Category: Other Series PR

TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES

ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA

DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

JANUARY 30, 2011

 

RICKY TAYLOR – No. 10 SUNTRUST CHEVROLET DALLARA – comments following his stint behind the wheel in the Rolex 24. He got out of the car at 6 a.m. when the race when under caution because of fog. At the time, SunTrust Racing was in 10th place, six laps off the pace. (Earlier in the race, the No. 10 SunTrust Chevrolet Dallara spent time in the garage for a suspension repair.)“It’s tough coming from behind from kind of a mistake earlier in the race, but the car is working really well. Everything is just running so smoothly – other than that one little hiccup. I think we can come back. There’s a long way to go. The car is so strong. It’s easy to drive. It’s just a shame that we’re six laps down right now.”

IS IT POSSIBLE TO MAKE UP SIX LAPS IN THE REMAINING TIME? “It’s possible, but we’re under this caution for so long, it’s kind of wasting time. We want to get racing and get those laps back.”

ROUSH YATES ENGINES NOTES AND QUOTES

ROLEX 24 HOURS AT DAYTONA, DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.

JANUARY 29, 2011 (11:30 p.m. ET)

With seven of 24 hours complete at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, all eight Roush Yates-powered entries are still running strong with six of the Ford teams running inside the top 10 at any given time.  John Maddox, road racing program manager for Roush Yates Engines had these comments during the seventh hour of competition:

HOW ARE THE ROUSH YATES ENGINES DOING OVERALL ACROSS THE BOARD?

“Everything on our end looks good.  We’re seven hours in I guess and we don’t have any issues that are stopping us from running right now.  Everything looks good and the guys say everything is running well so we’ll just see what happens in another six or 12 hours.”

*The following four drivers changed out during the sixth hour:

 

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, NO. 6 CONTINENTAL TIRES/CURB RECORDS/PVA/ROCKY FORK COMPANY MICHAEL SHANK RACING WITH CURB/AGAJANIAN FORD/DALLARA:  DURING YOUR STINT OUT THERE HOW WAS THE MOTOR WORKING?  “The motor was good.  Our straight-line speed is pretty good.  It’s early in the race so we’re just kind of running conservative and we’ll see what we have at the end.”

MICHAEL VALIANTE, NO. 60 CROWN ROYAL XR MICHAEL SHANK RACING FORD/RILEY:  WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE?  “The car is quick we just got a flat tire so we went down two laps and got one of them back so we’re just trying to get back on the lead lap.”  HERE IN THE SIXTH HOUR, HOW’S THE MOTOR RUNNING?  “We have no issues so far, the motor’s been running great so we’re in good shape motor wise.”

 

TRACY KROHN, NO. 76 KROHN RACING FORD/LOLA:  HOW’S THE MOTOR RUNNING?  “The motor’s doing great, it’s running real strong.  The motor hasn’t missed a beat so I can’t complain.”

COLIN BRAUN, NO. 8 GROUT SHIELD/BURLUSA STARWORKS MOTORSPORT FORD/RILEY:  HOW’S THAT ROUSH YATES ENGINE TREATING YOU TONIGHT?  “Really good.  We had really good power from the Roush Yates engine.  John Maddox and all the guys did a really good job working on all those motors.  We were able to put a little bit more tape on it since it cooled down tonight but we were still able to run really competitive.”  IS IT EASY TO PASS WITH THE HORSEPOWER YOU HAVE?  “We worked hard on getting our car trimmed out to maximize what we had with the motor.  It’s always easier to pass on the straightaway than it is in the corner so I think we’re in good shape.”

 

*The following three drivers changed out during the seventh hour:

 

MARC GOOSSENS, NO. 60 CROWN ROYAL XR MICHAEL SHANK RACING FORD/RILEY:  HOW’S THE ROUSH YATES MOTOR RUNNING RIGHT NOW?  “The engine is running pretty good and strong, it sounds very reliable right now but it’s still a long way.  Right now in that double stint that I did I had to push the car really hard because we went two laps down because of a blown tire so we weren’t really taking it easy on it.  But everything’s holding up very good and you know just look forward to the remaining 16 hours.  Just a long way to go.”  YOU’RE IN HOUR SEVEN NOW.  WHAT IS THE STRATEGY AT THIS POINT OF THE RACE?  “We are on the lead lap again now so we need to just keep good pace and take it easy and avoid accidents because it’s getting pretty wild out there during the night.  It feels good.  We have to keep a good pace and stay out of trouble.

MARK BLUNDELL, NO. 23 JOHNNIE WALKER/FXI/UBS UNITED AUTOSPORTS WITH MICHAEL SHANK RACING FORD/RILEY:  HOW WAS YOUR SECOND STINT OUT THERE?  “Everything was good, car’s running very well.  We don’t seem to be having any issues to speak of.  IT LOOKS TO BE PRETTY COMPETITIVE OUT THERE AND IT’S STILL EARLY ON, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?  “It’s actually an incredible pace.  I’m quite surprised people are running that fast and even the racing is quite competitive out on the circuit so I don’t know.  It’s a good thing for people that are watching but it’s not so good thing when you’re sitting inside and you just want to have everything a little bit calmer.”

