Herr wins, Cunninghan takes title

While Chip Herr led every lap of the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED Touring Car Finale at Road Atlanta, it was Peter Cunningham that won the 2008 SPEED Touring Car Drivers’ Championship title.
Starting from pole in his Mazdaspeed MAZDA6, Herr rocketed into Turn One from the standing start with the lead firmly in hand.

His teammate, Galati, followed in the Mazda North MAZDA6 and championship contender Kleinubing moved from fourth on the grid into third.

When fourth-place Patrick Lindsey lost the motor in his MAZDA6, Cunningham was promoted to fourth place, putting him in a dead heat with Kleinubing for the Championship, as both drivers would finish the race with 934 points.

Kleinubing broke the tie on lap 17, passing Galati for second. He would be unable to make a charge for the lead, however, as the full-course caution flags came out for the MAZDA6 of Jason Saini, who was stuck in the Turn 10 gravel, following contact with the BimmerWorld BMW 325i of James Clay.

The Championship scenario returned to a tie on the lap 20 restart, when Galati re-passed Kleinubing for second, but only two laps later, Cunningham would take over the Championship point lead by passing the second BimmerWorld BMW 325i of Seth Thomas for fourth. To add to the excitement, Canadian Kuno Wittmer, the third Championship contender, was able to follow Cunningham around Thomas. With four laps remaining, the points were tighter than ever and every position mattered.

“Prior to the full-course yellow, I was resigned to the idea that Pierre had this thing won, but I felt comfortable that I was gonna hang on for second, because Kuno was pretty far back at that point,” Cunningham said. “Then the yellow came out and I cursed in my helmet because I knew Kuno was going to be right on my bumper. I wasn’t really clear if he was going to have something for me but it was clear that he was going to be hungry and want a piece of me. When the restart came out, I had a little bit of a gap on Kuno and then Galati dive-bombed Pierre later in the lap to take second back and then Seth had a problem with his car and I’m thinking, ‘okay, now I’m in the lead but here comes Kuno.'”

Cunningham was right to be worried. On the final lap, Wittmer made a brave move on his own team boss, pulling his Acura TSX alongside Cunningham under braking into Turn 10, attempting to take the Championship for himself. The teammates bumped and slid their Acuras through the corner side-by-side, with Cunningham holding the position as Wittmer struggled to maintain control of his car.

“Kuno put a move on me there in the third to last corner for the position,” recalled Cunningham. “I don’t blame him. If he hadn’t done that I’d have been disappointed in the lad. But I’m glad I was able to come out on the good end of that stick and cross the finish line to take the position.

“If Kuno would have passed me, he would have taken the Championship-that part was clear to me at that moment.”

“I got a good run on him out of the exit of Turn Seven and as we went down the straight he was changing his line trying to break the draft a bit,” Wittmer said of the final lap. “I came down into Turn 10 right on the limit and I got on the brakes so hard the tires were chirping as they were locking up. I was right on the limit. I turned in and closed my eyes, but Peter still had a nose on me so I pulled inside a bit and backed off because I wasn’t going to clean out my boss trying to win a Championship.”

As Herr crossed the finished line 1.204 seconds ahead of Galati and Kleinubing, Cunningham took the checkered flag in fourth in his Acura TSX, winning the 2008 SCCA SPEED Touring Car Drivers’ Championship by four points (939 to 934) over Kleinubing. Wittmer finishes the season third, with 930.