Baltimore, MD (September 6): The Racer's Group and the American Le Mans Series hosted a live and silent auction that raised a record $5,300 to benefit the Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer at the Baltimore Grand Prix. 

The auction consisted of actual racecar parts, driver uniforms, exclusive VIP passes and select Baltimore sports memorabilia. Sixty fans entered bids on one of kind memorabilia making this auction the largest of the season. So far this year the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón has teamed up with seven teams from the series to raise a total of $22,000.

"It's exciting to see the friendly rivalry between the American Le Mans Series teams in building each race's auction for the Austin Hatcher Foundation to be bigger and better than the last," said Scott Atherton, president of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón. "The group from TRG can truly be proud of their determination to reach a new high mark for monies raised for an at-track AHF auction. All the effort couldn't be for a better cause. It's great to see our teams join the Series in supporting the families dealing with pediatric cancer and the great work done by the Austin Hatcher Foundation." 

"It not only was a great honor to be asked to do the auction at Baltimore, but it was really amazing the way everyone involved stepped up to help break records for this incredible foundation," said Kevin Buckler, TRG team owner. "Jim Osborn and his team did an awesome job, and he has to be proud as the founder of such a great charity. TRG is proud to have played its part, and I want to thank everyone including the local guys with Team Baltimore Racing for their support. And then to pull off a win in the race, well, let's just say the weekend was complete."

"We are extremely grateful to have partnerships like The Racer's Group and the American Le Mans Series," said Jim Osborn, Board Chair of the Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer. "It is partnerships like this that allow us to provide services for families dealing with the effects of pediatric cancer."

If you would like to join The Racer's Group and American Le Mans Series and make a contribution to support the Austin Hatcher Foundation, you can text HATCH to 501501 or donate online at www.hatcherfoundation.org/donate/.

For more information about the Austin Hatcher Foundation, please visit www.hatcherfoundation.org, follow them on Twitter @austinhatcherfo or like them on Facebook.

Petaluma, CA (September 3) As one of the more challenging courses in the ALMS series, the Baltimore Grand-Prix took to the streets in its iconic and unforgiving design composed mostly of concrete barriers, incredible bumps and jumps and minimal run-off space. TRG came away victorious in one of the most exciting four-car nose-to-tail finishes this season.

The team took to the event with a powerful two-car assault in what started out as a challenging weekend for the B+ Foundation / Morton's The Steakhouse / Adobe Road Winery No. 68 Porsche GT3 car piloted by Al Carter and Porsche factory driver Patrick Pilet. An incident during practice resulted in Carter taking the green flag from the last position.

A sizable wreck at the start of the race caused mayhem in the first turn, with several cars sustaining heavy damage and Carter was able to slip through the mess unscathed. Once the course returned to green, he was able to clear much of the traffic, successfully gaining several positions. By the fifth green flag lap, Carter climbed to second.

"I went down into turn one, and there were pieces everywhere," explained Carter. "There were little spots and gaps, I made my way between the smoke and got by a couple of cars. Given the nature of this course, I choose my battles carefully--I felt like I was on the freeway at rush hour."

Not only did the challenging track conditions present an exciting race for Carter, but this would be Al's first professional sportscar win.

"It got exciting as the GTC class always is," said Carter. "I didn't go through turn-one very fast, but I was always looking to make up positions driving carefully, yet aggressively."

Carter and Pilet's first place podium spot certainly didn't come to them easily, as Pilet held off a late charge from Leh Keen in Alex Job Racing's No. 22 Porsche, and the top four cars finished within 1.696 seconds.  Both drivers in the No. 68 battled the intense heat, and oil covered the windshield in the last 15-minutes, making Pilet's task even more challenging.

"After starting last in the field with no qualifying time from a practice accident, our car was great all day," Pilet said. "Al kept us on the lead lap, and I knew I could compete for the win."

Marc Bunting and Spencer Pumpelly in the Porsche of Towson / Team Baltimore Porsche No. 66 GT3 began the weekend more positively, turning fast laps in practice and making strong setup changes right up to the start of the race. Unfortunately, Bunting was hit from behind in the turn one melee, and was required to make several unscheduled pits stops to rectify the problems. 

Bunting re-entered the race nearly a full lap down but turned in an awesome performance, posting some of the fastest laps in class for the opening stint. Turning it over to his co-driver Spencer Pumpelly at the halfway mark, Pumpelly was able to make quick work of the drivers ahead, bringing the No. 66 car back into contention.  With a late yellow flag, the end of the race was a nail biter, with the top four cars finishing nose to tail in one of the closest finishes in the history of the GTC class.

"This was really one exciting race in so many ways," stated TRG team owner Kevin Buckler. "The highs and the lows, all of the emotion, the crash, the very hot weather--the whole team really had their hands full this weekend.  We had two strong cars and four strong drivers.  It was especially a privilege to be back with Marc, Porsche of Towson and Team Baltimore, and a real solid shot at the win.  They put together such a great program with all of their local sponsors.  I felt so bad that Marc got caught up in that mess in turn one. It was totally not his fault but we fixed the problem and got the car back in contention and Marc just drove the wheels off the car.  We took a little extra fuel and we left him out a little longer and when the right opportunity came for the driver change we took it and got back on the lead lap.  Spencer pedaled the car right back up to the front as usual, but with four of the best Porsche drivers on the planet running nose to tail right to the end, passing was difficult." 

"I was so proud of Al and Patrick--taking the win and in such dramatic fashion," explained Buckler. "What a great first win for Al, and all this to happen at the Baltimore Grand Prix. He drove clean and smart, and even led most of his stint as well.  He turned the car over to Patrick in fine shape, and Patrick drove a brilliant final stint and brought home the victory for our team.  I want to thank everyone at Team Baltimore and the B+ Foundation as well as our good friends at Morton's The Steakhouse for a great week in Baltimore. I'm very proud of our team this weekend."

The Baltimore Grand Prix is the fourth race that TRG has earned first place points this season, which will keep the team in second place in GTC paints, and unofficially with a 24 point deficit.  With only two races to go, TRG is still in the thick of the championship battle.

The next round of the ALMS championship is the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón VIR 240 from Virginia International Raceway. The four hour race is scheduled for 2:30pm ET on Saturday, September 15th with full live coverage starting at 2:15pm ET on ESPN3.  The race will be re-braodcast on ESPN2 on Sunday, September 16th at 5pm ET.

For the latest event updates and photos from the TRG pits and paddock, follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theracersgroup.com and Twitter at www.twitter.com/theracersgroup.