2009 Grand-Am Rolex Series...........

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Bouchut, Groenewald Fastest in Homestead Test

Post by mlittle » Sun Mar 29, 2009 3:27 am

~~~GRAND-AM PRESS RELEASE
Teams Shake Off Rust in Fast Homestead-Miami Test

----HOMESTEAD, Fla. (March 25, 2009) - Faced with a three-month layoff between Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 events, 22 cars participated in a special two-day session at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Grand-Am Rolex Series officials responded to the request of several teams by adding the test, which falls two months after the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona and one month before the next event, the April 25 Bosch Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway.

Unofficially, competitors in both the Daytona Prototype and GT classes eclipsed the current Homestead-Miami Speedway records. Observers clocked Ozz Negri, driving the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley, at 1:12.455, followed by Michael Valiante in the team's No. 6 entry, 1:12.511. The pair were quick for most of the session until Christophe Bouchut beat both of them with a lap of 1:12.421 in the No. 55 Level5 Motorsports/Supercar Life BMW Riley he co-drove with Scott Tucker. In GT, three-time South African Wesbank V8 Supercars champion Hennie Groenewald turned in a lap of 1:19.140 on Wednesday morning in the No. 30 Racer's Edge Mazda RX-8 to lead the class. Dane Cameron turned in a lap of 1:19.226 late Wednesday.

All times recorded in the session were unofficial, and no records were kept of the sessions. The official track records are held by David Donohue in Daytona Prototype, 1:13.022, in 2008, and Boris Said in GT, 1:19.325, in 2004.

"This is very encouraging, because both cars are running better than they've ever been here," said Daytona Prototype team owner Michael Shank. "We're super excited to come back here. The motor problems that we had at Daytona have been taken care of by Roush Yates. The cars are running flawlessly, and we learned a ton. During all the off time we developed a ton of parts, and they've been cycled through both cars. But the best news of all is that both Mark (Patterson, co-driver of the No. 60) and John (Pew, in the No. 6) are extremely quick. They're within a second of the pro drivers in their cars, so that's what we look for."

Shank also said he learned a lot which will help the team when it returns to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the championship round Oct. 10.

"We're 100 percent better than we were here last year, and that's all we can gauge it on," Shank said. "Also, the guys can do those times all the time. The tire degradation at this track can be pretty bad, but we can still do our low times even with 60-100 miles on the tires."

Groenewald is riding a streak of three consecutive championships in the South African V-8 Supercars, but is also looking to make his American racing debut July 4 in the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway. Groenewald tested a Pontiac GTO and Porsche GT3 for Matt Connolly Motorsports on Tuesday before joining Racer's Edge Motorsports for Wednesday's session.

"It was a lot of fun driving each car because they were so different," Groenewald. "I really enjoyed all three of them. We had the fastest lap of the test in the Mazda, but that was because I drove with a new set of tires. Yesterday, both cars had old rubber, because I could still run quick laps on the Pirellis despite the number of laps on them."

Now, Groenewald is looking to race at Daytona in July - and beyond.

"I wanted to race here even before this test and evaluation, but these past two days have really strengthened my feeling of wanting to come here and do it," Groenewald said. "Now, I'm looking to put something together for Daytona, and am working hard on getting a full season in the Rolex Series for next year."

Joining Battery Tender/Matt Connolly Motorsports and Racer's Edge Motorsports in the GT ranks were two Corvettes from Team Sahlen for Joe Sahlen and Joe, Will and Wayne Nonnamaker; a pair of TRG Porsche GT3s for Andy Lally, Spencer Pumpelly and Justin Marks; two SpeedSource Maxda RX-8s for Sylvain Tremblay, Jeff Segal, Emil Assentato and David Haskell; Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis in the Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R; defending GT champions Kelly Collins and Andrew Davis in the Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R; Joe Foster, Patrick Dempsey and Charles Espenlaub in the Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8; and Tim Lewis Jr., Lawson Aschenbach and Kuno Wittmer in the Autohaus Pontiac GXP.R. Romas Kapudija and Mark Jurczyk also drove the Connolly Porsche, while Dane Cameron and Bryce Miller tested for Racer's Edge Motorsports.

In the Daytona Prototype ranks, Brumos Racing brought a pair of Porsche Rileys for JC France, Joao Barbosa and recent Rolex 24 winners David Donohue and Darren Law. Timo Berhard and Romain Dumas shared the Penske Racing Porsche Riley, Guy Cosmo (1:12.529) and Scott Russell co-drove the Spirit of Daytona Racing Porsche Coyote, Darren Manning and Bill Lester tested the Victory Junction/Orbit Racing BMW Riley, and Andy Wallace and Rob Finley split time in the Childress-Howard Motorsports Pontiac Crawford.

In addition to shaking off the rust from two months away from the track, teams were also gathering data for the championship weekend in October, when the Grand-Am Rolex Series and IndyCar Series end their seasons Oct. 10.

"It's good for me as a driver to know this track, because the season will all come down to the race when we come back here in October," said Bernhard, a two-time winner of the Rolex 24 At Daytona. "I hope we are still in the chase for the title when we come back here, so we've got to be prepared. This was a good test for us."

Following the April 25 event at Virginia International Raceway, the Rolex Series is in action the following weekend, May 2, at New Jersey Motorsports Park, before traveling to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the U.S. Sports Car Invitational on May 17. All three races will be televised live on SPEED. For additional information, visit www.grand-am.com.
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Verizon to sponsor Penske Racing Grand-Am DP

Post by mlittle » Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:29 pm

(Penske Racing GA press release)
~~~Verizon Wireless to Sponsor Penske Racing's Rolex Series Team



MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 31, 2009) - Building on its partnership with Penske Racing while extending its Verizon Championship Racing program, Verizon Wireless today announced that it will serve as primary sponsor of the Penske Racing Daytona Prototype in the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

Beginning with the Bosch Engineering 250 race at Virginia International Raceway, April 24-25, and for the remaining events on the 2009 Grand-Am Series schedule, the Penske Racing entry will carry the Verizon Wireless black and red color scheme and iconic "V" design. The car will be co-driven by championship racers Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, who earned back-to-back American Le Mans Series sports car titles for Penske Racing in 2007 and 2008.

Competing with the No. 12 Verizon Wireless entry in the Grand-Am Series, the Porsche Riley will build on the identity that the Penske Racing No. 12 and Verizon Championship Racing is establishing in both the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series. Verizon Wireless supports both the No. 12 Penske Dodge driven by David Stremme in the Cup Series as well as the No. 12 Verizon Wireless Dodge piloted by rising star Justin Allgaier in the Nationwide Series.

Verizon Wireless is one of the most diverse and wide-reaching brands in all of motorsports. With partnerships established with Penske Racing teams in NASCAR, the Grand-Am Series and the IndyCar Series - featuring associate sponsorship of the No. 6 Team Penske car driven by Ryan Briscoe and the No. 3 Team Penske machine scheduled to be driven by Helio Castroneves - Verizon Wireless is broadly represented at the highest levels of professional auto racing.

"Verizon Wireless is a terrific partner of Penske Racing and we're excited to announce that the relationship will extend to our team in the Grand-Am Rolex Series," said Roger Penske. "We have experienced much success in sports car racing and with the support of Verizon Wireless, we hope to celebrate with them in Victory Lane many times this year. I want to thank Verizon Wireless for its extensive support of our NASCAR Nationwide and Cup Series teams as well as our IndyCar Series and Grand-Am Series programs."

In addition to its partnership with the team, Verizon Wireless will also serve as title sponsor of two Grand-Am Rolex Series events this season. The Verizon Wireless 250 presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 will be held May 1-3 at New Jersey Motorsports Park, while Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will host the Verizon Festival of Speed presented by SPEEDCOM Communications, May 15-17.

"It's been a great start to the 2009 racing season for Verizon Wireless working with the Penske Racing team," said Mike Lanman, chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. "We look forward to taking Verizon Championship Racing to the next level with our sponsorship of the Penske Grand-Am team, as well as our entitlement of the two events this season in the Grand-Am Rolex Series. It's a outstanding opportunity for Verizon Wireless to partner with Grand-Am and one of the top teams in sports car racing. We can't wait to see the No. 12 Verizon Wireless Daytona Prototype compete on track this year."

