Stevenson Pontiac Again Knocked Off Top Step In Closing Laps

Oct 10, 2009

With 5 minutes to go, DP crash forces Robin Liddell onto grass, allowing No. 07 car to pass for win

With just a few minutes to go in the final race of the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series
presented by Crown Royal Cask No.16 – the Miami Grand Prix at Homestead-Miami Speedway
- the GT class leading Stevenson Motorsports / BryanMark Financial Pontiac GXP.R took to the
grass to avoid being damaged by a Daytona Prototype that crashed right in front of their car.
Unfortunately the No. 07 Pontiac, driven by Paul Edwards, took a different path through the
greenery and came back on the track immediately in front of Stevenson driver Robin Liddell.
The DP accident brought out a full course caution which meant Liddell could not attempt a pass
to reclaim the lead. The race ended under caution thus sealing the fate of the hard charging
Stevenson entry. The net result was a third place finish in the season championship for the
Stevenson car. Had Liddell been able to recover sooner, or had Edwards path around the
spinning DP been obstructed in the least, the team would have clinched second place.
Team Manager Mike Johnson: “Pretty early into the race, we realized we had lost some power
and had to adjust our strategy accordingly which meant we couldn’t pit at the last yellow for
tires. We had to try to hang onto track position which would have worked out perfectly had the
07 car not made it through the accident. Either way, it was one of the most disappointing 2nd
place finishes we’ve ever had, not because we lost the race, but because we dropped from 2nd
to 3rd in the championship. We had to beat the 07 and 66 and we just came up short by about
6 inches on a crazy last lap. “
Liddell: “Our team did a great job at our first pit-stop and we managed to jump ahead of the
competition and get into the lead. It was a very hot race throughout and all the drivers had to
concentrate on preserving their tires, and themselves, for the closing stages. I had high oil
temperature alarms for the whole race and we were just trying to stay out of the draft and
preserve the car.”
Liddell’s co-driver, Andrew Davis qualified the No. 57 Pontiac in third place. “The BryanMark
Financial GXP.R was very quick throughout the event,” said Davis, “with both Robin and me
running the quickest laps during the initial practice sessions. We seemed to lose a bit of pace
for qualifying, but I was still able to start from the inside of the second row. The start was rather
uneventful, and I was able to quickly build a gap to the cars behind. I was able to keep good
pressure on the #70 car for the first several laps, but after about 15 minutes I noticed that the
motor started to feel a little soft. I spent the rest of my stint simply trying to maintain pace until a
caution period brought me into the pits for our first stop.”
Liddell: “It was a disappointing finish but going into the race I felt that a podium would have
been a pretty good result. As always, the guys executed great stops, we had good strategy and
the car performed well.”
Reflecting on the season, one filled with triumphs and travails, Johnson, Davis and Liddell find
they can take comfort in knowing the team has logged a significant number of positive entries in
the record books, and that next year will provide ample opportunity to increase the number of
accomplishments listed under the Stevenson name.
Davis: “It was nice to get the Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R back on the podium in the
final race of the season; however, it was probably the most disappointing 2nd place in the
team’s history. Our primary goal was to finish ahead of the #07, and the incident with 5 minutes
left allowed those guys to get in front. The end result was that we lost a spot in the team
championship, but I am still extremely proud of what we were allowed to accomplish this
season. It was certainly a season of highs and lows, but we were able to persevere and fight
our way back up to the top three in points. I want to take this opportunity to thank John and
Susan Stevenson, along with everyone involved with the Stevenson Motorsports organization
for all of their efforts to make this program a success.”
Liddell “I would like to thank John and Susan Stevenson for all their support for me this year and
the entire team and I’m already eagerly looking forward to returning with them next season in
the new Chevrolet Camaro which we will run in 2010.”
Johnson: “I wish I had a good way to describe what went wrong this year, and the only analogy I
can come up with is a NASCAR race at Talladega. Sometimes you avoid the big one and
sometimes you’re in it. This year, we just couldn’t seem to avoid the wreck. From mechanicals,
to sick drivers, to post race penalties, to Grand-Am errors, to last lap contact, it just didn’t
happen.
“Saying all that, I was really happy with how our team performed as we were a lot faster this
year than we were last year and having two years with the same crew made a big impact. It is
reassuring to say that over the last two years, we scored more wins than any other team and we
scored the second most championship points, so the pieces are there. Championships are hard
to win, and when it’s your year, it’s easy.”
The Stevenson Team is already looking to put the roller coaster 2009 season behind them and
concentrate on what could be a considerably more challenging year ahead. Plans are in the
works to return to the Rolex GT series with a Camaro built by Pratt and Miller Engineering and
to enter the KONI Challenge series in the Riley Technologies Camaro the team debuted at VIR
a few weeks ago.
Johnson: “Even though it’s October, it’s the first day of 2010, and we are already testing for
Daytona and we hope to have the new cars at Daytona. We have a driver test later this week
and hope to make our 2010 announcement by the end of November. All I can say is we’ll be
busy.”
The 2010 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No.16 schedule
begins, as always, with the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona at the end of January, 2010. As noted,
Stevenson Motorsports will campaign a new Camaro body at that race, with the Pontiac marque
now fading into history both on the track and off.
More information about the Stevenson Motorsports team, and the new Stevenson performance
shop, can be found at www.stevensonmotorsports.com
For more information on the Grand-Am Rolex Series, go to www.grand-am.com/rolex/
Stevenson Motorsports operates out of a facility located in Jacksonville, North Carolina.