Category: Other Series PR

MOORESVILLE, North Carolina (January 31, 2011) – – It may not have been the championship, but for rising Crandall, Texas sensation Michael Dabney Jr., recently being in Charlotte, North Carolina for his accomplishments in the Legend Car Series (LCS) in 2010 was enough to motivate the young pilot towards further reaching his dream of competing in one the premier series of NASCAR.

Dabney Jr., a full-time employee for Mooresville, North Carolina-based Turner Motorsports isn’t shy when it comes to the pressure to perform; let alone trying to set the foundation for his future. Despite lack of funding, Dabney Jr., was able to enjoy a solid 2010 racing season which awarded him with eight wins and 19 top-10s in 30 races.   Competing at Texas Motor Speedway, Red Rivers (Tx.) Speedway, Houston Motorsports Park, Monroe (La.) Motor Speedway and Charlotte (N.C.) Speedway, Dabney Jr.,  utilized his outings to also finish fourth in the Texas Summer Stampede, eighth overall in the national standings and a noteworthy third in the Texas State standings.

“To overcome all the circumstances we faced in 2010, I am humbled to finish eighth overall in the championship standings,” said Dabney Jr., whose been racing since 1996. “We finished second overall in 2009 (INEX Asphalt Legends) but the changes and challenges we faced this past season forced a whole new spectrum for the Dabney Racing team. We still won races and still had a presence. Unfortunately, circumstances beyond our control kept us from backing up our performance from 2009. Still, I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who supported me and allowed me to race.”

After several successful seasons of racing in the Legend Car Series mainly in the State of Texas, Dabney Jr., recently packed his bag and all of his belongings and made the trek to Mooresville, North Carolina notably dubbed the “Race City USA.”

Through determination and the willingness to learn, Dabney Jr., is hoping to utilize the tools of his new home as a way of not only putting his foot in the door but hopefully create the opportunity to strengthen his already impressive racing resume.

“Hopefully with some luck, I’ll be racing a late-model or testing an ARCA car at some point in 2011,” the 21-year old sounded. “I still have the Legend Car and I’m planning a limited schedule there, we just haven’t picked out the races yet. I’m grateful for all the welcomed arms when I made the move to North Carolina and have the opportunity to work for a respectable organization like Turner Motorsports makes the move feel right.”

He added, “I’m here to learn though. I know I would like to be in some type of race car every week, but I’m patient. I’m going to take my time and still race this year when I can but more importantly try and set my future because being a successful race car driver is the exact reason I moved to North Carolina.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates’ magical run continued on Sunday with their fourth overall victory in the 49th Rolex 24 At Daytona at Daytona International Speedway.

In the final minutes of America’s premier sports car race, a late caution suddenly turned the Rolex 24 At Daytona into a sprint race. The No. 01 BMW Riley with driver Scott Pruett behind the wheel held off the sister Ganassi Racing car – the No. 02 BMW Riley and driver Scott Dixon – on a final green and white restart to capture one of the most competitive twice-around-the-clock challenges in history. “It’s exciting for our team having a one-two finish,” Pruett said. “I think that’s how you one-up what you do here. I think that’s absolutely amazing and I’m proud of our whole organization. “The 02 car is great, having a team car in this race you get to bounce things off each other in practice and in testing and really try and make the most out of that opportunity to put two cars up front.” It was the fourth career overall Rolex 24 victory for Pruett and second for co-driver Memo Rojas while Graham Rahal and Joey Hand earned their first coveted Rolex watches.

Ganassi won three Rolex 24s between 2006-08 and has earned runner-up finishes the past two years.            

“I don’t drive the cars, I don’t change the tires, I don’t work on the engines,” Ganassi said. “There are lots of people, lots of great competitors that it takes to make up a team, and I’m just the guy that gets to stand up there and talk about it.”

The winning No. 01 entry covered 721 laps, 2,566.76 miles, equivalent of a trip from Daytona Beach to Los Angeles. The margin of victory was 2.070 seconds and there were four cars on the lead lap.

Rounding out the top three was the runner-up No. 02 Ganassi Racing entry with Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Juan Pablo Montoya and 2010 Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray. Third-place honors went to the No. 9 Action Express Racing Porsche Riley and drivers Max Papis, Christian Fittipaldi, JC France, Joao Barbosa and Terry Borcheller. The No. 67 TRG Porsche GT3, driven by Andy Lally, NASCAR driver Brendan Gaughan, Spencer Pumpelly, Wolf Henzler and Steven Bertheau, overcame a broken clutch to take GT class honors.

“This car was awesome and the gearbox that these guys built was a testament to us beating it up for 17 hours and not using a clutch,” Lally said. “It was just phenomenal to be a part of TRG and I’m in Victory Lane at Daytona,” Gaughan said. “That’s a dream come true.”

Rounding out the podium in the GT class was the No. 48 Miller Barrett Racing Porsche GT3 and drivers Bryce Miller, Tim Sugden, Bryan Sellers and Rob Bell in runner-up honors and Dempsey Racing in third place with actor Patrick Dempsey, Joe Foster, Tom Long and Charles Espenlaub. For Dempsey, it was his first podium in the Rolex 24 and a huge step in both his racing career and the team’s progression.

“I think it’s important for our development as a team,” Dempsey said. “The sacrifices Joe has done personally and professionally to get us here; and (engineer) Kirt (Wightman), our team, they have worked so hard the last few months with not the kind of funding that other teams have.”

Dempsey got emotional about his finish in his post-race interviews. “You just think of the waves of emotions,” Dempsey said.

“I started racing at the Panoz school a long time ago, and Joe was the head instructor and Charles was the instructor, and from that getting off the couch from watching SPEED on Sunday, to go and follow your dreams and to be here, it’s pretty special.”

Tickets for all Speedweeks 2011 events, including the 53rd annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 20, are available online at http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP. Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter (www.twitter.com/disupdates) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/DaytonaInternationalSpeedway)

ROLEX 24 HOURS AT DAYTONA, DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.

JANUARY 30, 2011 (FINAL/3:30 p.m. ET)

Roush Yates-powered engines were in a record eight entries at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.  Overall drivers were happy with the performance of the Ford motors and there appeared to be no issues during the 24 hour race.  With four hours to go, the No. 8 Ford came down pit road with a small oil leak that is believed to be caused by debris in the bypass on the oil pump.  Four of the eight entries finished inside the top 10 with the No. 23 finishing on the lead lap, one of only four cars on the lead lap.

