"It has certainly been a season of ups and downs and coming into Road Atlanta, I feel like we are hitting on all cylinders both as a team and behind the wheel," said BimmerWorld's owner/driver James Clay about the team's season to date. "We just got back from testing and I feel good about our upcoming race weekend."

2008 has been a mixed bag of results for the team from Dublin, Virginia. A win in August at Elkhart Lake by James Clay has certainly added momentum to help BimmerWorld close out the season on a high note. The team has made a huge leap forward in competitiveness, and Clay wants to end the year in style. "I had higher expectations than having our three drivers in the top 10 in points coming into this year; we're hungry for a championship, but winning two of the last three races will go a long way as a consolation prize."

With the cars carrying added support from sponsor GearWrench for the Road Atlanta finale, Clay's says his BMW E90 team is gaining strength at just the right time. "I was excited to work with them through the full season, and the increase in their support is certainly welcome. It is a valuable partnership to the team and one that not only helps the racing effort but helps the guys on the team who are able to have boxes full of GearWrench tools to make their jobs easier."

For Seth Thomas, driver of the #38 BimmerWorld/GearWrench BMW, the growth of GearWrench's participation is a sign of bigger and better things to come. "I think GearWrench stepping up their support of BimmerWorld is just perfect - it’s a great way to end a great year. They have helped the BimmerWorld crew make our cars front runners and our E90's always show up at the track ready to go because of them."

ALTON, Va. – There’s nothing like a little drama at the end of the race season. Automatic Racing co-drivers Jep Thornton and Jeff Segal clinched their first KONI Challenge championship last year at Virginia International Raceway, and they’re hoping for a repeat at this weekend’s season finale.

Thornton and Segal, who drive the No. 09 Automatic Racing Imported Car Store/Rogue Engineering/LandAir/Engine Music Studios BMW M3, were well on their way to winning their second consecutive championship this year. They posted a top-five finish in the first eight rounds of the season, giving them a healthy points lead, but a crash at New Jersey dropped them to sixth in the points.

Never ones to give up easily, Thornton and Segal earned valuable points two weeks ago at Miller Motorsports Park. The KONI Challenge season wraps up this weekend at VIR with a six-hour endurance race, and six drivers are all in close contention for the driver championship in the Grand Sport class.

Thornton is optimistic about this weekend’s race. “The good news is that the BMWs perform better than the Mustangs, so if we can keep the car running all six hours we should be in good shape,” he says. “It’s going to be a great weekend no matter what. I like all four of these guys we’re up against. Whoever wins it, I’ll be happy for them.”

“The tough thing about this weekend is the length of the race,” added Segal. “I’m looking forward to it, but we’ve got a ton of work to do if we’re going to win the championship. We always have a good car at VIR, though.”

VIR is the home track for Automatic Racing’s Rob Finlay. He and co-driver Steve Cameron will have a crowd of friends and family cheering them on as they aim for the win in the No. 99 Mobile-Shop.com BMW M3.

Charlie Putman and Charles Espenlaub will share the No. 91 Automatic Racing BMW M3, and they already have plenty of laps around the 3.27-mile VIR circuit. “We tested at VIR earlier this year, and we ran there with World Challenge,” said Putman. “We’ve got to fly in at the last minute because we’re at Road Atlanta this weekend, too. We’ll only get to do one practice before the race, but we feel good about it because we’ve run there recently and the car has been coming off the trailer in great shape.”

Automatic Racing will have a fourth BMW M3 in the race this weekend: the No. 90 will be piloted by Derek Whitis and Tom Long. The ST-class regulars raced an M3 in the GS class at Barber Motorsports Park, where they put in a strong run. Long has plenty of laps in an Automatic BMW after a very successful season with the team last year, and Whitis is a longtime friend of the team.

The six-hour KONI Challenge Grand Sport finale begins at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 5. Keep up with Automatic Racing’s season finale and busy off-season plans online at www.AutomaticRacing.com.

TOOELE, Utah – The KONI Challenge race at Miller Motorsports Park had some challenges and disappointment for Automatic Racing, but Sunday’s race was a chance to show off how much talent is on the team.

Charlie Putman and Charles Espenlaub led the charge this weekend in the No. 91 Automatic Racing BMW M3. Putman qualified a solid seventh, the quickest of the Automatic drivers. He and Espenlaub kept the car near the front during the race, and with ten minutes remaining Espenlaub was in second place. The duo’s hopes for a podium finish were dashed when contact from another car took the No. 91 M3 out of the race with the checkered flag just minutes away.

“The late-race yellow closed up the field, and the worst happened,” said Putman. “Our car was super, and we knew we had a shot at doing well. It was really a good weekend; those racing things just happen. We have to judge the weekend by our performance, not by our results, and the performance was great this weekend, especially by the crew.”

Championship defenders Jep Thornton and Jeff Segal had better luck in the No. 09 Imported Car Store/Rogue Engineering/LandAir/Engine Music Studios BMW M3. Thornton qualified 12th but quickly moved into the top 10 during the opening laps of the race, and after Segal took over he put down fast laps to cross the finish line in eighth.

The race at Miller was far better than the previous round at New Jersey, where Thornton and Segal slipped out of the championship lead after a crash. The other championship challengers finished well at Miller, also, and now the No. 09 drivers are in a tight battle for the title with four other drivers.

“In my stint at the beginning we were running almost identical to how the race ended,” said Thornton. “All of us in contention for the championship finished near each other, so the points are even closer heading into our last race. This is the best championship race since 2004.”

“I’m disappointed with the finish, and this is really going to make things interesting at the season finale in two weeks,” said Segal, who headed for Las Vegas after the race in search of some better luck.

Rob Finlay had a new co-driver in the No. 99 Mobile-Shop.com BMW M3. Steve Cameron was under the weather this weekend, so his nephew Dane Cameron stepped in as a substitute. It marked the young talent’s KONI Challenge debut, and he proved that racing runs in the family by turning competitive times despite having never driven the car before. Sadly, the team’s day ended early because of mechanical woes.

“Dane had never driven the car and he did a great job,” said Finlay, adding that Cameron is a part of the Finlay Motorsports Driver Development Program. “He put in some really fast laps and we got to showcase his performance. We had rotten luck again, and are hoping for better results at VIR.”

The season finale will be a six-hour enduro at Virginia International Raceway on Saturday, October 4, where Thornton and Segal hope to give Automatic Racing another championship. Keep up with the team online at www.AutomaticRacing.com.