Inaugural VW Jetta TDI cup goes to Josh Hurley

The first ever season of the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup wrapped up this weekend before the start of the Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta. After eight races at tracks around North America since April, Josh Hurley's second place finish in the last race was enough to put him over the top for the series championship. Hurley captured the pole position for the opening race at VIRginia Internation Raceway and then ran consistently enough, including a win at Portland, to accumulate 260 points. Liam Kenney won the Road Atlanta race and finished second in the championship. The championship means Hurley earns $100,000. If Hurley manages to get a professional racing contract within the next six months, Volkswagen will give him another $250,000 toward furthering his racing career.

[Source: Volkswagen]

BRASELTON, Ga. – Josh Hurley, Cooper City, Fl., drove his clean diesel Jetta TDI to a championship win placing second overall in Saturday's race at Road Atlanta. Liam Kenney, Sterling, Va., claimed top place on the podium but Hurley's previous performances coupled with his second place finish today ensured his championship victory in the inaugural season of the Jetta TDI Cup series. Completing the podium was Mark Pombo, Duluth, Ga., who began on the pole and finished third.
"It is a really exciting day and I'm absolutely ecstatic," said Hurley. "This is one of the toughest races I've ever been in. I was a little worried when I fell back but knew I had to end up second in order to bring home the championship. To bring Gunther Volkswagen and Easykart up to the top of the championship is something that's hard to put in to words, but I'm thrilled."
The exhilarating race was run under sunny skies and was the first race of the season to be completed with no yellow flags throughout the 30-minute sprint. There were multiple lead changes as the amateur drivers put it all on the line for the final time this season. Pombo, Hurley, Kenney, Chris Holman and Michael DeNino spent most of the race in the front of the pack battling each other for top positions. Kenney finally took over in lap 12, and Hurley moved up to second in lap 15 in order to secure their respective victories.
Championship Standings
Final championship standings are listed below with position, driver name, hometown, sponsor and point total.
1, Josh Hurley(R) (260), Cooper City, Fl. - Athlete's Performance
2, Liam Kenney, (255), Sterling, Va. - ViON
3, Mark Pombo (234), Duluth, Ga. - ful®
4, David Jurca (211), Federal Way, Wash. – Red Bull
5, Chris Castagna (210), South Boston, Mass. - Oakley
6, Chris Holman (200), Burlington, Ont. Canada - UTI
7, Michael DeNino (186), Gaithersburg, Md. - Castrol
8, Jimmy Underhill (184), Denver, Colo. - Bosch
9, Caleb Kenney (167), Berkeley, Calif. - Hoopla
10, Andy Lee (130), Colorado Springs, Colo. - Kyosho
11, Gary Williams_Jr. (126), Dana Point, Calif. - Bondurant
12, Taylor Broekemeier(R) (115), Fort Collins, Colo. - Oakley
13, Juan Pablo Sierra Lendle (108), Puebla, MX. - Aggreko
14, Wyatt Dallenbach (96), San Antonio, Texas - SCORE
15, Derek Jones (91), Philadelphia, Pa. - Bosch
16, Chris Kuenning(R) (81), Grand Rapids, Mich. - Aggreko
17, Andrew Cordeiro(R) (72), Woodbridge, Ont. Canada - $1300 Tax Credit
18, Timmy Megenbier (70), Melrose Park, Ill. - SCCA
19, Nick Mancuso (58), Mettawa, Ill. – Auto Logistics
20, Jake Dallenbach (43), San Antonio, Texas – Select 1
21, Evan Pflock(R) (32), Redondo Beach, Calif. – DC United
22, Adam Love(R) (29), Normal, Ill. - SCORE
23, Adam Crepin(R) (26), St. Louis, Mo. - SCCA
24, David Heinz(R) (22), Pittsburgh, Pa. – Pre Loved
25, David Richert(R) (17), Niverville, MB, Canada - ViON
26, Adam Kretschmer(R) (13), Brampton, Ont., Canada – VW Credit
27, Chad Brassfield(R) (10), Phoenix, Ariz. - Kyosho
28, John Shim(R) (10), Starkville, Miss. – VW Credit
29, Noah Arundel (6), Tonka Bay, Minn. – VW P&A
30, Ryan Buetzer (1), Long Beach, Calif. - Hoopla