Following is the finishing positions of all eight Fords:

POS.	CAR	DRIVERS	TEAM	CAR	SPONSOR
4	No. 23	Zak Brown Mark Patterson Mark Blundell Martin Brundle	United Autosports with Michael Shank Racing	Ford/Riley	Johnnie Walker/FXI/UBS
6	No. 76	Tracy Krohn Nic Jonsson Ricardo Zonta Nicholas Minassian	Krohn Racing	Ford/Lola
7	No. 6	AJ Allmendinger Michael McDowell Justin Wilson	Michael Shank Racing w/Curb/Agajanian	Ford/Dallara	Continential Tires/Curb Records/PVA/Rocky Fork Company
10	No. 60	John Pew Oswaldo Negri Jr. Marc Goossens Michael Valiante	Michael Shank Racing	Ford/Riley	Crown Royal XR
15	No. 2	Enzo Potoliccio Alex Popow Romain Iannetta	Starworks Motorsport	Ford/Riley	Duncan/Avior Airlines
16	No. 8	Mike Forest Ryan Dalziel Jim Lowe Colin Braun Tomas Enge	Starworks Motorsport	Ford/Riley	Grout Shield/Burlusa
17	No. 77	Brian Frisselle Henri Richard Matt Bell Ross Kaiser	Doran Racing	Ford/Dallara
18	No. 7	Douglas Peterson RJ Valentine Jared Beyer Scott Mayer	Starworks Motorsport	Ford/Riley	Xtreme Indoor Karting/Burlusa

 

-more-

Page 2

*Quotes in the 20^th hour:

 

JOHN MADDOX, ROAD RACING PROGRAM MANAGER FOR ROUSH YATES ENGINES: GIVE US AN UPDATE ON HOW THE FORDS ARE DOING OVERALL AND WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NO. 8?  “Looks like we’ve got two dogs in the hunt.  We’ve had a flawless weekend except it looks like we just had an oil pump failure, maybe some debris in the bypass on the oil pump.  But everything runs really good and everybody’s running really strong with what they’re running.  We’ve got two cars still on the lead lap so hopefully we can get up there and challenge Ganassi for the win.”

 

RYAN DALZIEL, NO 8 GROUT SHIELD/BURLUSA STARWORKS MOTORSPORT FORD/RILEY:  WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NO. 8 FORD?  “We ended up having an oil leak and rather than destroy our good Ford power we opted to just retire the car at this point.  There wasn’t much more we could do position wise.  It was the smart thing to do but it’s disappointing especially with as competitive as we have been throughout January so you know that’s racing.  The 24 Hours is a difficult race and I’m proud of the team that we got this far.” 

 

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 6 CONTINENTAL TIRES/CURB RECORDS/PVA/ROCKY FORK COMPANY MICHAEL SHANK RACING WITH CURB/AGAJANIAN FORD/DALLARA:  CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT HOW THE CAR WAS HANDLING OUT THERE?  “We’re struggling a little bit.  We’re fighting just trying to make something happen right now.  Everybody here at Michael Shank Racing, they’re fighting hard.  We’ve definitely made the car a lot better from when we started yesterday to now but still it’s a fight.  I’m worn out, it’s the toughest I’ve had to deal with here and it’s definitely not a car that can win but we’re on the lead lap.  We need a little help from those Ganassi cars, maybe those BMW’s will break down.  We got a strong Ford in a race car.  Doug Yates has been doing a great job with everybody at the engine shop.  We’ll see what we’ve got here with four hours to go.”

 

*Post-race quotes:

 

JOHN MADDOX, ROAD RACING PROGRAM MANAGER FOR ROUSH YATES ENGINES:  WRAPPING UP, OVER 24 HOURS HOW DO YOU FEEL THE ROUSH YATES ENGINES PERFORMED?  “We had one car still on the lead lap contending for a possible podium and everything went well.  We had one small little issue on one car but I think overall everything was good.”

 

ZAK BROWN, NO. 23 JOHNNIE WALKER/FXI/UBS UNITED AUTOSPORTS WITH MICHAEL SHANK RACING FORD/RILEY:  YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE RACE?  “Fourth-place and to be on the lead lap there fighting for the podium.  We had a chance to win it, a fantastic result.  United Autosport’s first event in the states, Blundell, Brundle, Patterson, everyone did a great job, couldn’t be happier.  MUST HAVE BEEN A BIT DISAPPOINTING NOT GETTING ON THE PODIUM BUT FANTASTIC ACHIEVEMEN FIRST TME OUT.  “It is a little disappointing to not get on the podium when we were a couple feet away but you know you look back and say, if we can finish top five we’ll take that, absolutely, fantastic.  HOW DID THE ROUSH YATES ENGINES HOLD UP FOR YOU?  “The engines were great, they made it all 24 hours without a glich, couldn’t’ be happier.”

 

 

-more-

Page 3

MARK PATTERSON, NO. 23 JOHNNIE WALKER/FXI/UBS UNITED AUTOSPORTS WITH MICHAEL SHANK RACING FORD/RILEY:  HOW WAS THE RACE FOR YOU OVERALL?  “Beautiful, beautiful.  The engine was great, Roush Yates makes a beautiful engine and the car was fabulous and you know what, the drivers didn’t make any mistakes.  We never went to the garage and that’s why we came fourth.”

 

MARK BLUNDELL, NO. 23 JOHNNIE WALKER/FXI/UBS UNITED AUTOSPORTS WITH MICHAEL SHANK RACING FORD/RILEY:  HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THE TOP FORD?  “It feels tremendous.  Everyone’s done a tremendous job and we’re all excited.  At one point we thought we might be on the podium but it didn’t happen for us.  I think if you looked at where we came from, we didn’t even know we were doing this until a few weeks ago, we turned up where we got this result.  Pretty good.  There’s some big names and some big teams out there so we didn’t do anything to disrespect ourselves.”

 

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 6 CONTINENTAL TIRES/CURB RECORDS/PVA/ROCKY FORK COMPANY MICHAEL SHANK RACING WITH CURB/AGAJANIAN FORD/DALLARA:  HOW WAS THE LAST STINT?  “It was long, kind of pointless, not racing anybody.  It wasn’t bad, I think we made the car better from when we started but it wasn’t fast enough but we finished and that’s the first goal.  I hadn’t finished in about four years here.  Everybody at Shank and all the team guys here, Wilson and McDowell, I’ll even thank them.  Continental Tires, Curb Records, PVA, everybody that gave us a chance.  Ford, Doug Yates especially.  I want to thank everybody for a motor that lasted.  We finished and that was the first goal, so come back and try to win it again next year.”

