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Posted (10/01/2002) - (by Wayne Nonnamaker) With the season coming to a close, this season is turning out to be a lot like last season. Last year, we fought tooth and nail with the Honda of America Racing Team (HART). This season the battle is with the Fenton Motorsports effort.

The Mosport race seemed very strange. For the first time since our family took over ownership of the Phoenix Promotions team in 1993, our dad, Joe, missed the race weekend. Prior business commitments kept him away from the track, and you could tell something was missing.

Test Day
On test day we ran the entire day. Mosport had provided us with open track time from 10 AM until 5 PM, and we used a majority of it to play with shocks and set up. I found a set up I liked, and when Will got in, he wasn't too impressed with it as it was pretty loose. We tightened the car up a bit and Will ended up turning the fastest lap of the day for our #41 car, so we stayed with his set up. Our teammates, Don Velcio and Tony Nuzzo used the entire day to work up to speed at the demanding Mosport track. Neither had been to the track before, and being that it is the most thrilling track in North America, they both gave the track the respect it demands.

Practice and Qualifying Day - Friday
Rain, rain, rain... Rain was predicted to last from the time we woke up until the time we went to bed. The weather man was correct. Will took the #41 out in morning practice and thought we needed to try some different spring packages for the afternoon session if it was still raining. We went softer on the springs, and it was much better. Will pitted after a couple of laps and gave me the car for the rest of the 45 minute session. With rain not predicted for race day, I took a nice safe pace on track just to learn the rain line and find the puddles.

It continued to rain harder as the day went on, and Grand Am wisely cancelled qualifying. Since we led in the Team Owner Points, we got to start the car from the pole.

Race Day
We got a 15 minute warm up on Saturday morning. It was nice for some of the drivers to get to see the track in the dry for the first time since test day. For our competition, Bob Beede, the finishing driver of the #27 Fenton car, and the guy we are fighting with for the Championship, it was his first look at Mosport in the dry (for this weekend) as he missed Test Day. Will took the warm up and we were second fastest, but the time doesn't really mean much and we were just making sure the car was working properly and was ready to go for a three hour race.

When the race started, the #88 Ford Focus and the #27 Fenton Motorsports Acura Integra were both determined to lead. They both got by in the first lap, and I gladly watched them race each other in front of me. I had the best spectator seat at the track for the first five laps. Dean Martin, in the Focus, and Eric Curran, in the Integra, battled back and forth for the lead. Martin then started getting away from Curran.

When Curran started to fall behind the Focus, I decided it was time for me to try to get around and hook onto the Focus' bumper. It took me another five laps to get around Curran. He and I raced clean, but it wasn't until traffic presented an opportunity that I could make a pass stick.

After I got around Curran, I chased the Focus for the next forty minutes until they had to pit for fuel. That put us in the lead, and in the next half an hour we were able to extend our lead to over seventy seconds. When Curran pitted the #27 at 90 minutes, we were closing in on putting them a lap down.

At the same time the #27 pitted, the #54 GSII BMW wrecked in turn one. Thankfully Terry Borcheller was unhurt, but it brought out the first full course caution. Because the #27 pitted under green, and we were able to put under yellow, we had nearly a two lap lead on them when I came in and put Will in the car. Will did what is very hard for many drivers to do; he patiently drove

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