# Jetta TDI CUP Road Atlanta - Preview



## KahviVW (Feb 26, 2009)

_Quote, originally posted by *Volkswagen of America* »_
*VOLKSWAGEN JETTA TDI CUP TO CROWN ITS 2009 CHAMPION AT ROAD ATLANTA*
*Race Information*
*2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup – Round 10*
Circuit: Road Atlanta – Braselton, Georgia (12 turns, 2.54 miles)
Date/Time: Practice / Qualifying – Friday, September 25 at 8:15 am / 6:30 pm (all times Eastern)
Race – Saturday, September 26 at 9 am 
Race Length: 30 minutes
*Road Atlanta preview*
For the second consecutive year, the SCCA Pro Racing Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup will be closing out its season at Road Atlanta. And, as in 2008, the Championship battle is going to come down to the final race around the 12-turn, 2.54-mile road course in Braselton, Georgia.
Last season, Josh Hurley entered the final race with a 17-point lead and won the series title by five points over Liam Kenney. The pair has moved to compete in other series, and series veteran Timmy Megenbier is bringing a 39-point lead over Andy Lee into Road Atlanta this year. If Megenbier finishes 15th or better, the Championship will be his regardless of any other driver results. However, anything can happen.
The Melrose Park, Illinois native has had a banner year that includes three wins, eight podium appearances, two pole positions and 41 laps led (31 percent of all laps this season). After a difficult 2008 campaign that saw several races end without him finishing, Megenbier returned to the series with a more mental approach to his craft.
“I think I showed people last year that I was capable of running up front, but I kept putting myself in bad positions and taking chances at the wrong time,” Megenbier said. “During the offseason, I had a chance to watch some of our races and identify things that I wanted to do differently. I realized that I needed to be a little smarter on the track, and this approach has certainly paid off. Other than one bad race at VIR (VIRginia International Raceway), I have been on the podium every time. My hope is that I’ll be able to maintain this consistency at Road Atlanta to win the Championship.”
Six drivers have won races, and 10 drivers have made podium appearances this season, but only Lee remains eligible to unseat Megenbier from the lead. Like Megenbier, Lee has also had a very consistent season that has him currently second in the standings. The series veteran and Maricopa, Arizona native has one race win, two pole positions, three podium appearances, 27 laps led and finished in the top 10 in every race. In addition, the 26-year-old driver hasn’t finished lower than sixth.
“I ran well last year at Road Atlanta, so I’m definitely looking forward to going back,” Lee said. “I’m trying not to worry about the Championship because it’s going to be unlikely that I’ll be able to catch (Timmy) at this point. I’m just going to worry about running my race, and if something happens that vaults me to the top that’s great, but I can’t let myself get caught up in thinking about it. The biggest thing for me is to end the season on a positive note. People remember the last thing you did, so I would like to end on top. That would be a great way to close out my run in the series.”
If last year’s race at Road Atlanta is any indication of this year’s potential result, Lee might have the upper hand. Lee finished ninth, while Megenbier came in 26th.
While 39 points separate the first- and second-place drivers in the Championship, the fight for “Rookie of the Year” honors is expected to be a battle to the finish. Only two points separate Joey Atterbury (273 points) and Jake Thompson (271 points) entering the final contest. Both drivers have found victory lane this season, but Thompson of Calgary, Alberta is coming off his second win of the year last weekend in New Jersey.
“Being able to get back to the top of the podium in New Jersey was huge for me,” Thompson said. “I was lucky enough to win one of our first races of the year, but I struggled a bit in the middle of the season. Road Atlanta is a fast track like New Jersey. These sorts of courses seem to suit me best, so I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to make a strong run there. Being able to claim the ‘Rookie of the Year’ title in my first season in sports car racing would be a huge accomplishment for me.”
*No place like home – Three drivers hail from Atlanta area*
The Atlanta area is a hotbed for Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup drivers, and three of the 24 series drivers are looking forward to the upcoming race on their home track.
The trio is led by series veteran Mark Pombo from Duluth, Georgia. He is currently in fifth place in the Championship standings on the strength of one win (Mosport), two pole positions, 26 laps led and five top-five finishes. While the series title is out of reach for Pombo, there still is room for him to move up the ladder. Heading into Road Atlanta, only 11 points separate him from third place, and he has experience on his side. He proved last season that he’s one of the best around the Braselton circuit as he captured the pole position on his way to a third-place finish.