 

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, NO. 6 CONTINENTAL TIRES/CURB RECORDS/PVA/ROCKY FORK COMPANY MICHAEL SHANK RACING WITH CURB/AGAJANIAN FORD/DALLARA:  HOW DO YOU THINK THE RACE WENT OVERALL FOR THE TEAM AND YOURSELF?  “We had a good car most of the race.  It wasn’t quite as fast as we would have hoped, just car handling wise.  We had good strategy and we were able to stay on the lead lap and run up front most of the time then there with just a couple hours to go we had to fix a broken part that put us a couple laps down so that cost us a couple spots.  HOW DO YOU FEEL THE ROUSH YATES ENGINES HELD UP FOR 24 HOURS?  “The engine was great.  We didn’t have any issues in the engine department, the power was great on it.”

 

OSWALDO NEGRI JR, NO. 60 CROWN ROYAL XR MICHASEL SHANK RACING FORD/RILEY:  HOW WAS YOUR RACE OVERALL?  “Looking back now it’s pretty frustrating.  We were running top four in the beginning of the race and by early morning it just a couple of unfortunate events, other drivers hitting us and being very aggressive earlier on just took us out of contention.  We had a good car and I’m pretty sure we had a top three car but it’s just frustrating.  It’s a long season and besides everything that happened, I’m optimistic.  HOW DID THE ROUSH YATES ENGINE PERFORM FOR YOU?  “Flawlessly, perfect.  Very, very competitive.”

 

MICHAEL VALIANTE, NO. 60 CROWN ROYAL XR MICHASEL SHANK RACING FORD/RILEY:  AFTER THE 24 HOURS IS DONE, HOW DO YOU FEEL?  “Tired.  We just look at all the things we could have done differently.  Some of the things you can plan for and some of the things you can’t, they just creep up.  You just look at past experiences and apply those to future events.  HOW DID THE MOTOR RUN?  “It ran brilliant, no issues and we made it a whole 24 hours so great.”

Page 4

JOHN PEW, NO. 60 CROWN ROYAL XR MICHASEL SHANK RACING FORD/RILEY:  HOW WAS THE 24 HOUR RACE FOR YOU OVERALL?  “Well we made it to the end.  We finished top 10.  We were hoping for a little better but we had some bad luck but the Ford Roush Yates engine was flawless and no problems there.  I know we’ll do a lot better next time.”

NICHOLAS MINASSIAN, NO. 76 KROHN RACING FORD/LOLA:  TALK ABOUT THE RACE OVERALL FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE FOR THE KROHN TEAM.  “It’s been very good.  I think the team did the biggest job of all because they prepared a car that is very reliable which is the prime thing you need to have in the race.  We’re missing a little bit of pace with the car, it’s not the fastest car out there.  Probably one of the most reliable cars and it’s one of the top teams in my eyes because strategy wise we are right up there with everybody, even if we didn’t have the pace we managed to stick at the front with strategy.  Pit stops was as best as you can get so the car has been very good, it’s been a bit of a handful to drive so that’s the only thing difficulty I would say is driving the car every lap is trying to keep the car on track.  It’s very “oversteery”, very low grip but apart from that the team has been the star.”  HOW WAS THE ROUSH YATES ENGINE FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?  “The engine’s been good.  When I start forgetting about something in the car I think it’s very good because everything is smooth as you can get.  You even forget about it because your running so well.  One top quality about us at the moment is that we got top speed.  Even if we are slow in the corners we can keep people behind us for quite awhile with the speed we’ve got.  The engine is no fault, perfect, nothing to say.”

About Roush Yates Engines

Roush Yates Engines designs, engineers and crafts high performance racing engines with the power to perform and the horsepower and durability you’d expect from legendary NASCAR pioneers Jack Roush and Robert Yates.  The partnership of power and precision has come from merging the knowledge and experience of two legendary engine builders, both with a passion for winning today and powering up for tomorrow.  In 2009 Doug Yates purchased his father’s  half of Roush Yates Engines to become a co-owner in the company.

As CEO, Doug Yates leads a staff of 180 engineers and technicians who design, assemble, test, and service racing engines at two separate state-of-the-art facilities in Mooresville, North Carolina.  Here, the best minds and latest technology are hard at work producing nearly 1,500 racing engines each year for teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, ARCA, Grand-Am, FIA GT3, Dirt Late Model, Sprint cars, and NHRA Pro Stock.  At Roush Yates Engines, the mission is Power Performance, which is achieved through innovation, design, precision engineering, and skillful craftsmanship.  Building the best engines in racing today, providing service that’s second to none, and honoring a commitment to research and development are the heart of Roush Yates Engines.

For more information contact Sheri Herrmann, Roush Yates Engines at (704) 905-6433 or slh3503@netscape.net.

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES                                                   
Grand-AM Rolex 24 at Daytona, Page 1
January 30, 2011                                                                                                   
 Daytona International Speedway
 
ROUSH YATES ENGINES

JOHN MADDOX – Road Racing Program Manager, Roush Yates Engines – “For the last 24 hours it’s been tough. We had one issue; we ended up working on one of our cars for oil check problems. Overall any issues we came across, my guys seemed to handle pretty well. They kept their heads together and they made some great decisions.”

UNITED AUTOSPORTS WITH MICHAEL SHANK RACING – (finished 4th, started 15^th)

ZAK BROWN – driver/co-owner No. 23 Johnnie Walker/FXI/UBS Ford Riley – “This is my fourth race at Daytona and my first in a Daytona Prototype and first with United Autosports and Mike Shank.  Everyone did a great job; drivers did a great job.  I’m very pleased to get a result like this in our first event.  Our weekend was pretty flawless, really.  The car ran great, the engine was great.  The drivers didn’t make any mistakes.  We didn’t make any mistakes in the pits.  It’s pretty good, just three places short of what we wanted to be, but I can’t complain about a top-five finish.” ON BEING THE TOP FINISHING FORD. “Top Ford, that’s much better.  Martin gave it a good run to be in the top three there at the end, that was pretty exciting.”  TALK ABOUT WORKING WITH MICHAEL SHANK RACING. “He’s the best.  But I knew he would be.  I used race against him in the Atlantics, so I’ve known him for 20 years, so I’m not surprised he gave  the effort that he did.”  MARTIN SAID YESTERDAY THAT IT WAS 21 YEARS SINCE HE RACED AT DAYTONA.  WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS FINISH MEANT TO HIM? “I bet he loved it.  I can’t wait to see him get out of the car.  I think he’s probably got the [racing] bug back.” WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE TEAM? “We hope to keep it going but we have some work to do to get the budget to make that happen.”