Road Atlanta Results
Complete Jetta TDI Cup race results from Road Atlanta are listed below with finishing position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car sponsor and laps completed.
1. (6), Liam Kenney, Sterling, Va., ViON, 18
2. (4), Josh Hurley(R), Cooper City, Fla., Athlete's Performance, 18, -1.127
3. (1), Mark Pombo, Duluth, Ga., ful®, 18, -1.317
4. (2), Chris Holman, Burlington, Ontario, UTI, 18, -1.916
5. (3), Michael DeNino, Gaithersburg, Md., Castrol, 18, -2.982
6. (7), Caleb Kenney, Berkeley, Calif., Hoopla, 18, -3.556
7. (5), Juan Pablo Sierra Lendle, Puebla, MX, Aggreko, 18, -4.013
8. (8), David Jurca, Federal Way, Wash., Red Bull, 18, -4.203
9. (12), Andy Lee, Colorado Springs, Colo., Kyosho, 18, -10.335
10. (13), Nick Mancuso, Mettawa, Ill., Auto Logistics, 18, -11.183
11. (11), Taylor Broekemeier(R), Fort Collins, Colo., Oakley, 18, -14.833
12. (9), Chris Castagna, Boston, Mass., Oakley, 18, -16.603
13. (16), Gary Williams_Jr., Dana Point, Calif., Bondurant, 18, -19.879
14. (17), Evan Pflock(R), Redondo Beach, Calif., DC United, 18, -28.153
15. (19), Adam Crepin(R), St. Louis, Mo., SCCA, 18, -28.519
16. (24), Andrew Cordeiro(R), Woodbridge Ont, Canada, $1300 Tax Credit, 18, -28.788
17. (15), Adam Love(R), Normal, Ill., SCORE, 18, -35.262
18. (21), Chris Kuenning(R), Grand Rapids, Mich., Aggreko, 18, -36.176
19. (18), David Richert(R), Niverville MB, Canada, ViON, 18, -42.693
20. (23), Wyatt Dallenbach, San Antonio, Texas, SCORE, 18, -47.667
21. (14), Adam Kretschmer(R), Brampton, Ontario, VW Credit, 18, -49.531
22. (22), Noah Arundel, Tonka Bay, Minn., VW P&A, 18, -50.087
23. (26), Chad Brassfield(R), Phoenix, Ariz., Kyosho, 18, -50.856
24. (27), Ryan Buetzer, Long Beach, Calif., Hoopla, 18, -51.761
25. (25), David Heinz(R), Pittsburgh, Pa., Pre Loved, 18, -55.449
26. (10), Timmy Megenbier, Melrose Park, Ill., SCCA, 17, -1 lap
27. (20), Jake Dallenbach, San Antonio, Texas, Select 1, 10, DNF
28. (28), Jimmy Underhill, Denver, Colo., Bosch
29. (29), Derek Jones, Philadelphia, Pa., Bosch, DNS

The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup series is an innovative approach to motorsports – 30 factory-prepared and managed 2009 clean-diesel Jetta TDIs will be piloted by talented, up-and-coming drivers, aged 16 to 26. Volkswagen's goal is to find the driver with the most talent and help them break into the world of professional motorsports. The Jetta TDI Cup series, the first all clean-diesel race series, is sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing Inc. Sponsors for the race include: Aggreko, Athlete's Performance, Bondurant, Bosch, ful®, Holder, Hoopla, Ironclad, Kyosho, Oakley, RedBull, UTI and ViON.