Turner Retains Lead in Grand-Am With One Race To Go

Grand-Am Continental Tire Challenge B+ Foundation Heroes 200 at New Jersey Motorsports Park

In the penultimate race of the season, Turner Motorsports continued their championship march as the team added new drivers to their roster of StopTech-equipped BMW M3s. The Turner Motorsport crew added driver Boris Said to the 96 car in New Jersey this weekend, helping series points leader Paul Dalla Lana to a sixth place finish. That was good enough to keep Dalla Lana 16 points ahead in the GS points standings (251-235) for the season. Going into the final race at Mid-Ohio, Dalla Lana just needs to finish eleventh or better to claim the crown.

Back in ST, Sarah Cattaneo became the first woman to win in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge in nearly eight years when she joined Owen Trinkler in the Street Tuner class-winning No. 198 Cruise America/4 Winds RV Mini Cooper S. She was the first woman to win in the series since Belinda Endress, who won in 2003 at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant in Quebec. Cattaneo also was the third woman to win, joining Endress and Caroline Wright, who won at Daytona International Speedway in 2003.

Also in ST, Compass360 Racing's No. 75 Honda Civic Si of Simon Pagenaud and Ryan Eversley won the $500 SunTrust Improve Your Position Award from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Accepting the award, team principal Karl Thomson immediately donated the prize to Al Carter and the B+ Foundation.

The only race remaining on the 2011 schedule is the EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Sept. 17. The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge has competed at Mid-Ohio since its inaugural 2001 season.