RICHARD DEAN – co-owner United Autosports No. 23 Johnnie Walker/FXI/UBS Ford Riley – “We’ve been planning and overseeing this effort to come and take on the Daytona 24 Hours in our first attempt with the obvious, huge help Mike Shank and his team.  It’s been quite a weekend.  We’ve got some experienced drivers but also in their own way rookie drivers to Daytona Prototypes.  Mark Patterson is probably the only one who’s got any racing experience in these cars.  To finish on the lead lap, having never really been off the lead lap; it was a competitive and professional approach.  I don’t think it gets much closer than that at the end.”  WHAT HAPPENED ON THE FINAL LAP? “We were starting fourth and we didn’t really have the pace to make a move in the green flag racing stints.  Then the safety car came out and Martin had a little opportunity at the first corner.  He certainly gave it a go; he wasn’t shy in deciding ‘Why not?’ and he certainly had a go and nearly came off.  It was very close.”  TALK ABOUT BEING THE TOP FORD OF THE RACE. “We’re proud of the team and we’re very grateful to Ford; they’ve given us a strong engine that hasn’t missed a beat at all.  The support and back up service has been exemplary.  You can’t do it without a strong motor in the back.  We’re obviously very appreciative.” WHAT’S NEXT FOR UNITED AUTOSPORTS? “You never know.  This has certainly given us some encouragement and it was very much a toe in the water to have a look at Grand-Am, as a team. You can guarantee it won’t be our last attempt.  I would imagine we will be back next year for the Rolex 24.  If we really want to approach that properly, we should probably do a few more DP Grand-AM races between now and then.”

 

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES                                                   Grand-AM Rolex 24 at Daytona, Page 2

January 30, 2011                                                                                                    Daytona International Speedway

 

MICHAEL SHANK – CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP WITH UNITED AUTOSPORTS AND MICHAEL SHANK RACING?  “This way exceeded my expectations by big percentage points.  We just came into this to have fun but be competitive, be in the top 10 and be happy.  We nearly pulled off a P2 on that last lap.  Brundle just did a phenomenal job on that restart and almost lost it and kept it at the same time.  It was a lot of fun; we learned a ton.  The team worked great with United Autosports.  It was a perfect win-win deal for both of us.  It’s way beyond what I’d thought we’d pull out of this thing.” YOUR NAME IS NOW ASSOCIATED WITH ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL DAYTONA DP TEAM. “Absolutely, and we hope that we’ll have this group and this car the way you see it today at Homestead in March.” ON THE WEEKEND. “The best thing is that everybody led laps today, we were 1-2-3 with 15 hours to go.  And that’s never happened before, so I’ve got lots of pictures of it. Everyone of them were competitive and that was the most important thing.  We just had some rotten luck. Even with the 23 car, we broke a bunch of stuff.  Someday, we’ll get it together and that’s why we do it.” WHAT’S NEXT FOR MICHAEL SHANK RACING? “Homestead.  We’re going to go win Homestead.”

MARK PATTERSON – No. 23 Johnnie Walker/FXI/UBS Ford Riley – “I had a wonderful time in the car.  I did four or five stints with the mighty Mark Blundell and Martin Brundle from England, great Formula 1 drivers and Zak Brown who put the team together.  It was fantastic fun.”  TALK ABOUT BEING THE TOP FINISHING FORD. “There were only four people on the lead lap at the end of the race and we were one of them. It’s tough to do.” 

 

MARK BLUNDELL – No. 23 Johnnie Walker/FXI/UBS Ford Riley   –“We just finished fourth overall in the Daytona 24 Hours.  This is my first Daytona 24 and my first Daytona 24 Prototype drive.  This is all new to me.  It was a great event; I really enjoyed.  The team did a tremendous job.  The Ford engine was great and didn’t miss a beat.  We’re all happy.” TALK ABOUT BEING A ‘ROOKIE’ HERE AT DAYTONA.  “Yes, rookie, but to finish in the top few cars, we’re happy.  We came here to say a top six was possible; we finished fourth.  That’s not bad.  I think the average age on the team is about 180 years old, so I think we’re going okay.” TALK ABOUT BEING THE TOP FORD INTODAY’S RACE. “It feels tremendous.  I think everybody did a tremendous job.  We’re all excited.  At one point, we might have been on the podium, but it didn’t happen for us.  I think if you looked at where we came from, we didn’t even know we were doing this until a few weeks ago. We’ve turned up and got this results; pretty good. There are some big names and big teams out there.  I don’t think we’ve done anything to disrespect ourselves.”

 

MARTIN BRUNDLE – No. 23 Johnnie Walker/FXI/UBS Ford Riley  – CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT FINAL LAP? “I thought I’d try and have a go around the outside and see how far I could get. I passed some cars. I had nothing to lose, really.  It was all crazy; there were six or seven of us all trying to get to one spot.  It was a bit dirty and my tires were cold.  I thought I’d have a go.” TALK ABOUT WORKING WITH UNITED AUTOSPORTS AND MICHAEL SHANK RACING.  “Our car has been incredibly reliable.  We’ve run it into a few things.  They patched it up, sent it on its way.  We were competitive all the way through and we got increasingly competitive, actually.  I’m very satisfied and I hope they are.” LAST NIGHT YOU SAID YOUR LAST RACE AT DAYTONA WAS 21 YEARS AGO; THIS WAS A NICE WAY TO COME BACK. “Yes, but I would have like to have been on the podium.  Then if I wasn’t disappointed with that, then I shouldn’t have been here in the first place.” HOW WAS THE MOTOR FROM LATE LAST NIGHT UNITL THIS AFTERNOON? “The motor never missed a beat.”  WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT THING YOU ENCOUNTERED THIS WEEKEND? “Two things, really.  I picked up a really big vibration at the end and I couldn’t see the track, basically, the last 45 minutes.  The worst thing that happened was in the middle of the night coming through four passing, I hit this huge piece of debris that I couldn’t see in the middle of the track, in the NASCAR turn four.  It just took the steering wheel out of my hand and the front of the car.  That’s why we went down a bit. There was no way I could have seen it because I was passing a car.  I think it was a tire carcass or something.  It was a heck of a bang.”

