Bell Finishes 2nd, Sweeney Rebounds With Top-15 Finish Trinkler Runs At Front But Encounters Late Race Glitches

Altamonte Springs, FL -- (SBWire) -- 05/03/2010 -- P1 Groupe, the premiere motorsports management company is proud to announce that three of its top drivers finished strong this past weekend at the Bosch Engineering 200 at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia. Matt Bell considered one of the fastest rising stars of the GRAND-AM Series, drives through the full field to finish second. Mike Sweeney, is on every teams wish list for 2011, finished in the 15th position of a very deep field in the ST class after taking over the car in the 24th position and several laps down. Owen Trinklers car starts on pole and despite problems was able to finish 23rd in Street Tuner class.

“We are very proud of the strong showing that our drivers had at Barber,” said Eric Burch, President of P1 Groupe. “Matt, Mike, and Owen are demonstrating at each race why they are some of the hottest names in GRAND-AM racing and will be throughout the sport for years to come. We are glad to represent them.”

Matt Bell, who is becoming one of the fan favorites, and co-driver Jeff Bucknum, started the weekend off with strong results in the first session of the weekend before the engine let go in the #6 Sunoco Chevy Camaro. With the Stevenson Motorsports team scrambling to finish the engine swap, Matt Bell patiently waited while strapped into the car as the Qualifying session came and went. The team finished the repairs just as the session ended which would mean Bell would have his work cut out for him by starting the race at the back of the 31-car field. "It's disappointing to not be able to set a time in qualifying" states Bell. "I've been very impressed with the Stevenson Motorsports all season long and even though I'd prefer to have been able to put the car through its paces in Qualifying I can certainly say that it isn't due to a lack of effort from the team." Bell had his work cut out for him, starting from the back of the GS class grid, Bell pushed his way to the front of the field before handing the car over to Bucknum in 3rd position. Restarting mid-pack after their stop and driver change, Bucknum followed his teammates lead and drove the iconic Sunoco Camaro to the front assuming the lead. The #6 Sunoco Camaro held the lead until the closing segments of the race when they had to pit for a splash-and-go to come across the stripe in 2nd place for the duo's best finish of the season and Camaro's first podium finish.

Mike Sweeney's co-driver Mike Halpin qualified the #171 APR Motorsports VW GTi in 11th position. The team was hoping for a higher starting position, but had an incident during the session that forced the APR team to scramble repairs in time for the race start. The team encountered more issues during the race that saw Sweeney take the car over in 24th position, and several laps down to the rest of the ST-Class competition before fighting his way back to a 15th place finish in the end. “What a weekend, I really like the VIR circuit, and we had a car to run at the front which our teammates in the 181 proved. We just had the cards stacked against us today, we’ll be back strong for Lime Rock!”

Owen Trinkler’s #196 RSR Motorsports Mini Cooper S started from pole behind the driving of co-driver BJ Zacharias. Trinkler and the rest of the Cruise America team came to Virginia International Raceway with high hopes coming off a difficult outing at the Barber Motorsports Park. Zacharias led the field through the first seven laps of the race and posted some of the fastest laps of the race during his stint. The Cruise America backed entry ran at the front most of race before problems ensued, finishing with a 23rd place finishing position.

These drivers will next compete on May 28th at the Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT for the fifth round of the 2010 GRAND-AM Series season. Keep your eyes on our line-up of drivers as they continue to pave the way towards their respective career and season goals in the blazing fashion you’ve become accustomed to seeing them do.

Additional information on P1 Groupe may be obtained at http://p1groupe.com.