Rossoni Takes Over Series Lead

LAKEVILLE, CT -- (INTERNET WIRE) -- 09/11/00 -- A victory for Nilton

Rossoni capped off a perfect weekend wherein he took the lead in the chase

for the $300,000 Career Enhancement Award.  He now leads Jon Fogarty, who

would finish the race second, by four points with two rounds remaining.  A

driver's ten best finishes count toward his points total.  Andy Lally

finished third.

The 19-year old Brazilian started the race from pole but was overtaken into

turn-2 by Vancouver race winner Matt Plumb.  Midway through the fifth lap,

Rossoni saw an opportunity to get alongside Plumb at the Corkscrew and took it.

 As the two braked hard into the harrowing turn, Rossoni went deeper than

planned forcing Plumb to go deep as well.  With little room to maneuver

both went for the same piece of track and made contact. Plumb got the

short end of the stick spinning in the middle of the turn.  Jon Fogarty,

and Andy Lally were in pursuit and made it through the maelstrom. Jamie Menninga

was less fortunate.  In avoiding Plumb, he went straight off the track and

speared the tire barrier, knocking him out of the race.  

Once the stricken cars were removed, the race would continue with the top-3

in lockstep.  The car on the move was the No.5 Blue Bay Curacao Golf

Resorts Dodge Reynard of Sepp Koster.  After starting 18th, the

Dutchmanwas not about to settle for a mid-pack finish and relinquish his

titlehopes easily. By the end of the first lap he had vaulted to 12th. 

Midwaythrough the race he was in sixth.  On lap 17, he was in fourth, and

allover the back of Lally.  Entering turn-6 the car snapped out of

controland he was sent spinning into the gravel.  A rear toe-link cried

uncleafter his storming drive and broke, sending him off the course.

"I knew I had to get around (Plumb).  The fight for this championship

isreally hard, and when you have the chance to win you have to make the

move.  I knew that he was not going to make it easy on me. I saw that

hisweakness was under braking for the Corkscrew, and I knew he wouldn't expect me

to pass him there, so I made my move and braked really late.  I don't

know if we touched, but I pushed the car really hard through the

Corkscrew," said Rossoni, driver of the No. 36 Oil Extreme Dodge

Reynard.

Fogarty was aggressive in the early stages of the race in his No. 52

Thomas Fogarty Winery Dodge Reynard.  Starting fifth, he was in third

bythe time they reached the starter's stand for the first time.  In the

ensuing Rossoni/Plumb/Mennnga melee, Fogarty gained another spot, but

never made a serious challenge to Rossoni's lead though he remained

in his wake for the entire race.

"I would have like the win," said Fogarty  "I was hoping I'd get an

opportunity when Nilton tried his move on Plumb but it didn't work

outthat way.  We knew that we had to finish and score points, and we did

that."

Returning to the podium for the first time since round 4 at Lime Rock

Parkwas Lally.  Starting the race from the fourth spot on the grid, he

avoidedtrouble and held off the charging Koster to score much needed points

inorder to keep his Rookie of the Year hopes alive.

"I set the second fastest race lap and that's very positive.  I'd never been

here before, only played it on my Play Station, so I'm pretty happy," said

Lally who drove the No.62 ePerformance Dodge Reynard. 

Jon Fogarty's brother Tom earned the Consceco Step Up Award for the

driverwho improves the most over is starting position.  Tom started the

race23rd, passing ten other competitiors to finish 13th.   With two

roundsremaining, the title chase has in effect become a two-horse race

betweenFogarty and Rossoni.  They now lead Koster by 30 points, though

mathematically the Dutchman still has a chance, albeit a fading one. 

TheBarber Dodge Pro Series moves onto Road Atlanta at the end of

Septemberwhere it will race in support of the American Le Mans Series at Petit

LeMans.  Fogarty may have the upper hand having raced there previously, whereas

Rossoni has not.  Whatever the case, it should be spectacular.

Round 10 of the Barber Dodge Pro Series from Laguna Seca Raceway can be

seen on ESPN2 at 6:00 p.m. EDT on Sept. 25.