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES                                                   Grand-AM Rolex 24 at Daytona, Page 3

January 28, 2011                                                                                                    Daytona International Speedway

 

KROHN RACING TEAM – (finished 6^th, started 15^th)

TRACY KROHN – driver/owner No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Lola – Whenever you finish a 24 hour race you obviously feel relieved and satisfied no matter where you finished, even if you finished last, at least you finished. A lot of people didn’t finish. The Ford motor here today was magnificent. We had a few handling problems with the car, but the motor was just amazing for us. We had no problems at all.”HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE OF YOUR TEAM TODAY? “Those guys did a great job. We didn’t have a single issue where we had to go to the garage. All we needed was fuel, tires and brakes and that was it. You can’t ask for more than that. I’ve never done a 24 hour race where we didn’t have some incident where you needed to do some work for the flesh.  This was the first one. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t finish better, but the team did great.  The team was incredible. The car just wasn’t quick enough. That was all there was to it. Motor was good, transmission was good. We just didn’t have the right set-up for this track. Everybody else was faster. All the drivers did a great job. Nobody had a misstep. Everyone did great.”

NIC JONSSON – No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Lola –“The Krohn crew did a fantastic job, not just preparing the car but it was a flawless race. We just had scheduled pit stops. There were no problems with the car. Everything ran perfect. That’s a testament to the fact we have a fantastic team behind us.  Over the course of the season and the variety of tracks Grand-AM visits, the car can collect many points but it’s much more at home on the road courses than the superspeedway.  The car was just not fast enough. Otherwise, all the drivers did a good job. The crew did a fantastic job. The Ford motor performed excellent. No complaints. We just didn’t have the pace in the car. What can I say? It’s still good to finish a 24 hour. The result was not what we wanted and that’s a little disappointing but, hey, the car is still in one piece. We’ll have to try to come back next year and do better.”

NICHOLAS MINASSIAN – No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Lola – “It was an absolute pleasure to work with the Krohn Racing team. I think they are a top team. Every single person that works on this team – from mechanics to tire guys, refueling, engineer, strategist, everybody works well. You’ve got a good feeling because everybody is happy doing their job. Everybody is doing his job their best. There is nothing to fault. I think we did the race as fast as we could have done, so that is satisfaction somewhere.” ON THE SIXTH PLACE FINISH. “You are always somewhat disappointed because you want to win. I think it is a problem if you don’t always want to win. We did as well as we could have done and the strategy was probably one of the best in the world. Regarding pit stops, there was nothing to say. The car was prepared perfectly because we had no problems. We’re probably the only one to have no problems.”

 

RICARDO ZONTA – No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford Lola – “It was disappointing to not win this race because we had a great race. The car was very good. The pit stops were very good, as was the race strategy. We had no problems this year like we did in past years at this race and yet we finished sixth place. This is difficult to accept. We just didn’t have a strong enough car for the competition today. I want to thank Tracy for inviting me back to race with the Krohn team again. I also want to thank all the mechanics and team members for their excellent and hard work this year at Daytona.”

 

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES                                                   Grand-AM Rolex 24 at Daytona, Page 4

January 28, 2011                                                                                                    Daytona International Speedway

No. 6 MICHAEL SHANK RACING – (finished 7^th, started 8^th)

AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Dallara – “It wasn’t bad. We ended the day better than where we started. It wasn’t fast enough but we finished. It was the first year I finished here. I want to thank everybody at Shank, the team guys here, Justin Wilson and [Michael] McDowell, Continental Tires, Curb Records and everybody that gave us a chance, especially Doug Yates. Everybody for making a motor that lasted. We finished and that was the first goal, so now I’m going to have to come back and try to win it again next year. THIS KICKS OFF YOUR FULL MONTH RUN IN DAYTONA. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS YEAR IN NASCAR? “My body hurts, my back aches. I don’t feel like I want to sit in another race car again; that’s what makes this race so fun. You’re here in Daytona and it kicks everything off. If we finished seventh for the [Daytona] 500 like we did here, that would be a great start. I’m looking forward to working with everybody at Richard Petty Motorsports. It was a tough end of the year and a little bit of a tough off-season. Now we’re ready to go and we’ll see you guys in a couple of weeks.”

 

JUSTIN WILSON – No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Dallara –“It was a tough 24 hours but I’m just really happy we made to the finish. We pulled through the night. I want to thank everyone at Michael Shank Racing for the effort they put in. We were close, just not quite there. Michael [McDowell] and AJ [Allmendinger] both did a fantastic job. We just have to come back next year.” YOU’RE NOT A GRAND-AM SERIES DRIVER, SO WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS RACE THAT KEEPS BRINGING YOU BACK? “This race is just special. You get to race against all of these great drivers and that’s what it’s all about. You come here have some fun, try to win a Rolex watch and it’s a great time of year.”

 

MICHAEL MCDOWELL – No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Dallara – “It’s not what we came here to do, obviously we wanted to win. We were able to contend for that five or six hours ago but had some suspension issues and we had to fix. All and all it was fun. Our team did a great job.” THIS KICKS OFF YOUR RACE SEASON. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR RACE SEASON AHEAD? “It’s a good way to get it started to get your mindset going again. It’s obviously tough both mentally and physically and helps get you back on your game a little bit quicker. It’s been a good couple of weeks here and we have a couple more. It feels like we’re in Daytona for the whole entire month but it’s a great place and I’m glad to be here.” HOW DID THE FORD ROUSH YATES ENGINE PERFORM FOR THIS RACE? “It was great. We didn’t have any issue in the motor department. We just had some suspension issues. The motor was great all day.”

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES                                                   Grand-AM Rolex 24 at Daytona, Page 5

January 28, 2011                                                                                                    Daytona International Speedway

 

No. 60 MICHAEL SHANK RACING – (finished 10^th, started 8^th)

OSWALDO NEGRI – No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford Dallara – “We are always very competitive here in Daytona. I had a lot of expectations about this race and so did the team. I thought we had a great package with the Ford engine and the new chassis engineers gave us a great car. I felt that we could have definitely finished in the top three here. What goes through my mind is just another year without winning the Rolex watch.” WHAT DO YOU NOW UNTIL HOMESTEAD IN MARCH? “First off, get some rest and take off a couple of weeks for recovery. I need to enjoy some time with my family. We’ve put a lot of time in to this race so I need to recharge my batteries and get ready for Homestead.”

 

JOHN PEW – No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford Dallara – “The Rolex 24 it’s always worth it. It’s like going into a big battle and coming out, maybe not how you want, but it’s a process. It’s fun. That’s the way to do it. The odds of winning this thing are so small. So many things have to come together to do it, but people try and try again and again to do it because of the whole process, the whole battle.” YOU ENJOY THE BATTLE ASPECT? “I do enjoy that battle.”WHERE ELSE DO YOU BATTLE LIKE THIS? “You do it in business; you do it in other sports. There are other races similar to this, but this one, this 24 hour race requires so much endurance. So many things can go wrong and there are so many factors involved. “

 

MARC GOOSSENS – No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford Dallara – “This race was quite a battle for us. We had our share of bad luck. Whenever we were staying out of trouble we were running a similar pace. We were keeping up with everybody so the package was there, but it’s a 24 hour race. We, at one point, were down a few laps and then we had three hours of fog where you had to keep your safety guard up.  That didn’t help us. The team was good, the engine was good. We just needed to get the whole package together and maybe next time we will have a little more luck on our side.”

