News
21 SEPTEMBER 2008
FIGHTING FIFTH AT MILLER FOR CANNEY AND PLUMB
(21September, 2008)— Mike Canney and Hugh Plumb
returned to top five form in the No. 60 Sunset Hills
Vineyard Ford Mustang FR500C at Miller Motorsports
Park on Sunday as the duo avoided the bad racing luck
that has plagued them in the last two Grand-Am KONI
Challenge race outings. The fifth place finish marked
the fifth top-ten race result for Canney and Plumb
in their first full season competing together.
The SunRichGourmet.com event at Miller was the first
visit to the 4.486-mile track for Canney, who enrolled
in the Performance Driving School at the track earlier
in the week to acquaint himself with all 23 corners
on the circuit from behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang
FR500S, the milder sibling pony car to the FR500C that
he races in the KONI Challenge.
That preparation paid off as Canney started from 16th
on the grid and was fighting for a spot in the top
ten at the middle point of the race before turning
over to co-driver Plumb.
His move up was made difficult on both the start and
a subsequent re-start when a competitor appeared to
work a brake-check at the green flag, and then the
sister team car pulled the same move on a restart,
costing Canney precious momentum at key moments. But
in the end he got the last laugh.
“The car ran well and I had an exciting race
with a group of seven cars for a while, then again
with the two BGB Porsches, so I had a lot of fun mixing
it up,” said Canney. “The car was a little
loose, but that was how we wanted it. Hugh did
a great job during his stint and it was a lot of fun
watching the three team Mustangs racing each other
(finishing 3rd, 5th and 7th) there at the end.”
Plumb was indeed in the thick of a big Ford battle
as he fought to take fifth at the checkered flag, as
there were five Mustangs in the top 10. Plumb was hoping
to return to the Miller podium, but after a strong
showing was pleased to take fifth.
“Even though the car was a bit of a handful,
Mike did a great job to have the car that far up before
I got in it,” said Plumb. “It was a pretty
tough group of guys there in the final few laps but
I was happy to move up to fifth by the end. There are
some guys fighting for the championship so you had
to be mindful of that, but I think I got everything
out of the car that I could. Now we are heading to
VIR, and I’m really looking forward to getting
to tour Sunset Hills Winery before the race weekend.
Mike has experience at VIR, and hopefully we can finish
the year off with another top five or even better.”
The No. 60 Sunset Hills Vineyard machine will be back
in action in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge season-finale
6-hour enduro at VIR on October 5th.
Additional information available: www.mcanney.com
ABOUT SUNSET HILLS VINEYARD:
Sunset Hills Vineyard produces high-quality Bordeaux
style wines, from our 45 acre historic farm in Northern
Virginia. Located at the foothills of the Blue
Ridge Mountains, our soil and climate conditions are
well suited for producing quality wine. We will produce
about 36,000 bottles of wine this year including; Chardonnay,
Viognier, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit
Verdot. Our wines are available at the winery, and
at festivals held in the Middle Atlantic states. For
additional information, please visit: http://www.sunsethillsvineyard.com.
Contact: Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management
media@sundaymanagement.com
(317) 908-2975 Mobile