Verizon Championship Racing is the designation for all race programs supported by Verizon Wireless. Verizon Championship Racing will deliver exciting activation elements in many markets this year across various racing disciplines, unique fan experiences, and the latest in racing news and action available only on VCAST. V CAST Video subscribers will have access to behind-the-scenes exclusive interviews with drivers, recaps of races, highlights, games, news and other racing information. Information about show car and driver appearances, the smart fortwo fleet in Verizon racing colors, concerts and other elements can be discovered at www.VerizonChampionshipRacing.com.

About Penske Racing

Penske Racing is one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports. Competing in a variety of disciplines, cars owned and prepared by Penske Racing have produced 307 major race wins, 363 pole positions and 22 National Championships. For more information about Penske Racing, please visit www.penskeracing.com.
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Post by mlittle » Sat Apr 04, 2009 10:59 am

Current Grand-Am Standings


~~~~DAYTONA PROTOTYPE STANDINGS
t-1st}[1]Juan Pablo Montoya, 32 pts
t-1st}[2]Memo Rojas, 32 pts
t-1st}[3]Scott Pruett, 32 pts
t-4th}[4]Buddy Rice, 30 pts(1 win)*
t-4th}[5]Antonio Garcia, 30 pts(1 win)*
t-4th}[6]David Donohue, 30 pts(1 win)*
t-4th}[7]Darren Law, 30 pts(1 win)*
t-4th}[8]J.C. France, 30 pts
t-4th}[9]Joao Barbosa, 30 pts
t-4th}[10]Hurley Haywood, 30 pts
t-4th}[11]Terry Borcheller, 30 pts

1st} Lexus, 32 pts
2nd} Porsche, 30 pts(1 win)*
3rd} Ford, 28 pts
4th} Pontiac, 24 pts
5th} BMW, 22 pts

1st} Riley, 30 pts(1 win)*
2nd} Dallara, 28 pts
3rd} Crawford, 23 pts
4th} Coyote, 20 pts
5th} Lola, 18 pts
*--following the Rolex 24, the #58 Brumos Porsche/Riley was found to be 12lbs. underweight during post-race tech; the team was fined $5,000 and lost 5 driver, engine and chassis pts.

~~~GRAND TOURING STANDINGS
t-1st}[1]Andy Lally, 35 pts(1 win)
t-1st}[2]Patrick Long, 35 pts(1 win)
t-1st}[3]Justin Marks, 35 pts(1 win)
t-1st}[4]Jorg Bergmeister, 35 pts(1 win)
t-5th}[5]Emmanuel Collard, 32 pts
t-5th}[6]Richard Lietz, 32 pts
t-5th}[7]Spencer Pumpelly, 32 pts
t-5th}[8]Tim George, Jr., 32 pts
t-5th}[9]Ted Ballou, 32 pts
t-10th}[10]B.J. Zacharias, 30 pts
t-10th}[11]Patrick Pilet, 30 pts
t-10th}[12]Sascha Maasen, 30 pts
t-10th}[13]Phillip Martien, 30 pts

1st} Porsche, 35 pts(1 win)
2nd} Pontiac, 28 pts
3rd} Mazda, 22 pts
4th} Chevrolet, 19 pts
5th} Ferrari, 8 pts
6th} Ford, 2 pts
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Foose to be Grand Marshal at Laguna Seca

