Jeff Courtney in the No. 99 Woodhouse Viper. 2008 56th Annual Mobil 1® 12 Hours at Sebring Shooter: Mark Weber

SLINGER, Wis. (March 19, 2008) Jeff Courtney of Woodhouse Performance “brings the rain” and thunders past much of the competition in the rain drenched season opener at Sebring. “I tried to take a conservative approach,” says Courtney, “I just tried to keep my composure while others were losing theirs.”

“I was struggling to make the car hook up in some of the practice sessions and we knew we needed to make some major adjustments,” said Courtney. “Late Wednesday night, Bob (Woodhouse), Rick (Maxwell), Eric (Messley) and Tommy (Archer) were still finalizing adjustments.”

Courtney went into the race a bit on edge as the car was wearing new Toyo 888 tires he had not tested as much as he would have liked. The rain came with its own set of concerns and the weather may have proved helpful for the Woodhouse Performance Competition Coupe in the long run.

Early during race qualifying one of the Corvettes blew an engine, leaving debris and oil on the track, preventing further qualifying rounds. “Not having a chance to test all of our adjustments was a big concern for the team,” said Courtney, “as the field pulled onto the grid, the rains started and we played this to our advantage. With several cautions, a well timed suspension adjustment and an early rain tire change, we were able to get ourselves in a good spot.” said Courtney.

Courtney gradually gained ground including a late restart run that netted two more spots. As the field all toughed it out through the weather, “it was patience and not taking unnecessary risks that kept us in the race.” said Courtney.

Over the weekend, Speed World Challenge announced a GT race addition at Courtney’s home track at Road America in Elkart Lake, Wis. “This is great news,” said Courtney, “It’s an awesome place to see a race, and I look forward to my local fans and sponsors coming out to see the car and be a part of the atmosphere.”