Braselton, GA --- Autocon Motorsport's strong showing at the 10th Annual Petite Le Mans proved just how valuable it was to overcome hurdles and keep plugging until the checker flag falls. And they had a lot to overcome at this race before coming come fifth in the top prototype class and scoring enough points to move to second in the team championship standings, only bettered in points by the factory Audi effort. That is a very heady position for the JeanRichard backed privateer team from San Diego that changed chassis mid season and missed two events.

In addition, the Autocon drivers moved up in driver standings with Chris McMurry sitting 5th in points, just 6 points from fourth which is the first position without a factory Audi driver. "We all left the Petit event tired, and a bit down for losing a podium spot because of a $300 starter," stated McMurry. "After reviewing our standings our mood shifted upward as the rewards of our hard work were recognized in the point standings. There are a lot of high quality prototypes this year and to be behind only Audi is truly a monumental achievement." Autocon co-drivers Mike Lewis and Bryan Willman sit 7th and 8th out of the 22 drivers scored in 2007.

"The team standings and Chris' push for fourth in driver points makes Laguna all the more important," said Lewis. "There is always pressure for points but it is much greater in this final race. We must finish and finish well to maintain our team position and move Chris up to fourth." McMurry will be joined at Laguna by Willman and Canadian Tony Burgess who helped Autocon score a podium finish at Mosport earlier this season.

The race report from Petit shows just how many obstacles can be presented during a 10-hour race.  The early sessions began to focus on fine tuning the final setup, and that proved to be elusive. The car was exhibiting an uncharacteristic push plus an unsettling porpoising phenomenon at high speeds. Solutions to both issues were difficult to find as the Autocon crew saw the symptoms come and go.

Thursday saw a good daytime practice with good car balance and reduced porpoising and everyone was ready for the mandatory night practice that evening. That session would start a series of events that would change the character of the remaining sessions. Mike Lewis led off night practice and had a harmless half spin on his outlap as he tried to bring this tires up to temperature. He went into reverse gear to rejoin the field and the gearbox locked up. No amount of attempts to release the gearbox would solve the issue and the car had to be loaded on a flatbed for a trip back to the garage, ending the session.

Once again the crew worked late into the night to effect repairs and the car was ready for pre-qualification practice. Everyone was ready for qualifying but Mike Lewis' excellent times were rended moot by the lack of  the mandatory laps the previous evening. That breech of regulations resulted in the car being gridded at the back for the Saturday running of the Petit Le Mans race.

Race day dawned dry and warmer than anytime this week, and massive crowds descended to the grid to get an close look at the full array of 30 prototype and GT entries. Starting from the back would not really be an issue with such a long event and indeed, opening driver Lewis began a rapid move to the front as the green flag flew. Progress was slowed by several early, and lengthy yellow flag conditions resulting from accidents and off course excursions. But the Autocon crew did very well moving into 3rd in class and into the top ten overall.

After the mid-point of the race passed, a routine pit stop to put McMurry back into the car brought the progress to a sudden stop as the starter suffered a terminal failure resulting in a trip to the trailer work area for a lengthy replacement. After an hour under the tent McMurry returned to action and put in two superb stints, setting team quick laps in the process of trying to gain needed positions and reach the finish line intact.

"The balance was the best it had been all weekend, but the porposing came back with the car bouncing up and down so vilantly I thought I was going to throw up a few times. When Bryan was in the car before me he had to go off course twice to avoid accidents that were happening in front of him, and I think the drives through the grass changed the position of the floor board, which had early in the week proved to be the solution for the porposing," said McMurry.

Willman took the car to the finish line in the Georgia darkness. He was reflective of the difficult circumstances, in a fashion only Bryan can express. "After long hard effort by our crew, the mischieveous demons hiding in the wiring loom have been captured or driven off, leaving only proper well mannered electrons.  This allowed the car to be quite reliable except for the starter motor.  We are debating whether we should hold an exorcism to purge the starter motor of demons, or whether we should simply threaten it with physical violence followed by a long career in a rendering truck."

The final round of the 2007 American Le Mans Series is the Monterey Sports Car Championships at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The four-hour race is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. PT on Saturday, October 20. SPEED will air the race live from 5:30 to 10 p.m. ET. Live coverage from American Le Mans Radio and IMSA Live Timing and Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.