POLESITTER LEE WINS VOLKSWAGEN JETTA TDI CUP RACE AT AUTOBAHN COUNTRY
CLUB
Second-place Megenbier maintains the Championship lead and earns the
right to race in Germany
Joliet, IL (July 26, 2009) -- The Autobahn Country Club's 21 turns
provided the perfect setting for some of the closest racing action that
the SCCA Pro Racing Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup has seen all season long. In
the end, it was the hunter versus the hunted with the series points
leader playing the former to the eventual first-time winner, Andy Lee.
Polesitter, Lee of Maricopa, Arizona held strong in his position for a
majority of the race despite constant pursuit from various drivers who
played leapfrog with second place. In the end, Lee faced extreme pressure
from series points leader Megenbier who was poised to make a move when a
full course caution came out with less than five minutes remaining in the
race. The #15 car of Theresa Condict made hard contact with the tire
barrier in turn one, forcing the stewards to display the yellow flag.
Because the limited time left in the race, Andy Lee cruised under yellow,
taking the checkered flag ahead of Megenbier and Mark Pombo who rounded
out the podium. Once he reached victory lane, Lee proceeded to climb on
his car's roof and do a victory dance to celebrate his first win in
two seasons of competition in the series. The victory moves him into
second position in the Championship standings behind Megenbier who holds
a 24-point lead.
"Today was quite the battle," Lee said. "I made some mistakes
early in the race, but fortunately I was able to hang on and get into a
rhythm. Timmy (Megenbier) was all over me late in the race, and he was
trying everything under the sun to force me to make mistakes including
flashing his lights and turning on his windshield wipers. Fortunately, it
wasn't working. When the caution came out, I thought that they might
give us one more lap, but when I saw the checked flag, it was the best
feeling in the world. It's really rewarding to get this win after a
season and half in this series."
Despite coming in second, Megenbier was his usual smiling self, as he
increased his Championship lead and won a much larger prize of the
opportunity to compete in the Jetta TDI Cup's sister series in
Germany, the Polo Cup. The Melrose Park, Illinois native receives this
prize as a result of being the points leader at the midway point of the
season. He will now leave for Germany in three days and travel to
Oschersleben to compete against European drivers in the Volkswagen spec
series Aug. 2.
"Andy (Lee) and I were running away from the rest of the field, and I
desperately wanted to try to get by him, but I wasn't willing to do
anything that would risk taking either one of us out of the race,"
Megenbier said. "Unfortunately for me, the yellow came out, and I
never had a chance to try to make a clean pass. I'll definitely take
second because it means that I'm going to be going to Germany to race
next weekend in the Polo Cup. It's a great opportunity, and I
can't wait to see how I stack up against the European competition.
It's been a great weekend for me since I had so many family members
and friends here at my home track cheering me on. It was really rewarding
to be able to stand up on the podium and hear their cheers."
Three guest drivers joined the series for the race at Autobahn, with
Chicago-area Volkswagen dealer Richard Fisher claiming the top finishing
position of ninth. Extreme skier and TV personality Glen Plake and
journalist Jeff Olson placed 24th and 25th respectively.
"I've had plenty of racing experiences, but I have to say that
this is one of the most fun series that I've competed in," Fisher
said. "What's even more amazing is that these cars are every bit
as fast as many of the other series that were competing here this
weekend, and they're nearly identical to the production model Jetta
TDI's. What makes this even more remarkable is that they're
getting nearly 25 miles per gallon."
The top five drivers in the Championship points standings are: 1-Timmy
Megenbier (188), 2-Andy Lee (164), 3-Joey Atterbury (153), 4-Jake
Thompson (141) and 5-Taylor Broekemeier (115). The Volkswagen Jetta TDI
Cup series returns to action Aug. 14-15 at Road America in Elkhart Lake,
Wisconsin for Round 6 of the 10-round season.
-credit: volkswagen
