News
5 OCTOBER 2008
SUNSET HILLS WINERY MUSTANG WINS SEASON-FINALE AT VIR WITH CANNEY, PLUMB AND PLUMB
(5 October, 2008)— Mike Canney,
Hugh Plumb, and Matt Plumb combined to bring a maiden
Grand-Am KONI Challenge race victory for the No. 60
Sunset Hills Vineyard Ford Mustang FR500C at Virginia
International Raceway on Sunday in the final race of
the 2008 KONI Challenge season.
Hugh opened the race from fifth on the grid, but his
strong qualifying effort was soon set aside as contact
from another car on the opening lap sent him to the
pits for repairs. He returned to action last in the
pack but moved steadily forward to take the lead before
turning the car over to Canney.
Running in the same state as sponsor Sunset Hills Winery,
Canney kept the No. 60 in the lead pack through his
middle stint despite some slick conditions before turning
the car over to Matt Plumb. The first-time Mustang
racer made it look like he’d spent years in the
machine as he roared to the front, establishing a ten-second
lead and running out front for a race-high 44 laps
before turning the car back over to his brother Hugh
for the final leg of the race.
Plumb, who scored a win with his brother Matt in the
2006 ST edition of the VIR race and then took second
in the 2007 GS VIR race, once again showed his VIR
strength as he fought to the front and battled with
the sister Rehagen Racing entry of Dean Martin in the
closing laps. After taking the lead, the KONI season
had one final drama as a blown motor from one of the
championship contenders caused a yellow flag to clean
the track, setting up a green-white-checkered finish
as Plumb took the second-closest victory in KONI Challenge
history with his .208-seconds win after six hours of
hard fought racing.
“This is my first win in this series, so it’s
really exciting, especially to do it like we did today,” said
Canney. “Our crew chief Quinn Conda had a great
set-up on the Mustang and the car handled really well
during my stint. I’m happy to get a 1-2 finish
for Rehagen Racing. It’s an exciting way
to finish this season off and it’s also a great
way to get things going for next year. I’ve learned
a lot this year, so I’m thrilled to end the season
on a high note like this!”
“This is an amazing day for the Sunset Hills
Vineyard car, we’ve had a run of bad luck this
season but we finally did it and got the win today,” said
Hugh Plumb. “I thought that there was going to
be a huge pile up with how slippery the track was on
the last two laps. I had a really big battle with Dean
(Martin) going, and it was great to come out of that
on top and have Rehagen Racing finish 1-2. After I
got hit on the first lap I had to take an extra pit
stop to fix the damage and then I just had to put my
head down, be consistent, and catch the field. But
the car was great, and we just kept moving forward
all day. This is a great result, and I’m happy
to be able to share it with Mike and Matt.”
“I’m just happy the team waited until I
got involved to win a race!” joked Matt Plumb
from the victory rostrum. “A big thanks to (crew
chief) Quinn Conda and to everyone at Rehagen Racing.
The car was great today. Even though I was up front,
I just tried to save the brakes as much as possible,
and Hugh did the rest of the work to get back to the
front and stay there to the finish. It was a nail biter
to have the green-white-checker like that to finish
the race, a lot more exciting than I was hoping for.
But Hugh just stayed cool and did a great job.”
Additional information available: www.mcanney.com, www.hughplumb.com and
www.plumbracing.com
ABOUT SUNSET HILLS VINEYARD:
Sunset Hills Vineyard produces high-quality Bordeaux style wines, recently winning a gold and two silver medals in the 2008 Eastern Seaboard Wine Competition. Located at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, our soil and climate conditions are well suited for producing outstanding wines. 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: www.sunsethillsvineyard.com