For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
 
 
 
 
Gleason and Hand Finish Fourth 
At Mid-Ohio on Saturday
 
LEXINGTON, Ohio, June 20 - When Chris Gleason and Joey Hand last raced 
together at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Hand left in an ambulance after one 
of the most horrific accidents in Grand-Am history.  Although he escaped 
serious injury, the BMW they shared that day flipped so many times in that 2006 
crash that it became a You-Tube sensation among race fans (see 
youtube.com/watch?v=fRC3rv1ZHj4).
 
Things definitely went better for the pair this year, as Gleason, of 
Johnstown, Pa., and Hand, of Sacramento, Calif., finished fourth with their Turner 
Motorsport BMW M3 Coupe No. 97 in Saturday's KONI Challenge race at 
Mid-Ohio.  
 
Their car is sponsored in part of Gleason Financial. 
 
Gleason went into Saturday's race third in the point standings with 146 
points to leader Ken Wilden's 169.  Wilden and his co-driver, Dean Martin, won 
on Saturday, but with the strong fourth-place finish Gleason remains one of 
the top contenders for the season championship.
 
Gleason qualified sixth on Saturday morning with a time of 1:34.920 for the 
demanding, 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course, just 1.244 seconds off the time 
Matt Bell recorded in a sister Turner Motorsport BMW to win the pole for 
the race, part of the EMCO Gears Classic.
 
Gleason started the event and drove for about an hour and 15 minutes in the 
two-and-one-half-hour race, held under hot weather conditions.  He got up 
to fourth twice, once on lap two and again on laps 43 and 44. He spent most 
of his stint in sixth position, running between two Ford Mustang GTs driven 
by Jack Roush Jr. and Phil Lasco.  
 
Gleason and Hand's BMW was strong all day.  Gleason was able to 
consistently better his lap times during most of his stint as he continued to gain 
speed.  Hand did the same, and even set the second-fastest lap of the race on 
the very last lap, lap 94.
 
There were no full-course cautions in the race, which resulted in a brutal 
contest with no breaks for the drivers and a spread-out field.  Gleason 
worked hard to maintain sixth throughout most of his time behind the wheel, 
finally falling to seventh on lap 35 when Duncan Ende got by him.  Ende had the 
best lap of the race at that point.
 
Gleason had regained sixth before the Turner Motorsport crew brought him in 
for the driver change, and had actually risen to fourth again due to 
others' pit stops before Hand took over on lap 46.  
 
The entry dropped to eighth due to the driver change but Hand was back in 
sixth place by lap 50 and fifth on lap 57. He moved up to fourth on lap 78 
and third by lap 80 with 12 minutes remaining in the event.  He was still 
third until three minutes to go when he pitted for a splash of fuel.  That 
allowed Spencer Pumpelly, who set the fastest lap of the race, to pass him and 
nail down the final podium position, pushing Gleason and Hand to fourth.
 
Martin and Wilden won in a Mustang over another Mustang piloted by James 
Gue and Bret Seafuse.  Ende and Pumpelly were third in their Porsche, while 
the two Turner Motorsport BMWs of Gleason and Hand and Bell and Bill Auberlen 
rounded out the top five. 
 
The race will be broadcast on SPEED at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, 
June 28. 
 
The next event is July 17-19 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala. 
 It will be shown at noon Eastern time July 25 on SPEED.
 
For the rest of the schedule and additional information, see 
turnermotorsport.com, grand-am.com/koni, konisportscarchallenge.com, gleasoninc.com and 
speedtv.com.
 
Gleason's post-race quote follows:
 
"There were no full-course yellows, which made it hard to have good race 
strategy.  
 
"I started and was in the car for about an hour and 15 minutes until the 
fuel warning light came on. Then we pitted, but without a yellow there wasn't 
much room for strategy.
 
"Once the pit stops were done we were going to try to do it on a one-stop 
strategy, but we came out a few laps short.  Joey was in third, but finally 
the fuel warning came on with three laps to go, so he came in for a splash 
and go and we fell to fourth.   We all agreed that we had to come in; there 
was no question about it really.
 
"There was a nice crowd on hand and it was a nice day, but the cars got 
spread out and there wasn't much action.  But our car was really fun to drive. 
I did my personal best lap of the weekend during the race itself, so I was 
pleased with that.  
 
"Joey did all he could and the Turner Motorsport crew prepared a great car. 
We all did the best we could, and we're glad to have another strong finish. 
Wilden finished ahead of us today but at least we're hanging in there.  
They can have trouble sometime too, and we need to be ready to cash in when 
they do."