Post by mlittle » Sat Apr 11, 2009 8:47 am

(press release from Grand-Am & Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca)
~~~DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 9, 2009) - Award-winning automotive designer Chip Foose has been named Grand Marshal of the May 17 Verizon Festival of Speed presented by SPEEDCOM at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Round 4 of the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 schedule.

In addition to giving the command to start the engines for the Daytona Prototype and GT class drivers, and presenting the trophies to the winners in both classes following the two hour, 45 minute event, Foose will also be meeting fans during the grid walk prior to the race.

"It's an honor being named Grand Marshal for the Verizon Festival of Speed," said Foose, star of the popular TLC series "Overhaulin'. "This is a great event with lots of history, and I'm very thrilled to be a part of it. I love the Grand-Am Rolex Series, and I'm very excited to be getting to watch the competition and experience all of the events."

Foose will also judge the Race ‘n Rod Nationals presented by Mother's Waxes and Car Polishes, held on Saturday in conjunction with the event, and will conduct a fan forum at the Mother's display at the car show.

Foose has also had a long relationship with Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Official Tire partner Pirelli. Every race car competing in the Rolex Series races on Pirelli P Zero racing tires.

"Chip Foose is a true partner in Pirelli's success, both here in the United States and abroad," said Rafael Navarro, Director of Media Communications and Motorsport for Pirelli Tire North America. "Pirelli is proud to be a part of the Grand-Am family and we are excited that Chip will be on hand to share his passion and expertise with his fellow automotive and motorsports enthusiasts."

Foose, a 45-year-old native of Santa Barbara, Calif., began working on automobiles at age 7 for his father's company. His career skyrocketed to the point where he started his own company, Foose Design, in 1998. Foose was the youngest member ever inducted into the Hot Rod Hall of Fame at age 31 in 1997, one of his many awards and accolades.

The Verizon Festival of Speed will be the debut of his season long partnership with Grand-Am as a part of his relationship with Pirelli, the official tire of the Rolex Series. He will be working with the series launching a new creative and advertising campaign exposing the closeness and excitement of the world class sporting car events. In addition, Foose designed a Pirelli Edition Ford Flex which will be awarded in conjunction with the 2009 Rolex Series season finale Oct. 10 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Practice for the Verizon Festival of Speed begins on Friday, May 15, with qualifying set for Saturday at 1:45 p.m. The race takes the green flag at 1 p.m. PT on Sunday, May 17, and will be televised live on SPEED. For additional information, visit www.grand-am.com.
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Post by mlittle » Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:20 pm

(Spirit of Daytona Press Release)
Image
~~~DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 14, 2009) ­- The Spirit of Daytona Racing No. 09 Porsche V8-powered Coyote will be back in action this month, as the team has entered the Bosch Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway with drivers Guy Cosmo and Scott Russell slated to share the driving duties April 23-25 for round 2 of the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 championship.

After rebounding from a brief pit fire and making it to the finish with a roster of champions in Jason Pridmore, Jeff Ward, Russell, and Cosmo in the 2009 Rolex 24 At Daytona, Spirit of Daytona is now ready for the "second half" of the Rolex Sports Car Series season.

Spirit of Daytona Racing has been working non-stop since the checkered flag of the Rolex 24 to be fully prepared for the select schedule the team will run in 2009. The team has continued to develop the Coyote chassis, and is hoping to put the lessons learned on the high banks of the home track in Daytona to good use as the Rolex Sports Car Series hits the natural terrain circuit in Virginia.

The Coyote, teamed with the Porsche V8 powerplant, hasn't been sitting still since the 24, as the team also took part in the late-March Rolex Series open test at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The track was one where the Coyote-Porsche V8 showed well in 2008, as Cosmo qualified and ran in the lead pack for much of the race. The March test provided some encouraging results, and almost more importantly, some great new data to work with as the team readies not only for the season-finale championship event at Homestead.

While the Homestead outing was encouraging, team owner Troy Flis knows that there are still a lot of lessons to be learned for the Coyote.

"We were really happy with how quick we were at Homestead and with how well the car managed tire wear, but we aren't kidding ourselves at all, because we know we are up against cars with thousands of miles of testing and racing behind them," Flis said. "But it was very encouraging for us to be setting times that were as competitive as they were. Everyone on the team has been working non-stop, so it was great to not only have a lot of test time thanks to good reliability, but to come out of there with some good ideas for the next time out so we are really looking forward to VIR."

Another challenge the team will be targeting is the fact that one half of the driver line up, Scott Russell, has only seen half of the track, on a machine that had only half the wheel count as the Coyote in his championship days on motorcycles.

"I've run half of VIR in a test session with Ducati the year I got hurt - I've not run the second half of that course," Russell said. "I'm trying to find a way to get over there and get to run a few laps before we get there. Thank God for Guy Cosmo. He's a development driver as well as a mentor for me. He's the man, and he's helped me a lot. It's a great opportunity just to be out here, and to be involved in something that's a development is kind of cool, really. They've made the car a lot more comfortable to drive. We're not expected to win the championship, that kind of thing. But I think we can get on the podium this year, for sure."

