Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing, who qualified the No. 31 Westward Ho Casino/ MMPIE/ PAWS/ Justice Brothers Porsche 911 GT3 RS fifth in GT class, finished third in class in the 52nd Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
The Las Vegas-based race team owned by Michael Petersen, fought a last hour battle with fellow Porsche team, Flying Lizard, to take its first podium finish of 2004. The team, headed by Dale White and Kent Moore, also won the first IMSA Cup award of 2004 as the highest finishing privateer team having taken the third step of the podium behind Alex Job Racing who has its drivers supplied by Porsche and therefore is categorized as a factory effort.
David Murry, of Cumming, Ga., was able to hold hisposition in the closing laps despite running low on fuel and fightingfading brakes after taking the final driving stint from co-driver CraigStanton, of Long Beach, Calif. Making the feat even more amazing isthat, late last night, a short in the wiring harness of the team'sPorsche 911 GT3 RS forced a complete replacement of the harness- whichis every electric wire inside the car- as well as finish the plannedengine change and gearbox rebuild. The team arrived at the track onFriday morning at 7 am and has not slept or left the SebringInternational Raceway since. Murry and Stanton were the only drivingteam to compete with only two drivers and the highest finishing PorscheRS chassis in the field. Mike Petersen, owner: "That was the hardest finishing third place we'veever had in our career. Towards the end we had some trouble with thebrakes and had to conserve fuel. The end was definitely some of the mostnerve-wracking two hours of any race we have ever done. I think it wasthe right decision to go with two drivers. It wasn't an advantage and itwasn't a disadvantage. The team did an awesome job and Craig and Davidare a great asset to this race team."Dale White, team manager: "The plan worked-out. It took twelve hours butit worked out. I just wish it had come together about an hour earlier soit wouldn't have been such a nail-bitter but it came together. We wentconservative on our setup, on our brakes and on our motor and it worked.The whole team really came together on this one and I am so proud of howwell everyone performed."David Murry, driver: "I'm very appreciative of Mike and Dale for havingme as a part of their team. I'm appreciative of the crew that stayed-upall night working on this car for Craig and me to drive today. That'swhat's on your mind when you're driving because you know that's what thecrew guys did. I'm looking forward to lots of great success with thePetersen/ White Lightning team."Craig Stanton, driver: "It was a great day. This is all about the team.The guys all had to pull together with all the adversity this weekendand it really shows the strength of this Petersen/ White Lightning team.The Porsche worked flawless all day. We asked a lot out of the car andthe Michelin tires today and they all came through. Mike and Dale puttogether a top-notch team and we're going to carry a lot of momentum onthrough the end of the season."Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing began operation as anoff-road team in the 1980s winning over 50 truck victories, includingthree-consecutive overall wins at the Baja 1000, and multiplechampionships. Since beginning sports car racing, the effort has scoredvictories in the ALMS, the Trans-Am Series, Speed Challenge Series andendurance sports car wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Alex JobRacing, Watkins Glen and at the Rolex 24 of Daytona. In 2003, they wonthe ALMS GT class of the Road American 500 and finished second in classat the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