 

MICHAEL VALIANTE – No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford Dallara – WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS RACE TOMORROW WHAT DO YOU FOCUS ON? HOW DO YOU FEEL? “Tired, I think we look at things we could have done differently. Some things you can change some things you can’t. As drivers we just regroup and get it together for future events.” HOW DID THE FORD ROUSH YATES ENGINES PERFORM HERE TODAY? “We had no issues with the motor all day. It performed great out there. We had a lot of power out there.”

MICHAEL SHANK – Team Owner – “I don’t even know what to say. These guys had a whole bunch of issues. We kept cars on the lead lap for 80 percent of the laps. It didn’t work out today. I thought Martin Brundle had it there at the end. The whole United Autosports team went way beyond our wildest dreams finish wise. I want to thank everybody involved that helped us get to the finish line.”

STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS PACES CAMARO GT.Rs; BOTH TEAMS LED LAPS

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.  (Jan. 30, 2011) – The hard-charging No. 10 SunTrust Racing Chevrolet Dallara finished in fifth place in the Rolex 24 at Daytona GRAND-AM Road Racing opener at Daytona International Speedway to lead the three Chevrolet-powered Daytona Prototype (DP) entrees in the field. The No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R finished 12th to pace the three Chevys in the GT field.

The No. 10 SunTrust Chevrolet Dallara – driven by Max Angelelli, Ryan Briscoe and Ricky Taylor – was involved in on-track contact, which caused damage to the right side of the car, nearly six hours into the race, and lost five laps while in the garage. The team regained four of those laps before returning to the garage to repair a broken suspension part, believed to have resulted from the earlier incident.

“The car is good, the Chevrolet engine is good and I am looking forward to the season,” said Taylor. “We know where the engine is now. We know we have a strong engine. All the variables we were worried about, we have answers to and I think they are all positive.”

The No. 10 SunTrust Chevrolet Dallara, which led for 36 laps in the early going, finished one lap off the pace.

The No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R – driven by Robin Liddell, Ronnie Bremer and Jan Magnussen – led its class for 23 laps, and then overcame problems to rally 20 positions from 32nd place.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed in having some electrical issues early on in the race when we were leading,” said team owner John Stevenson. “It got us down over an hour, so 25 laps are hard to overcome, but we came from 32nd to 12th, so we pushed as hard as we could to get as many points as we could. Now we’ll move on. We’ve got the whole rest of the season to go.”

Chevrolet announced its partnership with GRAND-AM Road Racing and team lineup last week.

“For this year’s 24 Hours of Daytona race, we debuted new engine configurations in both the Daytona Prototype and GT classes,” said Mark Kent, GM Racing Director. “These new engines are based on our LS-series of small block V8 engines and contain a significant number of production components.  The 24 Hour of Daytona race is the most demanding road race held in North America.  Therefore, to introduce these new engine configurations at this grueling event and to not have a single engine related failure is a great demonstration of the performance and reliability attributes of our small block V8 engine.”

Other Team Chevy finishers: In DP, No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Chevrolet Riley, 12th in class and 15th overall; and No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Chevrolet Coyote, 14th/ 23rd. In GT, No. 88 Autohaus Motorsports Camaro GT.R, 14th/28th; and No. 07 Banner Racing Camaro GT.R, 23rd/39th.

Note: Team Chevy press releases, high-resolution images, and media kit can be downloaded from the Team Chevy media website: 

About Chevrolet: Founded in Detroit in 1911, Chevrolet celebrates its centennial as a global automotive brand with annual sales of about 4.25 million vehicles in more than 140 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. The Chevrolet portfolio includes iconic performance cars such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long-lasting pickups and SUVs such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers such as Spark, Cruze, Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including Cruze Eco and Volt. Cruze Eco offers 42 mpg highway while Volt offers 35 miles of electric, gasoline-free driving and an additional 344 miles of extended range. Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES

ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA

DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

JANUARY 30, 2011

 

POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:

MARK KENT – GM RACING DIRECTOR – “For this year’s 24 Hours of Daytona race, we debuted new engine configurations in both the Daytona Prototype and GT classes.  These new engines are based on our LS-series of Small Block V8 engines and contain a significant number of production components.  The 24 Hour of Daytona race is the most demanding road race held in North America.  Therefore, to introduce these new engine configurations at this grueling event and to not have a single engine related failure is a great demonstration of the performance and reliability attributes of our small block V8 engine.”

 

The No. 10 SunTrust Racing Chevrolet Dallara had a strong car from the drop of the green flag. After on-track contact at approximately 9:00 p.m. that forced the team to the garage twice for repairs, the team rallied from 11 laps down to finish fifth in class and fifth, overall one lap down to the leaders at the end of the Rolex 24. The team was the highest finishing Chevrolet in the field.

 

MAX ANGELELLI, NO. 10 SUNTRUST RACING CHEVROLET DALLARA, FINAL DRIVER IN THE RACE – FINISHED 5^TH IN CLASS AND 5^TH OVERALL: TALK ABOUT YOUR RACE: “If it wasn’t for many things, you know. For 24 hours, you have to have everything in place. You can go two seconds slower, but you can’t afford to stop in the garage. We’ve been very unlucky. It was a little piece that broke and put us down eight laps. The Chevy team, I believe, recovering 11 laps, it is incredible. It is incredible.

“Anyway, I have to wait another year. It is going to take long to recover. We were fast all race long, not only the last part of the race. It has been always like that. It is very painful.”

WAYNE TAYLOR, TEAM OWNER, NO. 10 SUNTRUST CHEVROLET DALLARA – FINISHED 5^TH IN CLASS AND 5^TH OVERALL: TALK ABOUT YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS YEAR’S ROLEX 24: “It was an amazing event. I can’t…I don’t know what to say. I am just so happy for everybody. I mean the guys, the drivers, the team, SunTrust, the Cheever people, Dallara, General Motors – the engines were fantastic. It was just fantastic. The guys, Ryan (Briscoe), Max (Angelelli) and Ricky (Taylor) I think were the best combination out there. We just had that stupid incident.”

