COMPASS360 RACING FIFTH AT HOMESTEAD MIAMI SPEEDWAY

Championship Honda Team Battles Against Strong Forced-Induction Opposition

(Homestead, FL) -- Compass360 Racing's #75 Honda Civic Si crossed the line fifth in a thrilling last-lap run for the flag at Homestead-Miami Speedway last weekend. After running second for much of the last half-hour of the race, the creditable finish was still a tough pill to swallow for the team, which looked sure to notch a podium result.
 

Ryan Everlsey took the wheel of #75 after a strong opening performance from co-driver Keith Carroll, in his first time behind the wheel of a C360R Honda. "The car was perfect, and so much fun to drive," said Carroll. "I had a great time working through traffic as the race progressed, and tried to baby the brakes so Ryan would have lots left at the end."

While Carroll moved up through the field, top C360R qualifier and 2010 Champion David Thilenius moved in the opposite direction with is #74 Honda suffering a gear selection problem in the early going. "I felt my qualifying lap was golden, and having qualified second in 2010 with this very car, it's a little disappointing to have only managed ninth. Grand-Am wanted to mix things up with the rules changes and it's clear they have!"

Thilenius had qualified ninth, with promising rookie Andrew Novich in 17th; Carroll was 24th and Carlos Tesler-Mabe was 29th.
 

Tesler-Mabe (above, being interviewed by local Miami spanish-language television station) kept his #76 Civic clean and moved up the order, handing the car to Bob Beede, who's long been a fixture in the Grand-Am paddock. Beede managed to get up to seventh place before pitting for a quick splash of fuel in the closing stages of the race. "We decided not to gamble on fuel strategy," explained Crew Chief Steve Wheeler. "If we'd left Bob out he'd have been running on fumes and might've got stranded out on track, but with that late-race yellow he might have made it... Perhaps next time we'll leave him out!" Car 76 crossed the line 17th.

Thilenius managed to keep 74 on the lead lap for his entire stint, despite only having even-numbered gears to work with. Lutz soldiered on similarly until contact with another car cut down a valve stem, necessitating a pit stop that put him a lap down. They finished 29th, salvaging some points for the second race in a row. "I hope that's all the bad luck we'll have for the season," said Lutz. "We're behind in the championship now, so from here on Dave and I will just concentrate on podiums and winning."

Novich did a fantastic job in the opening stage of the race, moving up six places before the transmission of his #77 Honda got stuck in second gear. The team worked feverishly to get him back out, and when he did, many laps down, he ran times with the leaders. Novich turned the car over to co-driver Benoit Theetge with 30 minutes to go, and at race end the car was classified 32nd.

"We ran the perfect race with 75, and it's frustrating that a race-winning car from last year can now only manage a fifth-place result," noted Team Principal Karl Thomson. "Grand-Am made some changes over the off-season, and they've affected some cars more than others. We're hoping to see some competition adjustments that will bring those overdog platforms back in line with the rest of the paddock."
 

The Miami race marked the first event for C360R's partnership with the Children's Tumor Foundation, and it proved a great success. CTF volunteers, including Daniel Graeff, above, welcomed fifteen families with children living with neurofibromatosis, as well as top local fundraisers. Read about CTF's Miami Racing4Research event.

The Grand-Am Homestead 200 race will be broadcast, tape-delayed on SPEED Channel on March 19th at 2:00pm.