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In its fourteenth season, the Barber Dodge Pro Series is the entry-level pro racing series run by Professional Sports Car Racing.
The series includes an impressive list of alums such as Kenny Brack, Juan Montoya and Bryan Herta.
In 1998 the series replaced the Mondiale chassis with Reynard 98E. The Reynard chassis is a carbon fiber/ aluminum honeycomb monocoque that exceeds FIA driver protection standards. The car uses a pushrod suspension with coil-over shock absorbers and has a cockpit adjustable front and rear sway bars. The cockpit also has an adjustable brake bias for the Alcon four-piston calipers and vented steel rotors. The Reynard uses a Dodge aluminum SOHC 3.5-liter V6 engine, producing 265-horsepower at 6300 rpm. The power is transferred to a six-speed sequential Hewland transmission. The entire package weighs 1400-pounds. There were twelve rounds during the 1999 season. Race one was held at Sebring International Raceway in March and the year ended in October at Watkins Glen International.
The final round of the 1999 Barber Dodge Pro Series was held at Watkins Glen International. Drivers would complete on the eleven-turn 3.377-mile road course. The championship came down to a battle between two drivers – Todd Snyder and the defending title holder, Jeff Simmons.
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The No. 36 Leao Tea / Foster Group Reynard 98E was driven by Brazilian Nilton Rossoni. Rossoni won earlier in the season at Ohio’s Burke Lakefront Airport, but his performances during the season had not been consistent. Before the finale, he had a string of five bad races. On the final lap of qualifying at Watkins Glen International, Rossoni claimed the pole. In the race, he went flag-to-flag for the victory. |
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Townsend Bell drove the No. 25 Direct PC Reynard 98E. Bell entered the final round with two podium results, one of which was a victory at Lime Rock Park. He was third in the standings, but it was mathematically impossible for him to catch the title contenders. In qualifying at Watkins Glen, Bell was sixth fastest. By lap-16 of 19, he was in third, but a pass on Todd Snyder at the inner loop gave Bell a second-place result. |
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The third fastest in the final qualifying session of the season was title contender Todd Snyder. Snyder was second in the standings with wins at Belle Isle, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Grand Rapids and Homestead-Miami Speedway. The driver of the No. 11 Outpost.com / Zippo Mfg. Inc. Reynard 98E moved to second place on the opening lap but would finish third in the race and second in the championship. |
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Piloting the No. 2 Event Marketing / Menninga Electric / Lee’s Grinding Reynard 98E was Jamie Menninga. Menninga entered the final round of the 1999 Barber Dodge Pro Series sixth in the standings with a podium result at Belle Isle. He started in the seventh position. Passes on Chris Simmons, Roger Yasukawa and Matt Plumb were rewarded with a fourth-place finish. However, he fell to seventh in the points. |
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The defending series champion was Chris Simmons. He led this year`s title chase heading into the final round. Simmons drove the No. 1 Oil Extreme Reynard 98E. He was on the top of the qualifying sheet until the last lap when he was bumped by Nilton Rossoni. Simmons dropped to seventh on the opening lap of the race when he was squeezed by Rossoni. Simmons was in fifth at the finish, enough to capture the crown. |
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The No. 8 Tokyo Ueno Clinic / Cara Coat / Aimon Trading Reynard 98E was driven by Barber Dodge Rookie of the Year contender Roger Yasukawa. His primary challenger for the rookie title was Canadian Michael Valiante. Yasukawa qualified fourth fastest compared to Valiante, who was tenth quickest. In the race, Yasukawa finished ahead of Valiante and collected the fully paid season of racing valued at $175,000. |
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| FINISH | START | DRIVER | SPONSOR / CAR | LAPS | RETIREMENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Nilton Rossoni | Foster Group / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 2 | 6 | Townsend Bell | PC World Magazine / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 3 | 3 | Todd Snyder | Zippo Mfg., Inc. / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 4 | 7 | Jamie Menninga | Menninga Electric / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 5 | 2 | Jeff Simmons | AFS Construction / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 6 | 4 | Roger Yasukawa | Tokyo Ueno Clinic / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 7 | 8 | John McCaig | Fine Art Framing / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 8 | 10 | Michael Valiante | Sguerzoni Mirko / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 9 | 5 | Matt Plumb | Mid Atlantic Trading / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 10 | 11 | Jon Fogarty | Thomas Fogarty Winery & Vineyards / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 11 | 14 | Josh Rehm | www.inside-F1.com / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 12 | 16 | Brent Sherman | Serta Mattress Co. / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 13 | 17 | R. B. Stiewing | Pensat International / Reynard 98E | 19 | - |
| 14 | 9 | Sepp Koster | IR Productions / Reynard 98E | 14 | Contact |
| 15 | 12 | Peter Boss | Smith Sunglasses / Reynard 98E | 11 | Contact |
| 16 | 15 | Kip Gulseth | Gulseth Construction / Reynard 98E | 6 | Contact |
| 17 | 13 | Alexandre Sperafico | VIP Seguros / Reynard 98E | 2 | Contact |
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