“I’ve had a lot of experience racing at Road Atlanta, so I couldn’t pick a better spot for us to finish our season,” Pombo said. “Obviously, I would like to be a little higher in the Championship, but there’s no sense in looking back at what could have been. I have nothing to lose in terms of points, so I’m definitely going to be driving for the win in hopes of giving my family and friends who will be in attendance something to cheer about.”
Pombo is also joined by two series rookies who are also from the area. Rhett Tucker of Cumming, Georgia and Andrew Gunn Tucker of McDonough, Georgia are getting their first taste of professional racing experience this season.
Tucker is currently 20th in points and is coming off of a 13th-place finish last weekend in New Jersey, his best result of the season. While this is his first season competing in the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, Tucker began racing at age eight when he started karting on dirt ovals and road courses. In 2004 and 2005, he won the championship at Florida’s Dirt Devils WKA Speedway. Last year, he ran five races in the USAC Ford Focus midget series.
Gunn Tucker is also coming off his best result of the season, 19th. However, his racing career spans only a few years. He began competing in local autocross events in 2003 while attending Tennessee Tech University and then entered the technical side of racing. Gunn Tucker has served as a mechanic and car chief for various sports car teams including his current employer, APR Motorsport. APR races Volkswagen GTIs in the Grand Am Koni Challenge series and is currently third in the series standings with two races left.
*Richert claims the PR title*
In an attempt to develop driver skills on and off the track, the series holds an annual public relations contest. During the season, drivers earn points by securing media stories on themselves and the series, engaging in social media efforts and making promotional appearances for the series and sponsors.
For the second year, series veteran David Richert claimed the title. Not only did he achieve more media coverage than any other driver, but he also came up with creative ways to bring attention to the series. Earlier this season at Mid-Ohio, Richert developed a Father’s Day campaign where fans could purchase space on his car to write their Father’s Day greetings. He then used this money to purchase toys for children at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
Richert’s prize is attending an upcoming Volkswagen public relations event in Germany to launch the 2010 Golf and Golf TDI. During the trip, he will join journalists in driving the vehicles and touring the company’s facilities including the Autostadt and the transparent factory. All expenses associated with this trip are being covered by Volkswagen.
“Being successful in the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup media contest has been one of my top priorities this race season,” Richert said. “The contest has provided me with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate my skills and abilities off of the racetrack, which can often make or break a driver’s career. The series has been great in providing us with the tools needed to succeed in this area, and I’m looking forward to developing relationships with reporters during the trip to Germany.”
*There’s green racing, and there’s the Jetta TDI Cup – Truly green racing*
In the past, racing and environmentally-friendly cars haven’t gone hand in hand. However, Volkswagen changed the game in 2008 with the introduction of the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, featuring the mostly-stock, clean diesel Jetta TDI. Performance testing proves that diesel-powered vehicles offer more low-end torque than traditional gasoline engines, providing quicker off-the-line acceleration that’s well suited for the race track. In addition, the Jetta TDI engine’s use of a “common rail” direct injection system improves fuel economy over gasoline engines and reduces sooty emissions by 95 percent, even under demanding race conditions.
To take environmental responsibility one step further, the Jetta TDI Cup is using a Syndiesel® B5 biodiesel blend provided by Houston-based HYPERFUELS to power its racecars and B20 biodiesel blends for its transport vehicles and generators. Syndiesel B5 is a blend of 5 percent biodiesel and 95 percent synthetic diesel fuel. The SynDiesel B5 provides a winning combination of benefits, offering the highest cetane rating of any diesel fuel on the market today and 20 percent more BTUs than conventional diesel. The added benefits of this type of fuel also include increased lubricity and significantly-reduced emissions from the domestically-produced, renewable biodiesel component. During the 2009 season, the Jetta TDI Cup racecars will consume approximately two tanks of blended biodiesel during race conditions, and overall carbon emissions produced by the series will be reduced by 33,760 pounds as a result of the new fuels.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the Jetta TDI at an economical 30 mpg City and 41 mpg Highway. Volkswagen went a step further to evaluate the real world fuel economy of the Jetta TDI. A leading third-party certifier tested the Jetta TDI and found it performed 24 percent better in real world conditions, achieving 38 mpg in the city and 44 mpg on the highway. While the Jetta TDI Cup racecar has been modified slightly from the consumer version, the cars still achieve more than 20 mpg on the racetrack where they’re being pushed to the limit. In comparison, most racecars achieve less than 10 mpg.