Cosmo, who has started from pole at VIR in Daytona Prototype competition, knows that the twisty Virginia circuit is a tough one for first-timers to take on, but is confident not only in his co-driver Russell, but also in the progress the team has already made with the new Coyote.

"I couldn't believe how well it went for us at Homestead and I just want us to be able to keep making that kind of progress once we get back to the track at VIR," Cosmo said. "I know Scott will have to learn his way around the track but he's picked it up quickly everywhere else we've run, hitting his marks like a champion and just getting more and more comfortable with what he can do in the car. I just can't wait to get back to it at VIR and keep improving because we all feel like there is some real potential in this package."

The Bosch Engineering 250 will air on SPEED TV at 2:30 PM ET on April 25.

About the Boy Scouts of America

Serving nearly 4.7 million young people between 7 and 20 years of age with more than 300 councils throughout the United States and its territories, the Boy Scouts of America is the nation's foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training.

Earlier this year, the Boy Scouts of America kicked off a multi-year 100th Anniversary celebration. Over the next two years, BSA will reintroduce to America the contributions Scouting makes in communities across the country and the positive impact Scouting has on millions of young lives. The 100th Anniversary celebration will include major national events, activities, and initiatives to engage nearly 3 million youth and 1.2 million volunteers; an estimated 50 million Scouting alumni; and the general public.

About Spirit of Daytona Racing

Spirit of Daytona Racing is headquartered just down the road from the "World Center of Racing " in the Daytona Beach, Florida area. Team principal Troy Flis has steered the team since its inception, and the organization has competed in Grand-Am since 1999, with sixteen class victories to its credit.

Utilizing the unique Porsche V8-Coyote combination, the team is looking forward to getting a fast start to the 2009 Rolex Sports Car Series season with three motorcycle champions-Scott Russell, Jason Pridmore, and Jeff Ward as well as Guy Cosmo behind the wheel.

For additional information:

www.scouting.org
www.spritofdaytona.com
www.sundaymanagement.com
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Post by mlittle » Sat Apr 25, 2009 1:04 pm

VIR Practice Session #1 top-5(DP/GT)


DP-1} #01 Target Lexus/Riley(Rojas, Pruett), 1:42.242 sec
DP-2} #76 Krohn Racing Ford/Lola(Jonsson, Zonta), 1:43.163 sec
DP-3} #10 SunTrust Pontiac/Dallara(Angelelli, Br.Frisselle), 1:43.223 sec
DP-4} #58 Brumos Porsche/Riley(Donohue, Law), 1:43.229 sec
DP-5} #55 SuperCar Life BMW/Riley(Bouchut, Tucker), 1:43.250 sec

GT-1} #07 Banner Engineering Pontiac GXP-R(Collins, Edwards), 1:52.385 sec
GT-2} #57 BryanMark Financial Pontiac GXP-R(Stevenson, Liddell), 1:52.728 sec
GT-3} #69 FXDD/Castrol Mazda RX-8(Assentato, Segal), 1:52.809 sec
GT-4} #86 Farnbacher Loles Porsche 911 GT3(Lux, Henzler), 1:52.830 sec
GT-5} #70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8(Ham, Tremblay), 1:52.883 sec
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Post by mlittle » Sat Apr 25, 2009 1:15 pm

VIR Practice Session #2 top-5(DP/GT)


DP-1} #6 Flight Options Ford/Riley(James, Pew), 1:42.740 sec
DP-2} #60 Flight Options Ford/Riley(Negri, Patterson), 1:42.749 sec
DP-3} #77 McDonald's Ford/Doran(Jaeger, Gidley), 1:43.384 sec
DP-4} #55 SuperCar Life BMW/Riley(Bouchut, Tucker), 1:43.664 sec
DP-5} #12 Verizon Wireless Porsche/Riley(Dumas, Bernhard), 1:43.668 sec