Points after Round 10

Rossoni, 144; Fogarty, 140; Koster, 114; Hunter-Reay, 95; Plumb, 85;

Yasukawa, 75; Andy Lally, 74; Menninga, 73; Bjork 73; Nicastro 69;

Valiante, 66; Alexandre Sperafico, 63; Boss, 54; Brent Sherman, 34;

MarcBreuers 32

<Pre> BARBER DODGE PRO SERIES RACE

PROVISIONAL RESULT

THE HONDA GRAND PRIX OF MONTEREY

Monterey, California

September 10, 2000

FN      ST      CR

PS      PS    #       DRIVER/ HOMETOWN                            PTS     	PURSE    LP     STATUS

1       1       36      Nilton Rossoni/Curitiba, Brazil                 	21       	$12,000 	24      Running

2       5       52      Jon Fogarty/Portolo Valley, Calif.              	16       	$8,000  	24      Running

3       4       62      Andy Lally/Northport, NY                        	14       	$6,000  	24      Running

4       6       20      Alexandre Sperafico/Brazil                      	12       	$4,000 	24      Running

5       7       31      Ryan Hunter-Reay/Boca Raton, Fla.             11      	$2,500  	24      Running

6       8       95      Michael Valiante/Vancouver,Canada             10      	$2,000  	24      Running

7       11     28      Andre Nicastro/Rio de Janeiro, Brazil           9        	$1,800  	24      Running

8       9       11      Thed Björk/Vretstorp, Sweden                     8        	$1,700  	24      Running

9       12     8        Peter Boss/Narragansett, R.I.                   	7        	$1,600  	24      Running

10     10     4        Brent Sherman/ North Barrington, Ill.           	6        	$1,500  	24      Running

11     13     23      Marc Breuers/Gladwyne, Penn.                    5        	$1,400  	24      Running

12     16     25      Kip Gulseth/Manitowoc, Wisc.                    	4        	$1,300  	24      Running

13     23     53      Tom Fogarty/Soledad, Calif.                     	3        	$1,700  	24      Running

14     17     99      Davy Cook/Tallahasse, Fla.                      	2        	$1,100  	24      Running

15     21     21      Jon Vannini/Hillsborough, California            	1        	$1,000  	24      Running

16     20     97      Ryan Howe/Temecula, Calif.                                   	$500  	24      Running

17     15     73      Jeff Glenn/Oakland, Calif.                                	$500  	24      Running

18     25     22      Jay Ricci/Grosse Pointe, Michigan                         	$500  	24      Running

19     24     77      Scott Mayer, Franklin, Wisc.                              	$500  	24      Running

20     26     42      John Hall/Houston, Texas                                 	$500  	24      Running

21     26     42      Rhonda Trammell/Pittsboro, Ind.                           	$500  	24      Running

21     22     26      Sepp Koster, The Netherlands                              	$500  	23      Running

23     27     12      Keith Dusko/Red Bank, N. J.                               	$500  	23      Running

24     19     19      Sara Senske/Kennewick, Washington                         	$500  	23      Running

25     14     9        Roger Yasukawa/Santa Monica, Calif.                       	$500  	21      Contact

26     2       17      Matt Plumb/Unionville, Penn.                              	$500  	5       Contact

27     3       7        Jamie Menninga/Pella, Iowa                                	$500  	5       Contact



Length of Race: 24 laps of 2.238-mile circuit for 53.712 miles

Time of Race: 40 minutes 51.691 sec.

Average Speed: 78.869 mph

Margin of Victory: 3.169 sec.

Lap Leaders Matt Plumb 1-5, Nilton Rossoni 6-24

Fastest lap of the Race: Nilton Rossoni 1:26.395 (93.255 mph) lap 22

Fastest Qualifier: Nilton Rossoni 1:25.728 (93.981 mph)

Consceco Step Up Award: Tom Fogarty 23rd to 13th

Total Payourt; $53,600 Tamayo

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