The Jetta TDI’s fuel efficiency combined with its environmentally-friendly emissions rating have earned the model the Smart Way designation from the EPA. The EPA created the Smart Way program to help consumers identify the cleanest, most fuel-efficient vehicles available. In addition, the 2009 Jetta TDI clean diesel was recently named the “Green Car of the Year®” by Green Car Journal.
*Three ways to qualify for the 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup*
The 2009 SCCA Pro Racing Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup is entering the final race of its second season, and series organizers have begun looking ahead to the 2010 edition of the only clean diesel racing series in the United States. There are three paths that interested drivers can follow in order to get behind the wheel next season:
• Online application – Applicants can visit http://www.vwmotorsportusa.com for an online application. On the site, candidates can submit their amateur racing resumes and other details about their past experience. Series officials will then select candidates from these applications to participate in the driver selection program. All applications must be submitted along with the series entry fee of $45,000 by December 11, 2009. The entry fee will be fully refunded to those not chosen as a 2010 series driver.
• iRacing.com Jetta TDI Cup online racing season – In conjunction with iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations, Volkswagen has created an online racing experience unlike any other. The Jetta TDI Cup series car has joined the list of racecars offered on iRacing.com, and iRacing has launched an online version of the series. The iRacing.com Jetta TDI Cup series participants will be battling to earn their way into the 2010 final driver selection event. The top iRacing.com driver to earn a position in the 2010 series will be awarded their season entry fee and will drive the iRacing.com car. More information is available at http://www.iracing.com. 
• Karting qualifier competitions – Earlier this summer, the series began hosting standalone karting competitions at Boston’s F1 Outdoor karting facility. The top finishers from each event will move on and compete in the final driver selection event. Like the iRacing.com winner, the top-rated karting qualifier driver to earn a spot in the 2010 series will receive a fully-funded ride. Information on the karting qualifier events is available at http://www.volkswagenjettacup.com.
*Points standings after nine races*
Position/Driver Name/Hometown/Points 
1 Timmy Megenbier, Melrose Park, IL – 346
2 Andy Lee, Maricopa, AZ – 307 
3 Joey Atterbury(R), Renton, WA – 273 
4 Jake Thompson(R), Calgary, Alberta – 271 
5 Mark Pombo, Duluth, GA – 262 
6 Juan Pablo Sierra Lendle, Puebla, Mexico – 218 
7 Nicky Boulle(R), Dallas, TX – 184 
8 AJ Nealey(R), Edgewater, MD – 181 
9 Taylor Broekemeier, Ft. Collins, CO – 179 
10 JD Mobley(R), Castle Rock, CO – 176 
11 Andrew Cordeiro, Woodbridge, Ontario – 172
12 Devin Cates(R), Broad Run, VA – 164 
13 Ryan Ellis(R), Ashburn, VA – 159 
14 Derek Jones, Philadelphia, PA – 142 
15 Donny Warren(R), Winchester, VA – 113 
16 Andrew Novich(R), Novato, CA – 81 
17 Perry Richardson(R), Los Gatos, CA – 75 
18 David Richert, Niverville, Manitoba – 61 
19 Juan Pablo Delgado(R), Orizaba, Vericruz, Mexico – 50 
20 Rhett Tucker(R), Cumming, GA – 48 
21 Theresa Condict(R), Lexington, MA – 36 
22 Kerstin Smutny(R), Bothell, WA – 33 
23 Eric Morse(R), Pittsburgh, PA – 33
24 Kyle Wharff(R), Miramar, FL – 13 
25 Andrew Gunn Tucker(R), McDonough, GA – 10 
(R) – Jetta TDI Cup Rookie Driver
*What sets the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup apart from other racing series?*
• The Jetta TDI Cup is the only clean diesel racing series in North America, and Volkswagen is the only auto manufacturer participating in motorsports full time with diesel-powered cars in North America. 
• Unlike most racing products, the Jetta TDI Cup is the ultimate display of fuel efficiency. During the race weekend, the racecars will consume approximately four gallons of Syndiesel® B5 biodiesel blend. Over the course of the season, the racecars will consume only two tanks of fuel during races. In comparison, most traditional, gasoline powered racecars get between 2-5 mpg. 
• The improved fuel economy is accomplished through the use of Volkswagen’s TDI (turbo direct injection) engine technology, which improves fuel economy over gasoline engines and reduces sooty emissions by 95 percent, even under demanding race conditions. 
• The Jetta TDI Cup features a product that consumers can buy at their local dealerships.
• The racecars are maintained by Volkswagen, which creates a level playing field for all drivers.
Live timing and scoring is available at http://www.livetiming.net/SCCA/VW/livetiming.asp


