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September 3rd Texas Motorspeedway, Ft. Worth , TX Women’s Global GT Series ALMS, TransAm, Speedvision World Challenge and Star Mazda also ran. |
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Belinda Endress took her first ever pole position at the brand new road course of Texas Motorspeedway. She ran a hard 2nd for the 45 min. race, pulling well ahead of the field. Belinda relentlessly hounded Sonja Bayer for the lead, till her drive belt broke 2 laps before the finish, resulting in a disappointing DNF. Some of Belinda’s public relations that week were
at the Speed Zone in Dallas as well as Cook's Children’s Hospital
where
she and several other WGGTS drivers signed hero cards, took photos, and
talked racing. If that wasn’t enough to brighten the children’s day,
they even got to experience sitting in a real race car that was provided
by Panoz.
“Post race interview with Belinda Endress” “Well, I can’t complain about qualifying this time. I did it twice in a row. They tossed out the first qualifying session because of a slight change on the track, it was a safety issue. I didn’t like it but I agreed with it. As far as the start, well, Sonja really had a jump on me. After the race, I found out a few things about starting, so I won’t let it happen again. The first 10 minutes of the race, I wanted to pull as far in front of the rest of the field possible, so I didn’t make any real aggressive moves. Then the fun began. It was good tight, clean racing. Sonja drove a strong race and didn’t make any significant mistakes. I knew we were coming down to the wire and I had to do something, then with 2 laps to go, coming out of NASCAR 4 the belt broke, pulling the wheel really hard to the right. I knew right away what it was and there was no choice but to shut it down. I asked the Mark, the crew manager, could I have?, and before I even finished, he knew what I was going to ask, and he said you would have seized the motor within ½ a lap. Hey, we were there, this was my best race ever. It’s really coming together in my head. I’m ready for Atlanta.
My reward was the applause and cheers I got from the corner workers on my tow back to the pits. They see it all, and when they say you put on one heck of a show, you put on one heck of a show. Also, I’d like to mention a word of thanks to the other driver that commended me on such a great performance. It truly means a lot to me coming from the talent and experience that these women have. Also, I was very pleased at the way the folks in Texas ran the show. They built a wonderful road course and implemented solid safety ethics, and I look forward to running there again next year. Just a quick comment about the heat. Wow, it was hot! I’ve been a lot of places, and don’t ever remember being in heat like that. I’m glad I endured it so well. Here’s my little secret. Jump in the shower with your suit on and then get in the car. Worked for me. When you want to perform well, you lose all inhibition. We’ll get em at Atlanta.”
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