LOOKING BACK YOU HAVE HAD TIME TO REFLECT BACK ON IT, WAS IT A RACING INCIDENT WITH THE NO. 02? “In the end, it was probably a racing incident but maybe he thought he was in a NASCAR stock car race or something, I don’t know. But, you know, these things happen. Big picture, points wise I am very happy. I am looking forward to getting to the next race and winning some races. But you know what? We’ll see what the competition department in GRAND-AM says about this one. I told them at the end of last year, going into this year, you going to have the same thing happen again and the same thing happened.”

OTHER THAN THE INCIDENT, NOTHING ELSE WENT WRONG? “No, nothing. Just one incident.”

The No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R ran very well and led some laps at the beginning of the Rolex 24 before encountering a number of issues. At one point, the team dropped to 32nd before rallying for a 12th-place finish, to lead the Camaro GT.Rs in the field.

 

JOHN STEVENSON – OWNER, NO. 57 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GT.R, FINISHED 12TH IN CLASS AND 26TH OVERALL – “It’s just a feat to finish this deal. Obviously, we’re disappointed in having some electrical issues early on in the race when we were leading. It got us down over an hour, so 25 laps are hard to overcome, but we came from 32nd to 12th, so we pushed as hard as we could to get as many points as we could. Now we’ll move on. We’ve got the whole rest of the season to go.”

“You know, my guys were certainly let down when we knew were in the garage and were behind, but what comes out of today is the fact that they can overcome a bad situation. We don’t ever quit fighting until that checkered flag comes out. We’re not through. We don’t ever throw the towel in. It just proves to them that they can excel in adverse conditions. We’ll go back and we’ll spend the time at the table and we’ll talk about how we got here and what happened and could we have prevented it, and we’ll be better at the next race from what happened in this one.”

 

RONNIE BREMER – NO. 57 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GT.R, FINAL DRIVER IN THE RACE – FINISHED 12TH IN CLASS AND 26TH OVERALL – “It was looking very good, we were leading in the beginning. Robin Liddell and the team did a very good job to push away from the beginning, and settle into our own pace. Unfortunately, we had some issue with the car, electronic issues, so we had to spend time in the pit lane. And then got out again and then we’re doing well, getting up there again, then the power steering leaked, so we had to change the steering rack as well and spend more time in pit lane again. A little later on, Robin was hit by another car so we had to spend more time in the pit lane again, so all of the time, playing catch-up was a little bit sad because I really think we had the speed to win this race if we didn’t have any problems, but I guess that’s the name of the 24.”

“It is a good feeling (to finish a 24-hour race), but it was looking really, really good this weekend for the whole Stevenson Auto Group and Chevy. We were doing a good job and had the drivers to do it, we had the team to do it, we just didn’t have the luck this time. It’s an achievement in itself, just to finish the race.”

Note: Team Chevy press releases, high-resolution images, and media kit can be downloaded from the Team Chevy media website: 

About Chevrolet: Founded in Detroit in 1911, Chevrolet celebrates its centennial as a global automotive brand with annual sales of about 4.25 million vehicles in more than 140 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. The Chevrolet portfolio includes iconic performance cars such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long-lasting pickups and SUVs such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers such as Spark, Cruze, Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including Cruze Eco and Volt. Cruze Eco offers 42 mpg highway while Volt offers 35 miles of electric, gasoline-free driving and an additional 344 miles of extended range. Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES

ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA

DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

JANUARY 30, 2011

 

Following his final stint in the car, Ricky Taylor had the following comments about the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Chevrolet Dallara: TALK IN GENERAL ABOUT YOUR LAST STINT: “The car is just so good, it is just a shame we are fighting from behind.  I think we are probably the only people here wishing it was 28 hours instead of 24 because it is just a matter of time that we will be on the lead lap. No matter where I know, I know giving the car to Max (Angelelli), he would fight his way up. It is a shame. The car is good, the Chevrolet engine is good and I am looking forward to the season. We know where the engine is now. We know we have a strong engine. All the variables we were worried about, we have answers to and I think they are all positive.”

Note: Team Chevy press releases, high-resolution images, and media kit can be downloaded from the Team Chevy media website: 

About Chevrolet: Founded in Detroit in 1911, Chevrolet celebrates its centennial as a global automotive brand with annual sales of about 4.25 million vehicles in more than 140 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. The Chevrolet portfolio includes iconic performance cars such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long-lasting pickups and SUVs such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers such as Spark, Cruze, Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including Cruze Eco and Volt. Cruze Eco offers 42 mpg highway while Volt offers 35 miles of electric, gasoline-free driving and an additional 344 miles of extended range. Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES

ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA

DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

JANUARY 30, 2011

 

Following his final stint in the car, Ryan Briscoe offered his thoughts on the race so far:

 

RYAN BRISCOE – NO. 10 SUNTRUST CHEVROLET DALLARA – “We definitely tested the equipment because I don’t think I’ve done a lap today at 80 percent; it’s been 100 percent all day long, all night long. I’ve done three long stints now, and every single one they told me to push as hard as I could. It’s been frustrating because the second time I got in the car we got all the way to just one lap down, and they we had another issue with a wheel. We’ve been catching up, the car is really strong.”

“The car felt fast, with really good traction. The car’s good. The brakes have been really consistent. The battle continues. We’ve got a long way to go.”

 

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 90 SPIRIT OF DAYTONA CHEVROLET COYOTE, made contact with NASCAR Turn 3 wall approximately 6.5 hours into the race. Repairs took 68 minutes: WHAT HAPPENED TO CAUSE THE INCIDENT?  “A car went off track in the bus stop and he made a last second call to rejoin the track right at the apex of the corner. I was already going by so I had to go a little wide. I don’t know if he clipped me or not, but by going a little wide I put everything on the dirt. I couldn’t control the car and I just slid right into the wall. That was it. I could have followed him going away, but instead of going straight he tried to rejoin as soon as possible at the strangest spot.”

Note: Team Chevy press releases, high-resolution images, and media kit can be downloaded from the Team Chevy media website: 

About Chevrolet: Founded in Detroit in 1911, Chevrolet celebrates its centennial as a global automotive brand with annual sales of about 4.25 million vehicles in more than 140 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. The Chevrolet portfolio includes iconic performance cars such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long-lasting pickups and SUVs such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers such as Spark, Cruze, Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including Cruze Eco and Volt. Cruze Eco offers 42 mpg highway while Volt offers 35 miles of electric, gasoline-free driving and an additional 344 miles of extended range. Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

ROUSH YATES ENGINES NOTES AND QUOTES

ROLEX 24 HOURS AT DAYTONA, DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.

