For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LindaKMansfield@cs.com
 
 
 
 
Gleason and Marks Finish Tenth 
Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park
 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., July 19 - Chris Gleason of Johnstown, Pa. and his 
co-driver, Justin Marks of Chico, Calif., placed tenth in Sunday's Legacy Credit 
Union 200 KONI Challenge race at Barber Motorsports Park despite handling 
problems throughout the two-and-one-half-hour event.
 
Gleason qualified eighth in the 19-car field with their Turner Motorsport 
BMW M3 Coupe No. 97, which is sponsored in part by Gleason Financial.  His 
fastest lap during qualifying was timed in 1:39.589 for the 2.3-mile, 16-turn 
road course for an average speed of 83.141 miles per hour. 
 
He got a good start in the race, moving up to seventh on lap two after 
Glenn Bocchino spun his BMW on the first lap while in fourth place. Gleason 
stayed in seventh place until Scott Russell got around him on lap 10, posting 
the fastest lap of his stint on lap three with a 1:39.750 (83.007 mph). 
 
Gleason remained in eighth place until lap 14 when Ray Mason wiggled by to 
push him to ninth.  He regained eighth place on lap 22, but he slipped to 
12th on lap 26.  He had dropped a couple more spots by lap 33, right before 
the one-hour mark, but he advanced to 13th when Bryan Ortiz dropped back on 
lap 39, six minutes after the one-hour mark.
 
Some of the teams ahead of his effort chose to make their first pit stops 
at that point, and Gleason was back in ninth by lap 43.  One lap later he was 
in eighth again, but the entry dropped to 15th, one lap down, after its 
driver change with about one hour and 19 minutes completed. 
 
Marks did his best to regain the lost time, and the team's perseverance was 
rewarded when he cracked back into the top 10 one minute before the 
two-hour mark.  But with no full-course cautions to help close up the field, Marks 
took the checkered flag in tenth 33 minutes later.
 
Drivers of Mustangs took all three podium positions, with James Gue and 
Bret Seafuse on the top step.  Gleason and Marks' sister Turner Motorsport BMW, 
which was driven by Matt Bell and Boris Said on Sunday, placed fifth. 
 
Gleason's usual co-driver, Joey Hand of Sacramento, Calif., had a previous 
commitment to race in another series elsewhere this weekend.
 
The race will be broadcast on SPEED at noon Eastern time this coming 
Saturday, July 25.  
 
The next event is the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres in Trois-Rivieres, 
Quebec Aug. 14-16. The last time Gleason raced there he won with co-driver Bill 
Auberlen, who finished 0.267 of a second ahead of Andy Lally after a 
thrilling battle that day, Aug. 19, 2007. Gleason called that victory "one of the 
most magical moments of my life," and he'd love to duplicate those results 
there next month.
 
For the rest of the schedule and additional information, see 
turnermotorsport.com, grand-am.com/koni, konisportscarchallenge.com, gleasoninc.com and 
speedtv.com.
 
Gleason's post-race quote follows:
 
"The car rolled off the trailer and it seemed to be a tenth-place car no 
matter what we did to it. The team worked really hard; we changed the springs 
and shocks and a lot of other things, but we were never able to get the car 
to where it worked well this weekend.  It had a big push, and we just chased 
the set-up the whole time. 
 
"Our one-stop strategy was very good. The fuel warning light came on and we 
went to the reserve fuel and we even did one extra lap trying to stretch it 
out before Justin got in.  That strategy worked well, but the car just did 
things you wouldn't expect it to do all race.  It was a handful.  Our sister 
car did a little better; it was fifth.  But we got down and we just 
couldn't dig ourselves out of the hole.
 
"Now we go to Trois-Rivieres.  I'll be driving with Justin again, and I'm 
really looking forward to it.  I like it there, and I hope we'll do well."