10-20-11

Alex Job Racing's Cooper MacNeil Wins GT3 Cup at Rennsport

TAVARES, FL, (Oct. 20, 2011) - Alex Job Racing's (AJR) Cooper MacNeil drove the No. 20 WeatherTech/AJR Porsche to a win in the second race at last weekend's Porsche Rennsport Reunion held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

MacNeil, from Hinsdale, Il, qualified his WeatherTech/AJR Porsche second for the first race, in a huge 45-car field.

"Qualifying was not bad, kind of a crazy with how many cars there were," MacNeil said. "It was actually impossible to get a good clean lap in, but we did our best. We tried to make space for a clean lap, but it was hard. I had to go slow around the track without getting passed too much to open up space for a good run. The car was pretty good in qualifying. My fast lap I had to pass a couple cars, but ended up P2.

In the first race, starting from second position on the front row, MacNeil fought traffic to finish second.

"Starting from the front rows is always a good thing. The first race saw two full-course cautions, which made things pretty interesting. The race was super close, but I had a few unlucky issues in traffic. I ended up second, so that was good. I was able to get the fastest lap in the race so that meant that I would start on the pole for Sunday's race, so I was excited."

In the second race, MacNeil started from the pole, based upon having the fastest lap from the first race. The freshman at University of Colorado at Boulder led the 45-minute race flag-to-flag to take the win and the spoils on the weekend for the GT3 Cup competitors.

"Sunday's race also had two full-course cautions. I opened up a good lead after each restart, but the race for the lead was still close. Rich Walton put good pressure on me, but I really concentrated on hitting every apex and making zero mistakes. I led flag-to-flag and won by over a second. It felt really good to get the win for Alex Job Racing in front of such an important crowd. The car was great, as always. I haven't driven on the track for a couple of months and to go to Rennsport and win like I did in front of that audience felt amazing. Special thanks to my dad for the support, as well as WeatherTech and the AJR crew, also thanks to Randy Pobst for the coaching at Laguna."

MacNeil took the winner's spoils, which included a large trophy and a limited-edition Porsche Design wristwatch valued at over $7,000.

Team owner, Alex Job, liked being on the competition end of the big Porsche weekend.

"I went to the last three Rennsport events as a spectator, long time Porsche team owner and fan," Job said. "We got the call a little late to put Cooper in the GT3 Cup race, but we made it work. He did a great job in qualifying and the first race, being patient and taking what was there for a strong second-place finish. In the second race, he just drove a professional race hitting his marks and running about as perfect a race as you can. It was nice to be at the big Porsche event and really racing on the track. It makes that great weekend all the more special, even more so when you win!"

Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV was the world's greatest gathering of Porsche race cars and the drivers that drove them to victory, held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca from Oct. 14 to 16, 2011. Hosted by Porsche Cars North America, it assembled the wide variety of Porsche's most historic racing models from the nimble 550 Spyder of the mid-Fifties through the mighty 917 and 956/962 of the Seventies and Eighties to the highly successful RS Spyder of the last decade. Special tribute was paid to the numerous racing versions of the Porsche 911 and their countless victories on the dawn of what will become another milestone of this iconic sports car. Besides the 385 race cars in the paddock, more than 200 race cars took part in races divided into eight groups for the Saturday and Sunday portion of the event, sanctioned both by the Sports Car Club of America and the Porsche Club of America. An estimated crowd of 45,000 people attended the three-day event.

Alex Job Racing is one of the most successful teams in ALMS history with 39 wins. This record is supported by 46 pole positions and 75 podium finishes. The team has won three championships (GT in 2002, 2003 and 2004) complimented by their two GT class wins at Le Mans. The team also boasts seven Sebring 12 hour wins.

For more information, please contact Kyle Chura at (248) 821-0468 or chura@aol.com. Detailed team info can be viewed at www.alexjobracing.com.