Another Tough Day for the USRT Team

The US RaceTronics squad suffered yet another heartbreaking race at this year's San Jose Grand Prix at Redback Raceway.  The race started off on a positive note and even though both drivers once again faced unexpected obstacles, they still managed to overcome them and drove a great race.

Carl Skerlong (#24 King Taco/USRT) ripped through the field during the standing start and moved up seven spots to tenth after the first lap.  Skerlong was enjoying his race and it appeared as though a strong finish was achievable, as his lap times began improving with each lap.  All hopes of a top-10 finish would be squashed though after a yellow flag restart when Skerlong and J.R. Hildebrand would come together at Turn #1.  Skerlong's front wing took the brunt of the contact, and while the Seattle, Washington native fought with all his might, the front wing damage would force him into the pits on Lap # 25. The team quickly leaped into action to replace the front wing and send him off again.  Skerlong's day, as unfortunate as it was, showed the determination of this American rookie, and also showed the strength of the USRT team.  Despite it all Carl managed to finish the race in the seventeenth spot.

For teammate David Garza (#4 Axtel/Tecate/Madisa/USRT) his start was also impressive.  Garza had a great start; moving up 3 spots to ninth after the first lap.   After an eventful first couple of laps Garza reported a steering problem on Lap # 5 and quickly brought the car into the pits where the team quickly discovered that the steering brackets had broken leaving the car virtually impossible to drive.  The youngster, who resides fulltime in Monterrey, Mexico, sat in the pits while the team made the repairs. On Lap # 11 Garza reentered the race.  Though Garza had lost all hopes of finishing in the Top 10 spot, he pushed and race throughout the entire session.  He would go on to finish the race in the eighteenth spot.

Carl Skerlong - "I had a great start, I made up at least six spots off the line and we thankfully kept it clean through the first turn.  We knew straight away we had the speed to be a top-five car but after Jonathan (Edwards) got it parked at the hairpin after the re-start I had to try and avoid him and in turn Hildebrand hit me. It wasn't his fault, neither of us really had anywhere to go as it's tight down there. Unfortunately the front-wing was badly damaged and it eventually broke off and I caught the wall at Turn 6 and damaged the rear suspension. I got the car back to the pits, we went a bunch of laps down but we got back out there and after that it was a case of finishing and collecting some points from the weekend. I hope I'm getting all my bad luck out of the way in my rookie season so I can go for the championship next year!"

David Garza -"We had one of the best starts of the year.  We escaped the dangers of the first turn and were in contention for the eight spot when I suddenly felt something hit my legs and the steering wheel got loose on me.  It's a shame because everything was going so well and I wanted a top-5 finish so I could finish the year in the top-10 in points.  Despite it all we are not giving up and as long as there is hope, we are going to fight for a great finsh to the season"

About US RaceTronics: 2007 marks the third year of competition in the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Series for US RaceTronics. Led by former Dorricott Racing Team Manager Shane Seneviratne, US RaceTronics enters the 2007 season with Monterrey Mexico native David Garza and American Carl Skerlong.  US RaceTronics is part of Pacific Coast Motorsports Jr. Team program

For more information on US RaceTronics and its partners, visit www.usracetronics.com.  You can visit David Garza's website at www.david-garza.com and Carl Skerlong's website at www.cskerlong.com

Carl Sk