ALTON, Va. – Automatic Racing ended the KONI Challenge season in dramatic style during Sunday’s six-hour Grand Sport class race at Virginia International Raceway. Charlie Putman and Charles Espenlaub overcame a one-lap deficit to finish eighth in the No. 91 Automatic Racing BMW M3, while Jep Thornton and Jeff Segal saw their championship hopes disappear in the final hour of the race.

Thornton and Segal, along with Terry Borcheller, put in a monumental effort in the No. 09 Automatic Racing BMW M3. Thornton and Segal hoped to earn their second consecutive championship, but fuel pickup problems developed in only the second hour of the race. The problem required refueling every half an hour.

During a caution in the third hour, while Thornton was behind the wheel, the Automatic crew got to work on the fuel problem. They were able to improve the fuel pressure, but by then the No. 09 was a lap down in 17th.

Thornton, Segal and Borcheller each took a stint in the car, and by the end of the fifth hour the team had made up their lap and Borcheller sat in an impressive eighth overall. The pickup problem returned, though, and Borcheller had to pull off track at turn three to take a shortcut back to the pits. A full tank was all that kept the fuel pressure in check, and he returned to the track a lap down once again. At the checkered flag, the No. 09 M3, sponsored by Imported Car Store, Rogue Engineering, LandAir and Engine Music Studios, was 11th.

The finish gave Thornton and Segal third in the Grand Sport driver championship, while the title went to Joe Foster and Scott Maxwell in the No. 55 Hyper Sport Mustang. “Congratulations to Joe and Scott,” commented Thornton. “You never know how things will turn out – we lost our chance for a championship in the last minutes of the last race. We all fight for this moment. We had our problems, but overall we had a great season.” Referring to Monday night’s KONI Challenge banquet in nearby Greensboro, North Carolina, Thornton added, “Viva Greensboro!”

“Congratulations to the entire Hyper Sport team,” added Segal. “They did a fantastic job, and they really deserve this. Their Mustang was really strong and our little M3 just didn’t have anything for them. Our whole team worked unbelievably hard all weekend. Our championship last year and our third place points finish this year is all because of their efforts.”

“Every single time we advanced, we’d get pushed back down. In my last stint, we were on the lead lap and in place to race for the win, and the fuel pressure started to drop again,” said Borcheller. “My lap times kept slowing, so I was still trying to race but also trying to stay out of the way.”

Meanwhile, Putman and Espenlaub faced their own share of setbacks in the No. 91 Automatic M3. Espenlaub started the race and was up to 11th, pitting late in the second hour to give the car to Putman. At the halfway mark though, Putman was hit by a competitor on a restart, and he had to pit twice so the team could change a tire and repair damage to the left rear bumper.

Putman and Espenlaub battled back to regain the lap they lost as a result of their pit stops, and a late-race caution caught them up to the lead-lap field. The race restarted with only two laps before the checkered flag, and Espenlaub darted past several other cars to claim eighth.