Hyper Sport nets points title at VIR

ALTON — Even after a spin midway through the Grand Sport version of the KONI Challenge Bosch Twin Six Hours event sent the steering on their Ford Mustang out of sync, Hyper Sport teammates Joe Foster and Scott Maxwell battled their way to a fifth-place finish and, more importantly, clung to the one-point lead they had going into the race to edge out Brett Seafuse and James Gue for the 2008 driver points championship.

“It was obviously a very crazy race,” Maxwell said. “Lots of excitement on the track. We had a very good car in the beginning. Unfortunately, we had some contact with a car not involved in the championship in about the middle of the race and the definitely affected the steering of the car with the wheel turned to nine o’clock instead of 12 o’clock. I just want to thank Scott for driving the wheels off the car.”

Rehagen Racing finished first and second in the race, with the team of Mike Canney, Hugh Plumb and Matt Plumb finishing just ahead of Jack Roush Jr. and Dean Martin.

“At the start, I actually got hit from behind and drove off into the track,” Hugh Plumb said. “It knocked a rocker arm off and I had to come in the pits a lap later. After that I just had to keep my head down and catch the field.”

The winning team had a bad pit stop late in the race, but were able to pull it out.

“We came out of the pits in ninth, and the field looked like it was off in the horizon,” Hugh Plumb said. “They saved some equipment though, and we got to the front. “

In the closing laps, it came to a battle between Rehagen teammates Hugh Plumb and Dean Martin.

“I made a mistake there at the end,” Hugh Plumb said. “I hit my teammate and got around him. That is like kicking your little sister. I wouldn’t blame Dean for kicking me in the pants there at the end, but he was very respectable and we just stayed up there and Rehagen cars were one and two at the end of the season.”

Martin wasn’t angry with the bump-and-run.

“I knew Hugh was going to drive it deep,” Martin said. “I knew when he hit he had just went too deep. He hit me just dead square and sent me shooting through the corner. He got by, and I was thinking ‘Just don’t let Andy by. ‘ I was thinking ‘You bastard, you left me in the clutches of Andy Lally.‘ I wish it could have been us, but I’m glad the team won.”

The Rehagen teams beat out the TRG Porsche driven by Andy Lally, Peter Ludwig and Andy Schroeder that finished third. Another TRG team, piloted by Duncan Ende and Spencer Pumpelly, finished fourth and the Hyper Sport team finished fifth.

The Hyper Sport team celebrates the first championship in the history of the program.

“It is an amazing thing,” Foster said. “This has never happened before for this team. I know our owner, Patrick Dempsey who is on set today at Grey’s Anatomy, has been following all day. It is a culmination of a lot of hard work by so many people. Not only me, but the people on the team and the families who deal with us being gone all the time.”

Maxwell celebrates his third championship as a driver.

“It means a lot,” Maxwell said. “We won it in 2003 and 2005, but this has been a cooperative effort. I feel good for Joe though. Nobody works harder than Joe. He deserves this.”