Mitchum's March to the Front at Three Rivers Stalled by Early Mechanical Troubles

by Mitchum Motorsports VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (August 16, 2010) – Ted Anthony, Jr and Joey Atterbury were making their way through the field at Three Rivers in their #6.2 Mitchum Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, on their way to a top finish in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, when the motor expired, ending their hopes for another strong finish.

Anthony, Jr started the race for Mitchum Motorsports, after having qualified the car 15th, and quickly got to work moving forward. Avoiding a chaotic opening lap and taking advantage of a setup change, Anthony, Jr worked his way up to 8th position in a mere18 laps, only ten of which were under green flag conditions. French television followed the aggressive move to the front as the flat black and yellow Riley Technologies GS.R Camaro was winning over the French-Canadian fans.

"We struggled a bit having to learn the track and find the right setup in practice and qualifying so we decided to make a significant change before the race. It is always a bit of a risk because if you get it wrong there is nothing you can do about it once the green flag drops" said Anthony. "I trust the crew, and they made the right call as the changes made a huge difference. I was able to get the power down and pick up quite a few spots before the motor let go. I am really disappointed we didn't get thefinish we were on pace for but hats off to Chris (Mitchum) and the entire crew for sticking with it and getting the car right for the race."

Team principle Chris Mitchum echoed Anthony's sentiments. "The team was spot on all day and with the truncated schedule we had to work on the car right up to the race to find the best setup. Judging by Ted's drive through the field, our persistence paid off" said Mitchum. "We were not only focused on car setup, but also working to get the drivers acclimated. Joey and Ted are very talented drivers and are growing in our development system every race. It didn't take long for them to get comfortable on the track where they kept the car clean, increased pace and provided valuable feedback. I am pleased with the performance of the drivers and team, but to say I am disappointed by our results would be an understatement – we really had a strong package for the race."

"This is a development year and our objectives are to develop our drivers and find any weak points (on the car) that could hurt our championship run next year. We have accomplished a lot in our first season back with GRAND-AM but we are far from satisfied", Mitchum added.

Atterbury had high hopes watching Anthony Jr. run up through the field. "I was excited to get back into a competitive car and felt robbed when the engine let us down. We can at least take away the fact that we had the performance to run up front again and I can't wait for Miller", noted Atterbury.

Mitchum went on to say, "This character building year will serve us well next season, but it is difficult to see how hard the team has worked to get the most performance possible without any real reward for it. We have an even higher level of determination now and I would look for this team to perform stronger than ever at Miller."

The #6.2 Camaro is already back in the team shop in Virginia Beach and will be prepped and tested prior to the final round of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge to be contested September 11th at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, UT.