Corvette Magazine

#11 Powell Corvette in close pursuit. In the back of the field the #08 and #30 Corvette were slicing through the field. Reese Cox had to withdraw his #98 MTI Corvette as he was struck with bad luck after the first lap with a bad engine. At the end of the first hour, a thirty-minute rain shower mixed up the field as they all pitted for gas and rain tires. After 24 laps the #30 Powell Corvette pulled off course with an engine problem and was withdrawn from the race. By the end of the second hour the rain had stopped and the #08 was chasing the Viper for the lead on dry tires. John Heinricy was running a close third in his Phoenix Corvette, five seconds behind the leaders. The Powell #11 Corvette was experiencing some mechanical problems, but was hanging on to a strong fourth place position. During the second hour, Heinricy experienced problems with his rear suspension and had to pit for repairs. The crew discovered a broken suspension bolt on their new racecar and lost several laps during the repair. This moved #11 Powell Corvette up into third place.
Up front, a controversy arose when the Viper was black flagged for having too many people over the pit wall. The team was told to bring the #50 Viper in for a stop and go penalty. Just as the Viper was entering the pit road a full course caution flag was flown for an accident on course. When the yellow is thrown, the pit land is immediately closed. Stop and go penalties are supposed to be taken under the green flag. Instead of waving the Viper back on course, the officials let him take his stop and go. This shortened a normal 40 seconds stop and go penalty to a short 11 seconds. This turned out to be a critical