The Leighton Reese Performance Group was robbed of a sure podium and likely victory at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama when the SunTrust Daytona Prototype driven by Max Angelleli and Ricky Taylor carelessly forced the Las Vegas BikeFest / Airjax Corvette off track and into the wall while Paul Edwards was leading the GT race by a wide margin.  The eventual result was a 14th place finish in the GT class, likely dashing any hopes of contending for the GT Class Championship.

After a strong qualifying effort by Scott Russell, the LRPG Corvette started the race 4th on the grid with Russell behind the wheel.  Russell did an excellent job of maintaining position after the green flag and for the first 12 laps of the race.  On lap 12 a yellow flag was thrown as one of the DP cars had gone off track.  Everyone in the GT Class used the opportunity for their mandatory first pit stop except for the LRPG Corvette.  Team Engineer Tony Dow gambled and took the opportunity to pick up track position, putting the #07 Corvette in the lead position when the green flag was thrown on lap 16.

By lap 19 the #70 Mazda caught the Corvette and passed Russell for the lead.  On the next lap the #99 DP car caught fire and brought out the second yellow flag.  The LRPG Corvette was brought to the pits for fuel, tires and a driver change.  After a quick stop, Edwards brought the Corvette out in 10th position.

The green flag flew on lap 24 and Edwards began to make his way to the front, picking up a position every other lap.  By lap 35 he had moved the Corvette into 4th place, leaving three Mazdas to be passed including the leading #70 which had stretched to a 22 second lead over Edwards.

By lap 49 Edwards was in second place, but had fallen to 31 seconds behind the lead Mazda.  On the next lap the #70 pitted and Edwards took over the lead.

On lap 61 with the LRPG Corvette’s lead extended to 11.5 seconds, Edwards took the Corvette into turn 2 with the intent of passing the lapped Corvette of Sonny Whelen.  Whelen moved over to allow the pass, but at the same time the #10 DP dive-bombed the two Corvettes hitting the right side of the #07 and sending it uncontrollably off track.

Edwards brought the badly wounded Corvette into the pits where it spent the next 12 laps while the crew replaced an upright, rear axle and toe-link.  With no chance of battling for a podium finish, the team decided the best strategy was to put Russell back into the car to give him some needed seat time in hopes of improving for future races.

“It was the best drive in a long time,” commented Edwards after the race.  “It was an easy drive and I was getting into a groove.  The #10 took away our win.” 

When asked how the car was handling, Edwards stated that he had used up the tires to get to the front and was just waiting for the next scheduled pit stop, which would have been in a few laps, to get new tires and continue the great run.

“Everything was working great,” said team owner Leighton Reese.  Scott did a great job at the beginning of the race and had a chance to lead the race for awhile.  Paul was the fastest car on the track.  It looked like we were headed for a win, but a mistake by the #10 took it away from us.”