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SCCA: Borcheller Scores Third Straight Win With Watkins Glen Victory

23 August 1998

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - Terry Borcheller, of Phoenix, Ariz., cruised flag-to-flag to take the World Challenge T1 Class victory at Watkins Glen, scoring his third-straight series win with a 2.043-second margin over Bobby Archer, while Neil Hannemann claimed the final podium position.

In the T2 Class, Pierre Kleinubing made a last-lap pass to take the checkered over Lance Stewart, but was penalized for "reckless and dangerous driving." Kleinubing was given a two-second penalty, giving the win to Stewart with Kleinubing's teammate Michael Galati finishing third.

From the green flag, Borcheller, in the No. 56 Home Improvement/Dura/Saleen Mustang had the T1 field covered, building a lead of over five seconds when the only caution of the 20-lap, 75.4-mile race came out on lap 17, bunching the field and setting up a two-lap shootout.

When the field took the green on the restart, Archer, in the No. 3 Viper Speed Dodge Viper, made his move on Borcheller and held the lead through the first three turns of the 11-turn, 3.77-mile circuit, but Borcheller was able to retake the top spot, out-muscling Archer as the pair went to the "inner-loop."

"On the restart, I didn't know what the right thing to do was," said Borcheller. "Bobby (Archer) really got the jump so he was a little quicker into turn one -- he really had a great start on me. As we went up into the esses there was a lot of oil dry on the track and I got by as he had to back off."

In the T2 Class, a race-long battle between Kleinubing, in the No. 44 RealTime Racing/Comptech Acura Integra R, Galati, in the No. 44 Realtime Racing/CompTech Integra R and Stewart, in the No. 34 DC Sports Integra R, came down to a two-laps-to-go shootout, and Galati seemed to have the upper hand as he held the lead with one to go.

As the trio approached turn one, in mixed-class traffic, Galati and Ron Johnson, in the No. 65 Home Improvement/Dura/Saleen Mustang, made contact, sending Johnson off track and putting Kleinubing in the T2 lead with Stewart in second. Stewart then passed for the lead, only to be re-passed after getting hit by Kleinubing.

After eight races, Borcheller leads the T1 Class Drivers' Championship standings with 214, followed by Johnson, 180; Peter Cunningham, 178; Hannemann, 149; and Archer, 121. In the T2 Class, Stewart leads with 212 points, followed by Galati, 208; Kleinubing, 194; Will Turner, 194; and Hugh Plumb, 144.