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Archive > October 2008Muniz
Ends Season Strong Matching His Best Finish,
Skerlong Claims 5th in Championship
Petit Le Mans
October 4, 2008
Braselton, GAAlthough Carl Skerlong was
unable to compete this weekend due to an injury
in Tuesdays testing session, the final race
weekend of 2008 in the Atlantic Championship
looked to be a promising one for his teammate,
Frankie Muniz. After continuing to improve all
season, Frankie amazed everyone again in
Fridays race, by going one step further and
obtaining not only the best qualifying result of
his career, but also matching his career best
finish.
Frankie had a great start in the race, holding
onto his well-earned 10th place qualifying spot,
only two positions down from championship
competitor, Greg Mansell. He raced hard until a
small mistake caused him to drop his tires off
track in turn 7, costing him three important
positions. He stayed in it though, fighting to
gain those positions back. With less than
15minutes to remaining in the seasons final
race, J.R. Hildebrand caused a full course
caution by going off in turn 1, moving Frankie up
to 12th place. As soon as the race resumed,
another big incident happened at the front of the
pack, taking out Dane Cameron and championship
contender, Jonathan Summerton. The incident moved
Frankie up to 9th, where he finished the race
under a yellow flag conciliations.
Although Carl Skerlong was unable to compete
this weekend, he was still able to finish in a
well-deserved 5th place in the championship and
earned the reputation of the driver to
beat. Frankie finished 11th in the
championship, only three points away from his
goal of tenth. Although he was unable to claim a
top ten, he successfully finished every lap of
every race this season, which was a huge
accomplishment and says a lot about his
capabilities as a driver. Needless to say, the
2008 season was a success for the entire PCM/US
RaceTronics Atlantic team.
Frankie Muniz #41 PCM/Mazda/Swift/Cooper Tires
Warm-up
Finished Position 13th
Time 1:17.432
Speed 118.091
Race
Finished Position 9th
Time 1:16.433
Speed 119.634
Frankie on the race: Overall, Im
extremely happy with this season. PCM really
helped me progress throughout the year, and for
that I am very thankful. The fact that I can say
Im slightly disappointed with a 9th place
finish says a lot about how far Ive come.
Im disappointed I didnt make the top
ten in the championship because I know I could
have done it. I made a mistake in the race today
on my own merit by going off in turn 7, allowing
three cars to pass me. I want to thank the whole
team at PCM for everything theyve done for
me this season. Im so proud to say that I
have improved immensely as a driver after this
year. Ive learned so much that I will take
with me throughout my entire racing career.
Shane Seneviratne, Team Manager: It was
a difficult race weekend, not having Carl able to
compete. We were looking forward to challenging
others in the championship fight. It wasnt
the best way to finish the year for Carl, but he
is an awesome driver who has impressed a lot of
people in the paddock this season. I want to
thank Burke Harrison for giving Carl an awesome
car all year. Im proud to say that Carl has
established himself as the driver to
beat. Frankie made steady progress all year
long. Its really nice that he was able to
end the year with his best finish of the season
here at Road Atlanta. I want to thank Lee Bentham
and Tim Lewis for all their hard work in helping
bring Frankie up to speed. Its been a
pleasure working with Tyler Tadevic this year.
Hell always be my best friend in the
paddock. I cant say enough good things
about the crew at PCM. This is the best group of
people I have ever worked with in my racing
career. Im proud to say that our team has
some of the best chemistry among us that
Ive ever seen.
Tyler Tadevic, Team Owner: All I can say
is thank you to everyone. Thank you to Joel and
Carl Skerlong, thank you to Frankie Muniz and to
Shane and US RaceTronics, and thank you to all
our crew members. Everyone made a lot of
sacrifices for us to get through this season and
to get where we are now. Im so glad to have
2008 in the books, and Im looking forward
to 2009.
Visit the Pacific Coast Motorsports website at
www.pcmracing.com
Muniz Turns Out Best Qualifying Result
of Career in Season Closer at Road Atlanta
Petit Le Mans
October 2, 2008
Frankie Muniz #41 PCM/Mazda/Swift/Cooper Tires
Qualifying 1
Finished Position 12th
Time 1:16.429
Speed 119.640
Qualifying 2
Finished Position 10th
Time 1:14.950
Speed 122.075
Frankie on qualifying: I am extremely
happy with my qualifying result this weekend. We
found so much time in the second session on our
laps. My time was only .7 off of the leader,
which is really exciting. Qualifying tenth today
was my best qualifying ever, and it just feels so
good to be able to do that at the last race. Now
I'm just looking for my tenth place finish in the
championship. I want to thank everyone at PCM for
the awesome car this weekend and also for doing a
fantastic job all season. Im really looking
forward to the race tomorrow after having a great
run like this today.
Visit the Pacific Coast Motorsports website at
www.pcmracing.com
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