JANUARY 30, 2011 (9:30 a.m. ET)

With 18 of 24 hours complete at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, four of eight Fords carrying a Roush Yates engine have led laps – No. 6 (32 laps led), No. 76 (nine laps led), No. 60 (seven laps led), and No. 23 (three laps led).  John Maddox, road racing program manager for Roush Yates Engines, gave a quick update about what happened overnight:

ROUGHLY 18 HOURS INTO THE RACE, HOW ARE THE ROUSH YATES ENGINES HOLDING UP?  “On our side everything is really good.  We’ve got two cars in the garage for crash damage and gear box failures but as far as the cars on track, our side is running flawless.  We had an issue with some car electrical wiring on the No. 6 car and we had quite a lengthy caution for fog so our guys jumped in and did a lot of work.  They got it running right and got all the issues sorted out and I think we’re good to go until the end.

*The following three drivers changed out during the 18th hour:

 

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, NO. 6 CONTINENTAL TIRES/CURB RECORDS/PVA/ROCKY FORK COMPANY MICHAEL SHANK RACING WITH CURB/AGAJANIAN FORD/DALLARA:  TALK ABOUT YOUR STINT OUT THERE NOW THAT THE SUN IS UP AND THE TRACK HAS CHANGED.  “The track has changed quite a bit.  We’ll probably have to make some adjustments here to keep up with it.  All-in-all we still have a long way to go so just trying to burn laps here.  We’re still a couple hours away from worrying about how fast we can go so we’ll just try to stay in the top five there and keep plugging away.”  HOW DOES THAT ROUSH YATES ENGINE FEEL 17 HOURS INTO THE RACE?  “Everything is good.  We’ve had no issues.  During that caution there we took the time to look everything over real good and not lose a lap so everything looks good.”

MARK BLUNDELL, NO. 23 JOHNNIE WALKER/FXI/UBS UNITED AUTOSPORTS WITH MICHAEL SHANK RACING FORD/RILEY:  HOW DID THAT LAST STINT GO FOR YOU?  “The last bit was the toughest stint so far in the race for me.  In the condition, the sun in your eyes but more than that the track condition.  After the fog the track was quite slippery and we put some scrubbed tires on, we felt that may help us but it didn’t really work.  The tires came in about 10 degrees cooler and car balance wasn’t very good so it was a bit of a struggle a couple of moments but that’s racing, we’ll just get back on top of it.”  HOW’S THE MOTOR RUNNING?  “The engine’s running fine, hasn’t missed a beat and still a few more hours to go yet but I’m still quite happy.”

RICARDO ZONTA, NO. 76 KROHN RACING FORD/LOLA:  TALK A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR STINT OUT THERE, HOW DID IT GO?  “It was pretty good one.  Just keep the car as safe as possible still not the time to push or put up a fight I was just trying to keep my pace.  The traffic is very hard all the time and the car is not easy to drive.  Its low grip and all the time its sliding like this (he gestures with his hand) but it’s okay.”  WE’RE ABOUT 18 HOURS IN, HOW’S THE ENGINE WORKING?  “It will be important.  We work very hard for this.  Of course the strategy and also the car pace has to be the key, but we work very hard for it.”

-more-

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Speed is carrying the final hours of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona live (check local listings for channel).  Fans can also stay up to date with the Roush Yates-powered entries via Twitter (@roushyates) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/Roush-Yates-Engines) throughout the 24-hour event.  Be sure to check out www.roushyatesparts.com for more information as well.

About Roush Yates Engines

Roush Yates Engines designs, engineers and crafts high performance racing engines with the power to perform and the horsepower and durability you’d expect from legendary NASCAR pioneers Jack Roush and Robert Yates.  The partnership of power and precision has come from merging the knowledge and experience of two legendary engine builders, both with a passion for winning today and powering up for tomorrow.  In 2009 Doug Yates purchased his father’s  half of Roush Yates Engines to become a co-owner in the company.

As CEO, Doug Yates leads a staff of 180 engineers and technicians who design, assemble, test, and service racing engines at two separate state-of-the-art facilities in Mooresville, North Carolina.  Here, the best minds and latest technology are hard at work producing nearly 1,500 racing engines each year for teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, ARCA, Grand-Am, FIA GT3, Dirt Late Model, Sprint cars, and NHRA Pro Stock.  At Roush Yates Engines, the mission is Power Performance, which is achieved through innovation, design, precision engineering, and skillful craftsmanship.  Building the best engines in racing today, providing service that’s second to none, and honoring a commitment to research and development are the heart of Roush Yates Engines.

TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES

ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA

DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

JANUARY 30, 2011

 

The No. 07 Banner Racing Camaro GT.R retired this morning with a little less than seven hours remaining in the Rolex 24. The team got caught up in a wreck early in the race and later went to the garage to change a broken driveshaft. An axle failure led to the final decision. Team owner Leighton Reese talked about the team’s struggles this weekend.

 

LEIGHTON REESE – OWNER, NO. 07 BANNER RACING CAMARO GT.R – “I just hate to give up, but that’s what we’re doing. We’re in a position where we can’t improve our position because we’re so far down, and we’ve just been battling demons the whole time. We have a great car, a great team, but, you know, we just have to admit defeat here. We can get the car going, but we’re just making our team weaker for the rest of the year, burning good parts and expensive parts and stuff like that. We’re thankful for all of the help from Chevrolet and The Cool TV, and we’re just going to have to regroup and reorganize. This whole deal is like a three-month project, and I’m a little bit depressed and disappointed right now, and I feel just terrible, but, I tell you, we’re making the right decision. We’ll regroup and come back at it. It’s just one these kinds of races where only a couple of things can go right and a thousand things can go wrong.”

HOW WERE THINGS GOING FOR YOU DURING THE VERY EARLY STAGES OF THIS RACE, BEFORE THE WRECK? “We were at one point three laps down, and we got one lap back. With three of our drivers we were turning laps the same times as the leaders – and in a race this long you can get laps back fairly easily – and it was going real well, and then, unfortunately, when Eric Curran was driving the car, there was a wreck. You know, after a restart there’s a high density of cars, and a couple of cars bounced off each other – one went off the track and came back on backwards and we collected him. It was not a whole lot different that rush hour on the freeway. Anyway, that was the beginning of the end. We actually recovered from that okay and got back up to, like, 12th spot, even though we were in the pits for a while, but now with the axle failure, which wiped out a really expensive part in the transmission, and a few things like that, we just can’t improve our position any more.”