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| Mid Ohio Race Notes: Chris Gleason |
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Luckily there was no fire, Hand never lost consciousness, and X-rays later at a local hospital showed no broken bones. Stiff and sore, Hand even made it to the track on Sunday, although he decided to sit Sunday's Grand-Am Cup race out.
Saturday's race ended under yellow due to the crash and Gleason and Hand's entry was scored in seventh place.
Hand earned the pole on Friday and he led the first four laps of the race before Wolf Henzler took the top spot with the Tafel Racing Porsche No. 72, which led from laps five through 68.
Hand pitted under yellow on lap 42 for Gleason to take over, about an hour and 15 minutes into the race. Kelly Collins, in the TRG Pontiac No. 64, passed Gleason on lap 44 to push him to third.
Collins pitted four laps later under a yellow to let his co-driver, Paul Edwards, take over. Gleason, still in third, pitted under that same full-course yellow on lap 49 and Hand got back in.
Henzler's co-driver, Robin Liddell, was still in the lead at that point but Hand got second back by beating the No. 64 Pontiac out of the pits on lap 72 under another full-course yellow. Hand got the lead back on the restart on lap
77 with about 35 minutes left by passing Liddell, and a little later Edwards passed Liddell to move into second.
Hand was still in the lead on lap 97 of what turned out to be a 99-lap race when he got hit by Edwards. With Hand's BMW off course and upside down, Liddell got around Edwards in the melee to come from third and post the victory a couple of minutes later under yellow.
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