Watkins Glen Comp USA 200

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Press Contact: Dennis Punch (704) 530-4754

Watkins Glen, NY (September 24, 2005) … Rob Dyson and Harrison Brix were on their way to a potential top-ten finish in the Crown Royal 250 on Saturday afternoon at Watkins Glen International when a late-race accident ended their hopes. A multi-car incident on lap 43 eliminated the #06 Thetford / Norcold Pontiac Crawford just when their race strategy was beginning to show dividends. The result was a 20th-place finish in the Daytona Prototype class in the third and final race of the Rolex Series season at the historic New York road course.

The weekend began on Thursday with a practice session in the afternoon for the Daytona Prototype cars. Rob and Chris Dyson, as well as Harrison Brix, took advantage of the session to practice the #06 Pontiac Crawford. After two more practice sessions on Friday, Rob Dyson was selected to qualify the car. Dyson’s fast lap of 1:50.326 / 110.944 mph would place the Howard-Boss Motorsports entry 18th on the starting grid for the 250-mile race.

A multi-time winner at Watkins Glen International, Rob Dyson worked his way into the top fifteen during the first stint of the race. His lap of 1:48.694 on lap 20 was nearly two seconds faster than his qualifying lap and was the fastest lap recorded by the #06 Thetford / Norcold Pontiac Crawford during the Crown Royal 250. Dyson would pit under caution on lap 25 for fuel, tires, and a driver change. Harrison Brix would take the controls and begin his march to the finish for the Howard-Boss Motorsports Team. However, his hopes for a top-ten finish ended on lap 43.

On a restart after a caution period, several cars drove wide into turn one. The #66 Pontiac driven by Max Papis made contact with the #4 BOSS Snowplow Pontiac Crawford as they exited the turn. The #4 car was knocked into the grass, losing the front nose section of the car in the process. As the entire field began to “bunch up” as they headed up the “Esses” section of the course, several cars made contact and the melee was on. Brix had nowhere to go as he got hit from the rear and spun the #06 Thetford / Norcold Pontiac Crawford into other spinning vehicles. At least eight cars were involved with five receiving significant damage. With the entire front section ripped from the #06 Pontiac Crawford, as well as damage to the rear of the car, the afternoon was over for the Dyson / Brix duo.

“We were sitting in a good position for the restart when the accident happened,” Brix commented. “We were in 12th position and had fuel to go to the finish, so everything looked promising. Then, I got hit and turned around when the accident started. I had nowhere to go and just got caught up as an innocent victim. I felt as though we would have been a strong top-ten car today and everything was pointing in that direction. My thanks to the guys on the Thetford / Norcold Howard-Boss Motorsports Team for all their hard work and effort this weekend.”

“It was very unfortunate for Harrison and our team,” Dyson stated. “The crew did a great job making adjustments to our Pontiac Crawford and putting us in good position for the finish. We were just in an unavoidable position when the wreck began.”

The next race for the #06 Thetford / Norcold Pontiac Crawford will be the VIR 400 at the Virginia International Raceway on Sunday, October 9th. Speed Channel will provide live coverage of the 400 kilometer race beginning at 1 pm ET. The event will be the fifth and final race for the #06 Howard-Boss Motorsports entry in the Rolex Series for 2005.

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