Anthony Jr. Breaks Through For Mustang Challenge Victory at Miller Motorsports Park

[TMN]

Tooele, UT (21 September 2008) –Ted Anthony Jr. made a dramatic entrance for his debut Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup podium appearance as the Kenmore, Washington, native emerged from a fierce four-way battle up front to take the race victory at Miller Motorsports Park in the final event of the 2008 Mustang Challenge season in the No. 9 TC Motorsports-prepared Ford Mustang FR500S.

Mid-Ohio round winner Jamie Slone returned to the Mustang Challenge podium with a second place finish after leading much of the 45-minute race. Joe Lee Middlebrooks rounded out the Miller podium after withstanding tremendous pressure from Mustang Challenge Champion Andrew Caddell, as Middlebrooks crossed the line just .012-seconds ahead of Caddell. Flying Horse Motorsports pilot Dan Aweida converted his ninth place qualifying effort to take his second fifth place finish of the weekend at the 4.468-mile Miller Motorsports Park facility.

The race dynamic changed before the green flag flew as four drivers, including front-row occupants Caddell and Terry Borcheller, were moved to the back of the starting grid after missing the mandatory drivers meeting for Sunday’s race. The race saw Joe Lee Middlebrooks lead the pack to the green, with Jamie Slone emerging with the lead after the first lap. As Borcheller was slowed by damage from opening-lap contact, Caddell made a strong start to move up to ninth by the end of the first lap as he delivered a champions drive to the front, moving up into the lead pack of four drivers, which were separated by just two seconds in the closing laps.

Slone and Anthony were the highlight battle as the lead was disputed, with Anthony taking the point and then building a two-second gap over the field to score his first career Mustang Challenge victory.

“I am going to savor this, its something to treasure,” said Anthony Jr. as he received congratulations from TC Motorsports’ Carlo Sparacio. “I figured I’d try to stay behind Jamie and see if I could find a way by him. We were pretty even, but I was quicker than he was from turns 14-21. We had a really tough race, but I got a run on him and he tried to make it as tough as he could, but I made it stick and just built a gap to the finish.”

Slone was hoping to add to his race win collection, but had to settle for second at the checkers.

“That was a crazy start, and I had fun out there but I feel like I got punted out of the lead,” said Slone, who carried notes of encouragement from his daughters in his drivers suit during the race. “It’s too bad. But I have to say congratulations to Andrew Caddell because he’s a deserving champion, a clean racer, and a guy who can get it done on skill alone, so congratulations to him.”

After opening the race from an unexpected pole, Middlebrooks kept the fight going through the full race distance, and was thrilled to close the season out on the heights of Miller Motorsports podium on Sunday. Caddell was clearly focused on keeping his perfect record of Mustang podium appearances in tact in the late stages after driving through the field, but Middlebrooks played the final sprint to the finish line just right to earn his first podium by less than a fender.

“This feels fantastic,” said Middlebrooks. “It’s almost like I am still in a dream. I really didn’t think I could hold him off. When he came up on me, I was thinking I was going to end up in fourth. Andrew is a very clean, sportsman racer, and a real champion. I can’t say enough about him. Being able to hold him off was amazing. That right there made up for all the ills I had all season, it was a tough year, but that cured it all!”

Jamie Slone picked up the BFGoodrich Tires “Take Control” Award for picking up the most positions during the race. Slone also netted a $250 check for scoring the “Zantrex-3 Insta-Shot” award for leading the most laps on Sunday.

Joe Lee Middlebrooks’ .012 second edge over Andrew Caddell netted him the Barbasol “Closest Shave” award in the Hypersport-prepared Metro Motor Sport Mustang.

Rob Kinnan collected the Sunoco “Setting the Standard Award” after showing teamwork, sportsmanship, and a strong measure of both camaraderie and competitiveness.

Thank you to all Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup sponsors, partners, staff, and participants for a tremendous inaugural season. The series would also like to thank the volunteers and corner workers who made every race possible all year long. Thank you, and see you in 2009.

Miller Motorsports Park
Mustang Challenge, Round 8 of 8
September 21, 2008

Pos No. Name Laps Total Tm Diff Sponsor Start Pos Gap
1 9 Ted Anthony Jr 14 45:58.7 - TC Motorsports 2 -
2 6 Jamie Slone 14 46:01.0 2.318 Slone Racing/ GoPro Motorsports Video/ Molecule 4 2.318
3 25 Joe Lee Middlebrooks 14 46:02.8 4.147 Metro Motor Sport 1 1.829
4 43 Andrew Caddell 14 46:02.8 4.159 StableOne Racing 22 0.012
5 17 Dan Aweida 14 46:04.4 5.686 Flying Horse Motorsports 7 1.527
6 34 Tony Buffomante 14 46:05.7 6.988 Peirspeed/ TGB Scooters 8 1.302
7 0 Brian Smith 14 46:09.8 11.148 SPEEDtv.com / Palmetto Motorsports Club 6 4.16
8 7 D Rick Edwards 14 46:10.9 12.264 TC Motorsports/ Edwardsdds.com 9 1.116
9 55 Mike McGovern 14 46:17.5 18.839 Jim Click Racing/ Valvoline 3 6.575
10 88 Pratt Cole 14 46:24.7 26.071 WesternMetalsTrans/LaPointeFord/USACaresForLife 5 7.232
11 8 Steve Miller 14 46:26.3 27.657 TC Motorsports/ ImagecraftWraps.com/ eprodius.com 10 1.586
12 4 Terry Borcheller 14 46:34.0 35.36 StableOne Racing 21 7.703
13 18 George Winkler 14 46:35.4 36.728 Winkler Automotive Service Center 11 1.368
14 11 Mike Harvison 14 46:37.2 38.573 USTest/ Molecule/ GoPro 12 1.845
15 92 Kent Jordan 14 46:40.6 41.876 BlakeBrett Industries 23 3.303
16 5 Andrew Hendricks 14 46:41.6 42.924 StableOne Racing 24 1.048
17 54 Jim Click 14 46:58.3 59.641 Jim Click Racing/ Valvoline 13 16.717
18 60 Rob Kinnan 14 47:10.0 +1:11.341 Kaufmann Racing 14 11.7
19 22 Steve Phillips 14 47:12.2 +1:13.526 Old South Land Services/ Holcomb Motor Sports 15 2.185
20 16 Alex Moyes 14 47:23.9 +1:25.259 Red Dog Racing 18 11.733
21 24 John McKenna Jr 14 47:26.0 +1:27.345 McKenna Racing 16 2.086
22 15 Jay Moyes 14 47:28.3 +1:29.610 Red Dog Racing 17 2.265
23 64 Pete Crosby 13 48:35.0 1 Lap Cro-Pro Racing 19 1 Lap
24 75 Brad Adams 0 3.106 14 Laps WesternMetalsTrans/LaPointeFord/USACaresForLife 0 13 Laps