GT-1} #86 Farnbacher Loles Porsche 911 GT3(Lux, Henzler), 1:52.864 sec
GT-2} #66 The Racer's Group Porsche 911 GT3(Ballou, Pumpelly), 1:52.916 sec
GT-3} #70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8(Ham, Tremblay), 1:52.953 sec
GT-4} #57 BryanMark Financial Pontiac GXP-R(Stevenson, Liddell), 1:53.053 sec
GT-5} #87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche 911 GT3(Keen, Werner), 1:53.153 sec
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Rojas, Ham Shatter VIR Marks

Post by mlittle » Sat Apr 25, 2009 8:37 pm

Image

DANVILLE, Va. (April 23, 2009) - Memo Rojas prevailed in a back-and-forth battle with Timo Bernhard to capture the Daytona Prototype pole position for the Bosch Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway. Nick Ham turned in the fastest lap in GT qualifying, with both pole winners shattering the existing track records.
Rojas will start the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley out front when the green flag waves at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday for Round 2 of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16. (SPEED, live).

Rojas ran a lap of 1:41.646 (115.814 mph). It was the second career pole for Rojas, who will co-drive with 2008 Daytona Prototype co-champion Scott Pruett. The pair also teamed to win the 2007 Bosch Engineering 250. Rojas led qualifying for that event, but was forced to start the race from pit road after his qualifying lap was disallowed due to a technical infraction.

Friday, Rojas (and the remainder of the qualifiers) cleared post-qualifying inspection.

"The team did an awesome job - we had a great car since we rolled off the truck," Rojas said. "We're looking for a good race tomorrow. It took me a little bit longer to get my good lap in because of traffic. It's going to be a good race tomorrow."

Bernhard ran a lap of 1:42.233 (115.149 mph) in the No. 12 Penske Racing Verizon Wireless Porsche Riley he shares with Romain Dumas. Bernhard was on the provisional pole three times during the session - only to have his time eclipsed by Rojas each time.

"It was a good qualifying session, because our car was at its best in the session," said Bernhard, a Daytona Prototype rookie but the overall winner of the 2003 Rolex 24 At Daytona. "We've worked quite a bit on the car for tomorrow's race, so I'm looking forward to the race. It's a great car. Romain (co-driver Dumas) and I came here new to VIR, so we had to adapt quickly. The competition here is really high, and we need all our best to compete. I think it's going to be a tight race tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to it."

Jon Fogarty ran a lap of 1:42.262 (115.116 mph) in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley co-driven by Alex Gurney. Also on the second row will be Burt Frisselle in the No. 61 AIM Autosport/CONSOL Energy Ford Riley co-driven by Mark Wilkins, 1:42.475 (114.877 mph).

The top eight Daytona Prototype drivers were under the existing track record of 1:53.401 set by Michael Valiante in 2008. Darren Law in the No. 58 Brumos Porsche Riley, Nic Jonsson in the No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Lola, John Pew in the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley and Brian Frisselle in the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Ford Dallara also bettered the existing mark.

Final practice for the Rolex Series will be held Saturday from 9:30 - 10 a.m., with the two-hour, 45-minute race taking the green flag at 2:30 p.m.
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Post by mlittle » Sun Apr 26, 2009 11:44 pm

