Burrows and Hopwood Take Second at VIR

SECOND PLACE AT VIR NETS SECOND PLACE IN DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP

Alton, VA (4 October, 2008) -

A timely yellow flag saw Burrows return to the track after a fleet pit stop for the Compass360 Racing crew as they changed brake pads and got the defending champ back out on course still in top ten position. Several laps after going back to green flag action, Compass360 Racing’s Ray Lee crew called Burrows back in for one final dash of Sunoco fuel to enable him to race to the checkered flag without needing to hold back and save fuel.
That strategic play moved Burrows back up front after as a final yellow flag set the stage for a dramatic final hour of racing to close out the 2008 KONI Challenge season. Holding the point at the restart with nearly 40 other ST entries looking to find a way to fight by, Burrows firmly held on to the point for lap after lap.

With two wins under his belt so far in 2008, he was recalcitrant to give up the race lead as he chased a third trip to the top of the podium with co-driver and friend Hopwood. But the turbo-powered cars proved to be too much and he was forced to relinquish the point in the closing stages of the race, crossing the line just behind the race winner as the third-place finisher secured the KONI Challenge championship.
The result saw Burrows close the year out second in the championship standings, although due to inconsistent on-track officiating, the points reflect Hopwood as sixth in the championship despite the duo’s identical race results.

“Compass360 had an awesome strategy once again—Ray Lee has done an amazing job calling our races all year long,” said Burrows. “Congratulations to Jamie on winning the championship—it’s a great feeling to win a championship, and I know he’s going to be celebrating tonight. You hate to give up the crown, but to hand it over to a driver like Jamie makes it a lot easier. It was tough to lose the lead to Lawson, but getting to second in the championship is great. The reality was that there wasn’t anything I could do to hold him off, he was just too fast in a straight line and even though I was getting everything possible out of the car, he just motored on by me for the lead. Thanks to the Compass360 Racing guys for the job they’ve done all year long, working their butts off for us.”
“Congratulations to Jamie—it’s good to pass the championship on to a friend and fierce competitor like him,” said Hopwood. “I was trying to save the brakes as much as I could, but I still made the call for the team to change pads so Adam could fight at the end and that turned out to be the right one. The team had a great strategy once again, especially with that last splash of fuel. Thanks to the boys for all their hard work all year—we were fast everywhere we went this season.”