Lakeville, Connecticut - James Vance finished eighth in Round 4 of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge on Saturday, May 24 at Lime Rock Park in his first closing role with Compass360 Racing.

 

Vance pushed hard through the field early during his stint and was conserving fuel toward the end of the race. He started the last lap in sixth place in the No. 74 Bionic Environments/ExpoSystems USA Honda Civic Si, under pressure from chasing cars.

 

Michael Valiante charged from behind and challenged Vance for position in Turn 1, and both drivers went off track and hit the barrier adjacent to the turn. Vance returned to the track with damage to the back of his car and finished the race after losing two positions.

 

"Valiante tried to make a last-lap move down the inside into (Turn) 1 trying to pass me," Vance said. "The team the whole time was telling me, 'You're eight minutes short on fuel; you need to conserve.' So I was like a lamb with a pack of wolves behind me. I was just focused on conserving. That last lap I asked if I could push, and they said, 'Yes, absolutely.'

 

"I had one lap to push, and just going into Turn 1 we both had an ABS dump, and we both had nothing left in the car. It was a little bit frustrating. I think he turned in a little too early, and I bumped him, and we both ended up in the grass and hit the wall. The fact that I lost two positions because of that was hard. Finished the race, though. The car is a little bit cosmetically damaged. But it was our best finish of the year in the Honda, and my first time closing a race, so I'm happy."

 

Vance's entire 95-minute stint to the checkered flag was a physical battle. He drove under green-flag conditions the entire way after taking over for teammate Jon Miller under yellow in the 150-minute race.

 

Toronto-area resident Vance got behind the wheel of the Honda in 20th position after the driver change. Miller had made his way from a 17th starting position to seventh before the switch. The starting field was set by points due to rain and standing water on the seven-turn, 1.5-mile circuit Friday.

Vance finished the weekend by furthering his reputation in the ST class for hard, nimble charges through the field. He will continue to push for his first podium finish at the next event June 6-7 at Kansas Speedway.

 

For updates on Vance, follow him on Twitter at @James_Vance and Facebook.

 

About Bionic Environments Inc. of North America:

Bionic Environments, Incorporated is an indoor environmental wellness and fitness company, specializing in products that improve indoor air quality, motor vehicle environments as well eliminating unnatural frequencies from EMF's, Wi-Fi environments and cell phones.

 

About ExpoSystems USA:

ExpoSystems has developed a wide range of Custom Modular Trade Show Displays focusing on durability, lightweight materials, a flexible modular design and utilizing recycled materials where possible. Many of our custom trade show display systems offer custom specialized finishes and specialized accessory options available. From light boxes, Rotagraphics and counters, to special graphic headers or custom signage.

About Compass360 Racing (C360R): Compass360 Racing (C360R) is the motorsports division of Compass360 Brand Architects, a Toronto-based firm offering marketing expertise to clients in diverse industries across North America. The team, with support from Honda Performance Development (HPD), fields front-running Honda Civic Si's in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, winning series championships in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010. C360R also won World Challenge Touring Car Championships in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and the Canadian Touring Car Championship in 2010. It adds single-car Subaru WRX STi efforts to its CTSC and PWC programs for 2014. For details visitwww.C360R.com, like on Facebook and follow on Twitter.