WATKINS GLEN, NY (June 4, 2006) - The Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen took place
yesterday and the No.19 Playboy/Uniden/Palms/Vonage Ford-powered Crawford Daytona
Prototype machine driven by Memo Gidley and Michael McDowell started
the event from the second position. The young driving talent, Michael McDowell started
the race and ran in the top- five for the majority of his first stint before handing
the driving duties over to the veteran Memo Gidley.
Gidley climbed behind the wheel of the black and orange machine for the first time
in race competition since the Long Beach event. (Gidley received injuries to his
back while practicing in the morning warm-up for that event and was forced to sit
out for the last three Grand American Rolex Series events.) Gidley's return to the
cockpit was a successful one as he quickly returned to the front of the grid while
battling the treacherous race conditions. |
"We got a little out of sequence on our
pit stop strategy," said Memo Gidley. "Every time we needed to be on wets
(tires) we were on dries and every time we were on dries we needed to be on wets.
It was a little frustrating but the Playboy/Uniden car still ran towards the top
of the charts this weekend and picked up a few more championship points. We just
need to keep the momentum going and win some races."
Gidley's teammate, Michael McDowell stepped back into the cockpit and was able to
hold his position bringing the Playboy/Uniden/Palms/Vonage- sponsored machine home
to a sixth place finish.
"That was pretty wild out there," said Michael McDowell. "I just wish
if it was going to rain than it would just rain and not do what it did today. For
the most part the car ran pretty well and the team did a great job with the pit stops."
The Mooresville, NC ñ based team will enjoy a two week lull in the action before
returning to competition at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on the weekend of June
24th. |