Image


~~~Gurney, Fogarty win at VIR
Alex Gurney took the lead on a four-wide pass on Lap 65 of 81 laps in the two-hour, 45-minute Bosch Engineering 250, and then held off Michael Valiante in a sprint to the finish to capture the raceat Virginia International Raceway, Round 2 of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16.

The GT race also came down to the wire, with Robin Liddell holding off Paul Edwards by .107 seconds to give the No. 57 Stevenson Automotive Pontiac GXP.R started by Andrew Davis its second straight VIR victory. Edwards shared the No. 07 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R with defending GT co-champion Kelly Collins.

It was the ninth victory for Gurney and Jon Fogarty in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley, in their 40th start driving together dating back to 2006 at VIR.

Gurney led the final 17 circuits, winning by .705 seconds over Valiante, who was co-driving the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley started by John Pew. Darren Law and David Donohue, winners of the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, finished third in the No. 58 Brumos Racing Porsche Riley.

Valiante and Scott Pruett - in the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley -- pressured Gurney throughout the closing laps, although all three cars were unsure of having enough fuel to compete the two hour, 45 minute distance on the challenging 3.27-mile circuit. With 12 minutes remaining, Andy Wallace went off course in the No. 2 Gentleman Jack's Childress-Howard Motorsports Pontiac Crawford to bring out the fourth caution of the event.

That resulted in a three-lap sprint to the finish, with Gurney trying to hold off Valiante, Pruett, Donohue and Max Angelelli, who was driving the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Ford Dallara. Donohue, Pruett and Angelelli made contact, with Angelelli going off course. Gurney then held off Valiante over the final two laps to take the victory.

"It was a great day," said Gurney, who shared the 2007 Daytona Prototype championship with Fogarty. "This is where we always aim to be. Our guys did some great work over the off season, and did a lot of work after Daytona. We really made some big improvements. It was a typical Grand-Am race - really tough - and I was happy to be up there and winning. It was a great race for Michael Valiante. It was just an unlucky deal for him - I've been sitting in that position before."

Pruett was driving in relief of pole-winner Memo Rojas, who led a race-high 27 circuits before handing over to Pruett.

Valiante led 15 circuits in his second race for Michael Shank Racing.

"I was trying to save fuel, but not enough to affect the outcome of the race," Valiante said. "When the yellow flag came out, we were able to run hard to the end. But Alex had just a little bit more than me, and that made it difficult for me to get by. We had the car to beat for sure, but we came up on lapped traffic that allowed Alex to pull out and take the lead."

Christophe Bouchut and Scott Tucker took fourth in the Supercar Life Racing BMW Riley, followed by Memo Gidley and Brad Jaeger in the No. 77 Doran Racing McDonalds Ford Dallara.

Rounding out the top 10 were Ozz Negri and Mark Patterson in the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley; Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhardt in the No. 12 Penske Racing Verizon Wireless Porsche Riley; Joao Barbosa and JC France in the No. 59 Brumos Racing Porsche Riley; Darren Manning and Bill Lester in the No. 45 Orbit Racing BMW Riley; and Guy Cosmo and Scott Russell in the No. 09 Spirit of Daytona Porsche Coyote.

The race was slowed four times for 17 laps. The top eight finishers completed 81 laps, averaging 96.074 mph.

Donohue and Law hold a one-point lead over Gurney and Fogarty, 60-59, heading into the next event, the May 3 Verizon Wireless 250 presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
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Post by mlittle » Sun Apr 26, 2009 11:46 pm

Image


~~~Pontiacs 1-2 at VIR
Robin Liddell held off Paul Edwards by .107 seconds to capture GT honors in Saturday's Bosch Engineering 250 , giving the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports/Bryan Mark Pontiac GXP.R its second consecutive Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 victory at Virginia International Raceway.

Edwards and co-driver Kelly Collins led a race-high 35 laps in the No. 07 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R, but Liddle got by with 12 laps remaining and prevailed in a sprint to the finish.

"To be honest, we didn't have the pace to stay with the Mazda, but we knew the Pontiacs would be strong over the race distance," Liddell said. "We knew Paul would be strong. We knew if we could be consistent and keep the car underneath us we could take charge at the end."

After Liddell made his pass for the lead, Edwards attempted to regain the point. The two cars bumped, Edwards went off course briefly, and Liddell led the remainder of the race.

"Our AC turned into a 200-degree heater," Edwards said. "Robin Liddell was pushing hard, I made a mistake and he took advantage of it. He got by, and I had nothing for him after that."

Liddell was also bothered by the heat, with the duct pushing cool air to his helmet falling off.

"You don't realize how important the driver aids are until you have problems," Liddell said. "It was very hot, and the pace was incredible. We just kept our heads down and kept going."

Nick Ham won the pole in the No. 70 SpeedSource Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8 and led twice for 22 laps in the early going. Sylvain Tremblay took over and finished third, .204 seconds behind the class winner.

Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3s took the next two positions, with Dirk Werner and Leh Keen placing fourth in the No. 87, followed by Eric Lux and Wolf Henzler in the No. 86.

Rounding out the top 10 were Ted Ballou and Spencer Pumpelly in the No. 66 TRG Porsche GT3; Joe Foster and Charles Espenlaub in the No. 40 Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8; Bryce Miller and Dane Cameron in the No. 30 Racers Edge Motorsports Mazda RX-8; Craig Stanton and John Potter in the No. 65 TRG Porsche GT3; and Mike Forest and Lawson Aschenbach in the No. 32 PR1 Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R.

