BREA, CA., May 10, 1988... The “hunting season” opened for the SCCA Escort Endurance Championship and the Coors Racetruck Challenge on April 23, 1988 at Sears Point International Raceway. Saleen Autosport campaigned three Saleen Mustangs and three Saleen Sportrucks at the opener. After a very competitive start, the #19 Saleen Mustang was sidelined out of first place due to a faulty brake light, Steve Saleen and George Follmer in #19 finished only 25 seconds behind the leader with Desire’ Wilson and Lisa Caceres in #20 in third and Rick Titus and, newcomer to Endurance Racing, Calvin Fish in fourth.

“All three cars led the race at some point during the four hours and all three came back with no damage – a very successful weekend and a great start in the hunt for our second championship”, said Steve Saleen, Team Owner.

Rainy weather aside, the Saleen Autosport sponsored Mustang Corral had a great weekend as well. Classic Mustangs and Saleen Mustang owners from all over Northern California gathered at Sears Point for free prizes, which included a set of General Tires and an Escort Radar Detector provided by Cincinnati Microwave. The group also enjoyed their own parade lap around the racecourse on Saturday afternoon.

The Coors Racetruck Challenge began on Sunday afternoon with the #19 General Tire Ford Ranger driven by Steve Saleen, on the pole. George Follmer and Winston West star, Herschel McGriff drove the #20 and #21 Saleen Sportrucks. With a first lap, first turn crash amongst three trucks, the field bumped and crashed their way for 20 laps. Avoiding the crunch, Steve Saleen was awarded the “Timex Speedtrack Move of the Race Award” and finished fourth. Transmission problems put Follmer in the pits after 11 laps and Herschel McGriff fought a very tough battle to finish 12th.

The trucks move on to the Dallas Grand Prix and Riverside International Raceway right away. The cars will next be seen June 11th at Portland International Raceway for the Rose Cup Week.