Francis Wins Western States Improved Touring Shootout

Fresno’s Jeff Francis capped off his 2004 Championship season by winning the Sports Car Club of America’s Western States Improved Touring sootout at Thunderhill Park Raceway. Francis started in the middle of the combined Improved Touring field with his Sherwin- Williams sponsored BMW TouringB racer. As the field (which included TouringC, TouringB and the faster TouringA cars) took the green flag, Francis moved his BMW into position and started challenging his season long rival’s TouringB Volvo for the class lead.

Soon after, Francis darted to the inside of the Volvo and took the lead, a lead Francis would never relinquish. By the halfway point, Francis had built a half-lap lead on his class rival and had already set his sights on the TouringA competitors. Lap after lap Francis steadily closed in on the quicker TouringA cars with his superb handling BMW racer and eventually caught the back of the TouringA field. With laps winding down, Francis set a furious pace and outmaneuvered yet another competitor after a spirited lap after lap battle. As the checkered flag fell, Francis has impressively won his TouringB class and had started slashing through the faster cars ahead.

“That was a fun race”, exclaimed Francis as he stepped out of his racecar, “I stalked that TouringA car for 3 laps before I forced him into making that mistake and I got around him out of turn 10”. Since all the Touring classes race together in the shootout, the Combined winner is determined by a combination of class victory, lap times, and other factors as well. After a few tense moments, Francis was determined the Touring Shootout winner for his emphatic TouringB class win and the impressive pace he set through the entire race, as evident by his final finishing position.

“It’s a great feeling to win the Shootout, I drove as hard as I could and just let the chips fall where they may”, exclaimed the smiling Francis, “I love the Touring class and I hope to continue my driving career racing in this class”. Francis also praised his crew-chief, John Cook for the adjustment made to his car before the race, “John made that sway bar change and it drove like it was on tracks”. Francis also thanked his sponsors Sherwin-Williams Automotive Paint, AASI Insurance, Collision Parts Network and Selma Automall.

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