Sports car racer Craig Stanton has dominated the Grand-Am Cup Grand Sport (GS) class in 2004.
His performance has placed him on-top of the Grand American Road Racing Association's Grand-Am Cup Driver Performance Index through the most recent round at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR). Based on theIndex's measurement for drivers competing in the Grand-Am Cup, the LongBeach, California-resident has a combined performance index of .964 outof a possible 1.0. Stanton drove the first stint of each of the No. 44Porsche 996 team's three wins beginning with Daytona 250 at DaytonaInternational Speedway (DIS) in February. He moved on to Homestead-MiamiSpeedway (HMS) qualifying second before winning the Miami 250.
Stanton, who also has a victory and a second-place in the first three-races of the Grand American Rolex Series with AASCO Motorsports, again qualified second and won the Grand-Am Cup Twin 200s at PIR. The Performance Index calculates a comparison of drivers regardless ofclass, thereby directly evaluating on-track performance for everyGrand-Am Cup Series' driver. The formula takes into considerationoverall finishing position, qualifying, laps led and fastest time of theevent. Stanton has edged-out teammate Terry Borcheller, whose index is960, as a result of Stanton's qualifying efforts and race laps in thePorsche. Craig Stanton: "I'm proud to be at the top of the performance index inthe Grand-Am Cup. I've always watched the performance index really closebecause there are many factors that lead up to the points. I think ittells you more about what's going on than just the driver or teampoints. Grand American has really done a good job with how they blend inall aspects of the race weekend. It's a great goal to strive for andit's been one of my goals, as well as the other championship points,since last year. I am honored to be there at this point of the year andhope to be there at the end as well. We've definitely had a great startto the season."Since moving from moto-cross/super-cross to automobiles in 1986, Stantonhas positioned himself as one of the premier drivers in sports carracing. A desire to win in all kinds of machines has led to drives inclosed and open cockpit sports cars, sedans, NASCAR stock cars, openwheel formula cars and midgets and in off-road competition. He has wonthree championships and a Driver of the Year award in Sports Renault andis the 1997 Speedvision Cup Rising Star Award winner. Stanton begancompeting in the top echelon of sports car racing in 1999 and has classwins in both the Grand-Am and ALMS. He takes his fitness training veryseriously with the goal of being the fittest race driver in the worldand has competed in 27 triathlons in his career.
