurance and sheer determination by driving two and a half hours on a very hot day. Pete Stoltz finished the last ten minutes in the #41 car to finish 10th.
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