Elkhart Lake, WI – May 23, 2010
The ECR Engines powered #85 Powerhouse Racing / H2O Overdrive / ECR Engines/ Base Race Fuels / PST/ TCP / Wix Filters Corvette out of South Florida driven by reigning SE Division GT1 Champion Terry Giles surprised the field of champions and local GT1 hot shoes with a hard charging second place podium finish in Sunday’s GT1 race. Foul weather and heavy fog on Friday caused all practice and qualifying for the CAT Double National to be cancelled, under a modified schedule all races would be subject to a single 20 minute qualifying session to be held on Saturday morning – followed by the first of two National races for each class. Terry managed to put the #85 Corvette in the second row – outside pole position, behind long time Road America GT pilot Denny Lamers, beside seasoned GT1 driver Rick Dittman, with the reigning SCCA GT1 National Champion Cliff Ebben on the pole. The excitement and action of Saturday’s race soon went from good to great and then to bad – as Terry moved from 4th into 3rd into turn one on the green flag and again moving into 2nd on the second lap of the race as the cars entered turn one. He maintained that position building a 5 second lead over the 3rd place car of Dittman when the race was black flagged due to a car impacting and then clearing the tire wall, After an extended 45 minute black flag the race resumed with just 4 laps to go – Terry maintained his second place position going into the next to the last lap when he and Dittman made contact entering into turn one and the #85 Corvette ended up in the outside sand trap. “This is a very disappointing day for the team” stated team engineer Kevin Allen, “Terry pulled everyone but Cliff on the start and he was gaining on him before the contact – the ECR Engine has legs” he said. Sunday’s starting grid was identical due to the single qualifier – however this time at the drop of the green – Terry immediately put the #85 Corvette into second position before the cars hit turn one – he ran the entire race giving chase to Cliff who won the race with Terry finishing second and Dittman third. “We had all these guys wondering who and what ECR Engines are all about when we got here” said crew chief Ben Brooks, “now they know – we are serious about the Run-Offs and as Terry gets time on this track – we will be contenders” he said as the team celebrated this podium win. “I have to thank ECR for their incredible horsepower and torque – we were 8mph faster up the hills here over when we were here last year at the Run-Offs, we had everybody looking that is for sure” he said. “Kevin did a great job on getting the car balanced for this track and Jason over at RCR who did our shocks -wow – the guy is a genius – I can’t thank ECR and the gang, including the help from RCR on how much they have help elevate our program this year” Giles stated. Next up for the team is the June 20th Trans Am race at Road America, followed by the June Sprints the very next weekend.
Motorsports Photography by Clark McInnis 
Leave a Reply