Rolex 24 At Daytona winners Justin Marks and Andy Lally were involved in a lap eight incident, and came back to finish 15th in the No. 67 TRG Porsche GT3. Eliminated in that altercation was the No. 69 SpeedSource FXDD Mazda RX-8 of Emil Assentato.

The top two Pontiac teams now share the GT points lead, with Liddell, Davis, Collins and Edwards all with 60 points each -- followed by Ballou and Pumpelly with 57.

The Rolex Series will be in action next weekend, with the May 3 Verizon Wireless 250 presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
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Post by mlittle » Fri May 01, 2009 12:49 pm

Current Grand-Am Rolex Standings..................


~~~DAYTONA PROTOTYPE STANDINGS....................
1. Darren Law 60(1 win)
= David Donohue 60(1 win)
3. Alex Gurney 59(1 win)
= Jon Fogarty 59(1 win)
5. JC France 53
= Joao Barbosa 53
7. Memo Rojas 51
= Scott Pruett 51
9. Christophe Bouchut 50
= Scott Tucker 50

1. Ford 60
= Porsche 60(1 win)
3. Pontiac 59(1 win)
4. Lexus 51
5. BMW 50

1. Riley Technologies 65(2 wins)
2. Dallara 54
3. Coyote 41
4. Crawford Race Cars 39
5. Lola 33


~~~GRAND TOURING STANDINGS................
1. Andrew Davis 60(1 win)
= Kelly Collins 60
= Paul Edwards 60
= Robin Liddell 60(1 win)
5. Spencer Pumpelly 57
= Ted Ballou 57
7. Eric Lux 52
8. Andy Lally 51(1 win)
= Dirk Werner 51
= Justin Marks 51(1 win)
= Leh Keen 51

1. Pontiac 63(1 win)
= Porsche 63(1 win)
3. Mazda 52
4. Chevrolet 37
5. Ferrari 8
6. Ford 2
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Post by mlittle » Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:50 pm

Current Grand-Am Standings..................


~~~DAYTONA PROTOTYPE
t-1st}[1]Alex Gurney, 119 pts(2 wins)
t-1st}[2]Jon Fogarty, 119 pts(2 wins)
t-3rd}[3]Darren Law, 111 pts(1 win)
t-3rd}[4]David Donohue, 111 pts(1 win)
t-5th}[5]Brian Frisselle, 108 pts
t-5th}[6]Max Angelelli, 108 pts
t-7th}[7]Memo Rojas, 105 pts
t-7th}[7]Scott Pruett, 105 pts
t-9th}[9]Romain Dumas, 104 pts
t-9th}[10]Timo Bernhard, 104 pts

1st} Ford, 125 pts(1 win)
2nd} Pontiac, 119 pts(2 wins)
3rd} Porsche, 115 pts(1 win)
4th} Lexus, 105 pts
5th} BMW, 72 pts
6th} Honda, 15 pts

1st} Riley, 135 pts(3 wins)
2nd} Dallara, 116 pts
3rd} Lola, 84 pts(1 win)
4th} Crawford, 77 pts
5th} Coyote, 61 pts


~~~GRAND TOURING
1st} Spencer Pumpelly, 117 pts
t-2nd}[2]Dirk Werner, 116 pts(1 win)
t-2nd}[3]Leh Keen, 116 pts(1 win)
t-4th}[4]Andrew Davis, 111 pts(1 win)
t-4th}[5]Robin Liddell, 111 pts(1 win)
t-6th}[6]Paul Edwards, 108 pts
t-6th}[7]Kelly Collins, 108 pts
8th} Eric Lux, 105 pts
t-9th}[9]Nick Ham, 99 pts(1 win)
t-9th}[10]Sylvain Tremblay, 99 pts(1 win)

1st} Porsche, 128 pts(2 wins)
2nd} Pontiac, 121 pts(1 win)
3rd} Mazda, 111 pts(1 win)
4th} Chevrolet, 72 pts
5th} Ferrari, 8 pts
6th} Ford, 2 pts
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