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## USCVWFAN (Jan 29, 2005)

*Re: Jetta TDI CUP Road Atlanta - Preview (KahviVW)*

I'm going to be there on Friday and Saturday and was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to where the best place/places are to sit. Any suggestions on spots that would give the best photo opportunity? 
Any info would be greatly appreciated.







Thanks in advance!


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## WNRALPH206 (Sep 23, 2009)

NICE I will try to be there


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## sg207ptg (Jul 6, 2000)

*Re: Jetta TDI CUP Road Atlanta - Preview (USCVWFAN)*

Turn 10A/B and up the hill near 7 and 8. I am driving down tomorrow.


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## USCVWFAN (Jan 29, 2005)

*Re: Jetta TDI CUP Road Atlanta - Preview (sg207ptg)*


_Quote, originally posted by *sg207ptg* »_Turn 10A/B and up the hill near 7 and 8. I am driving down tomorrow.

Thanks for the heads up! I'm heading there later today. I hope to be able to see as much of the racing as I can.
Friday, September 25, 2009
7:40 am - 8:05 am	Qualifying #2 - BF Goodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda 
8:15 am - 8:45 am	Practice - Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup
9:00 am - 10:00 am	Combined Practice - American Le Mans Series (All Classes)
10:10 am - 11:10 am	SPEED World Challenge Touring Race - 50 Minutes
11:00 am	American Le Mans Series Tech Talk at TBD Team Transporter
11:25 am - 11:55 am	BF Goodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda Race #2 - 30 Minutes
12:10 pm - 12:40 pm	IMSA Lites presented by Frisby Performance Tire Race #2 - 30 Minutes
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm	MANDATORY DRIVER AUTOGRAPH SESSION FOR ALL AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES DRIVERS IN THE
AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES COMPETITOR PADDOCK
12:40 pm - 1:25 pm	Lunch / Corral Laps 
12:45 pm - 1:10 pm	IMSA facilitated Porscheplatz (100 cars maximum) / Audi (50 cars maximum) Corral Parade Laps
1:25 pm - 2:10 pm	Cooper Tires Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda Race - 45 Minutes
2:25 pm - 2:50 pm	Qualifying - American Le Mans Series (GT2)
2:55 pm - 3:20 pm	Qualifying - American Le Mans Series (LM P1 / LM P2)
3:35 pm - 4:05 pm	Patrón GT3 Challenge by Yokohama Race Round 2 - 30 Minutes
4:15 pm - 5:15 pm	SPEED World Challenge GT Race - 50 Minutes
5:30 pm - 6:15 pm	Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear Race - 45 Minutes
6:15pm	Johnny O’Connell Auction at Main Paddock Podium
6:30 pm - 7:00 pm	Qualifying - Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup
7:10 pm - 7:30 pm	IMSA facilitated TBD Corral Parade Laps (50 cars maximum)
Saturday, September 26, 2009
7:15 am	Motorsports Ministries Chapel Service at the American Le Mans Series Business Unit located in the main Competitor Paddock
8:15 am - 8:40 am	Combined Warm Up - American Le Mans Series (All Classes)
9:00 am - 9:30 am	Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Race - 30 Minutes 
10:15 am - 11:15 am	Recon Laps / Pre-Race Activities
11:15 am	Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda 6 for the American Le Mans Series (Round 9) - 1,000 miles or 10 hours maximum


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## Beverly Stayart (Jul 6, 2009)

*Re: Jetta TDI CUP Road Atlanta - Preview (KahviVW)*

Thanks for this preview info.


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