At about half-distance the #33 Maserati was still leading the class, and the new #34 Trofeo Light had run as high as high as third. Then a broken half-shaft lost eight laps for the #33, but the #34 finished a strong fifth, and overall the race demonstrated just how successful the team's development program has been.

Barbosa qualified the #33 third in GT, and quickly moved up to second. He took the class lead when the leading BMW pitted, and then easily held off the factory-assisted BMWs for 23 laps until the halfshaft failure. "Initially I didn't push too much because the track conditions were tricky," Barbosa explained.

"Then I was able to get ahead of Auberlen (Bill Auberlen, driving one of the BMWs) and I started to push, and the car was holding up really, really well. It's just a shame because the team had done such an awesome job preparing the car."

The Maserati crew replaced the broken halfshaft in record time, but driver Emil Assentato returned to the track several laps down, and as a light rain began to fall. "At first I thought it wouldn't be so bad, with semi-wet, semi-dry conditions" he said, "but as the stint wore on the rain started coming down hard and starting puddling up, and it was pretty dicey on slicks. I'm just sorry we had the problem, because I think we would have been a very strong finisher today.".

The #33 Maserati pitted one more time. Steve Earle replaced Assentato at the wheel, and heavily grooved rain tires replaced the slicks. "My stint was a lot of fun if you like driving in the rain, which I do," Earle said after the checker. "I was making up positions in the rain; maybe another couple of laps and I could have advanced a couple of positions, but we just didn't have the time. We lost too much time with the halfshaft, but we'll be ready for Fontana."

The Porsche 250 was only the second race for the team's new #34 Maserati Trofeo Light. Drivers Jeff Segal and Rusty West ran as high as third place at one point, and finished fifth in the deteriorating weather. Segal had qualified the Maserati sixth, and made a strong start.

"I was comfortable in the car and the crew was telling me that I was picking up positions," he explained. "We pitted right, the strategy was right, the car was excellent, and Rusty did a great job in the car in the rain. I couldn't believe how he passed one of the BMWs on the outside in Turn One, in the rain. Finishing fifth was a real credit to him for his first GrandAm race."

Team Manager Glenn Marquis summed up the weekend: "It was great to run up front with the #33 and give the PTG (BMW) guys a run for their money, but in the end the car broke and we finished 11th. Still, I think we're proving what we can do, and we're looking to the future. We've won two GT championships in GrandAm, and I'd like to add 2005 to that list."