Wyatt Gooden Wins Round Six of the 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup

JOLIET, Ill., Aug. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Series rookie, Wyatt Gooden, earned his second consecutive Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup victory today at Autobahn Country Club as he took the checkered flag in Round Six of ten races.  Two more rookies rounded out the top-three as Jarvis Gennari earned his second top-five appearance of the season bringing his Jetta TDI Cup car home in second and Kevin Gleason, today's polesitter, was just behind him in third place.

"I love the track here at Autobahn Country Club," said Gooden.  "The circuit is very challenging and there are a lot of great corners.  I don't really know what to say about the event, other than that it was a perfect weekend.  I qualified third yesterday, so it was exciting to notch the win after having to make a few passes.  Today was also a great race from the points perspective; I was able to earn some solid points and the guys ahead of me in the Championship finished further down the field, which helps me a lot.  After winning two in a row, I can't wait to get to Road America in a few weeks."

Series veteran, Jake Thompson earned his fourth top-five result this morning as he finished fourth and AJ Nealey finished fifth.

With just four races left in the 2010 season, the points race remains tight with just 29 points separating the top-five drivers.  After today's win, Wyatt Gooden takes the lead in the Championship with 190 points.  Arie Ouimet (R) retains his position of second place with 182 points, while Juan Pablo Sierra Lendle moves from first to third place after a twelfth place result today and ends up with 176 points.  Jake Thompson moved into fourth place with 170 points and JD Mobley rounds out the top-five with 161.  The Series goes to Wisconsin next as they will compete in Rounds Seven and Eight of the 2010 Jetta TDI Cup at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. on August 21st and 22nd.

Jetta TDI Cup News & Notes:

Rookies Rule

The podium for Round Six of the 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup season was filled with three rookies, something that highlights the Series' goal of developing young up-and-coming talent. In addition, with today's finishing order, the Championship points battle is shaping up to be quite interesting heading into the final four events.

"It's great to have a rookie on the podium and it's even better to have three," said Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Chief Instructor, Jan Heylen.  "Most of the drivers in this Series come to us with relatively limited experience and for our rookies to perform the way they have been all season is very encouraging.  We saw a lot of close racing today, maybe sometimes a little too close, but all in all we had a great show out there for the fans. Also, with today's results, the Championship battle got significantly closer -- we'll have four guys really fighting hard in the final races, which certainly adds a dramatic component to the year."

Trio of Guest Drivers at Autobahn

This weekend, there were three guest drivers competing in Round Six of the 2010 season at Autobahn Country Club.  One of the drivers, Richard Fisher, may have had a little inside knowledge heading into today's race, as he's a founding member of the Autobahn Country Club. Fisher, the owner of the Chicago-area Autobarn dealership group, which includes The Autobarn VW of Evanston, The Autobarn VW of Mt. Prospect and The Autobarn VW of Countryside, finished an impressive 12th this morning.  

"The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup has really done a fantastic job highlighting the performance of these clean diesel vehicles," said Fisher.  "Any time you have a Series committed to getting people to understand the capabilities of these Jetta TDI Cup cars, I am certainly behind it.  Today was very exciting and I'm certainly happy that I had an opportunity to participate."

In addition to Fisher, Steve Hendricks, General Manager of Luther Westside VW in Minneapolis finished 20th and Jesse Will, a writer for Maxim Magazine placed 28th.

Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Results: Round Six - Autobahn Country Club

R - denotes Rookie

G - denotes Guest; guest' finishing positions do not affect full-time drivers and are therefore withdrawn

Follow the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Series action on:

www.vwmotorsportusa.com

Volkswagen Online Newsroom: media.vw.com  

Live Timing & Scoring: http://livetiming.net/scca/VW

Live Timing & Scoring for your Mobile Device: http://livetiming.net/SCCA/VW/html.asp

Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/JettaTDICup

Twitter: http://twitter.com/VWJettaTDICup

About the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup

The SCCA Pro Racing Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup was launched in 2008 as way to introduce clean diesel technology to the U.S. market and develop the best of motorsport's up-and-coming talent. During the season, young, up and coming drivers (between ages 16-26) compete on road courses around North America in identical factory-prepared clean diesel powered Jetta TDI's. Each driver competing in the Series earns a professional racing license from SCCA Pro Racing at the conclusion of the season. In addition to more than $50,000 in prize money at stake during the season, the Series Champion receives Volkswagen factory career advancement support with a value up to $100,000.

The Jetta TDI Cup car is powered by a 2.0-liter, 170 hp, four-cylinder TDI clean diesel engine mated to a six-speed, double-clutch, automatic DSG transmission. The car is only slightly modified from stock with Pirelli racing tires, race suspension and brake components, drivers racing safety seat, FIA roll cage and an on-board fire extinguisher system. Series sponsors include: Pirelli, Bosch, ViON, Castrol, Oakley, Red Bull, Staubli, Aggreko, defNder, Lamin-X, Volkswagen Driver Gear, Volkswagen Parts & Service, iRacing, Safety-Kleen and Ringer Gloves.

About Volkswagen of America

Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc. is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen is one of the world's largest producers of passenger cars and Europe's largest automaker. Volkswagen sells the Golf, GTI, New Beetle, New Beetle convertible, Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, Eos, Passat, Passat Wagon, CC, Tiguan, Touareg and Routan through approximately 600 independent U.S. dealers. All 2010 Volkswagens come standard-equipped with Electronic Stabilization Program. This is important because the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has called ESC the most effective new vehicle safety technology since the safety belt. Visit Volkswagen of America online at www.vw.com or www.media.vw.com to learn more.

About SCCA Pro Racing:

A wholly owned subsidiary of Sports Car Club of America, Inc., SCCA Pro Racing Inc. is a leading sanctioning body for motorsports events in the United States. A member of the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States (ACCUS), SCCA Pro Racing operates and sanctions the World Challenge Championships, the SCCA Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup, SCCA Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, SCCA Pro Trans-Am Series, Spec Racer Ford Pro Series and Formula Enterprises Pro Series. For more information, please visit www.sccapro.com.

SOURCE Volkswagen of America, Inc.