NICHOLAS MINASSIAN, NO. 76 KROHN RACING FORD/LOLA:  TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR DOUBLE STINT AND HOW IT WENT?  “It was wild, it was unbelievable.  Lots of touching and pushing you know.  Even if you are faster than somebody it’s very difficult to overtake sometimes so you have to be rough to go by.  It’s a long time since I’ve been racing like that, its good fun.  The only problem we have is we got the pressure wrong with the car.  It was way too high and the car was really a handful to drive so I really struggled my second stint, I really struggled to keep the car on the track so it was tough.  It was really tough.  We got our lap back, we’re back on the lead lap and I’m sure we’ll look after the pressure the next time and we should be alright.”  HOW’S THE MOTOR RUNNING FOR YOU?  “The engine is very lean, very good.  You don’t feel any difference with it from start to finish that’s very good, that’s what you want, an engine that will just stay at peak all the time and that’s what it does.  It’s very good you know on the straight, I never had anybody overtaking me on the straight so we have good straight-line speed and it’s very consistent.  So we’re good.”

Speed is carrying live coverage of the event (check local listings for times).  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

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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 29, 2011

 

RYAN BRISCOE, JIMMIE JOHNSON, ERIC CURRAN AND RICKY TAYLOR QUOTES:

 

RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 10 SUNTRUST RACING CHEVROLET DALLARA, comments following his first stints behind the wheel in the Rolex 24:  HOW WAS THE CAR DURING YOUR TURN BEHIND THE WHEEL? “Our car was fast for sure. We are lacking a little bit of top speed which was frustrating and you don’t like running on the inside of the track. It was hard to stay calm with 20 hours to go, you want to race. But, there is a long way to go. The car was really solid. It was great that they guys kept us in front with a pit stop and with a driver change. All the boys are doing a great job and hopefully we can stay off the GT cars, there is a lot of action going on out there. It is still so early. Hopefully we can keep the car clean and if we do, the car is very fast.”

NEXT WEEK IS THE SUPER BOWL AND YOU ARE A STEELERS FAN, RIGHT? “No, I’m with Packers and it has been a lot of fun. I have been to four of their games this year and been following them through the playoffs and really liking that Verizon is going to take us to the Super Bowl. I will be wearing my cheese hat for sure next weekend. It was pretty scary at Chicago last weekend, I’ll tell you. All those fans up there. In the second half when they started coming back, it wasn’t fun wearing a cheese hat, I’ll tell you, at Soldier’s field. At the end of the day, it was all good. We had the final say and hopefully we do next week as well.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 99 GAINSCO CHEVROLET RILEY, came into the media center to give a during-race update on the team following his first turn behind the wheel of the car during which he steadily moved to the front but the team suffered a brake issue and went to the garage for repairs after Jon Fogarty took the wheel: “We have some unusual brake issues going on right now with our car, so we’re trying to get to the bottom of it. When I was in the car, we took a look at things, an initial look, but when we get a caution I think we have to go to the garage stall or on pit road, get in there and change some calipers, fluid and get inside there and find out what’s going on with the car. The brake pedal is really long, and if I don’t pump it before every brake zone multiple times, it just goes to the floor. And there’s a few situations in traffic that were quite spooky when I didn’t have quite enough time to pump the brakes up, and I needed to have the brakes. Man, I’m lucky I didn’t run anybody over a couple of times out there. So, that’s disappointing, to have issues early, but a lot of the big names have had wild things taking place, and if we can catch a caution at the right spot, I think the guys can get us out there with minimal laps lost and we’ll be in contention.”

ALL THE DRIVERS WHO HAVE COME INTO THE MEDIA CENTER HAVE SAID IT’S WILD AND CRAZY OUT THERE. HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO THE AGGRESSION IN A CUP RACE? “It’s tough in these cars for a couple of reasons. One, you’re not really sure who’s in the car in front of you. After you yell and scream a few times on the radio, they say, ‘Well, that’s so-and-so,’ and I don’t really know these guys well enough to understand what that means, but I can tell in the inflection in my crew chief’s voice a few times that I should be expecting that from a few guys. And the other thing, it is so hard to not just turn someone around and get rid of them. With the Cup car, you can do that easily. These cars, it will end your day. So, I had to stop myself a few times. And after two or three times of being there and getting chopped – I’m like, ‘Man, if you were in a Cup car you’d be sitting there backed in right now.’ I miss that aspect of Cup cars. If Kevin Harvick was in one of these, I think he would just run ’em over.”

IS THIS KIND OF LIKE A MARTINSVILLE WITH RIGHT-HAND TURNS? “With the braking zones and everything, you make up so much time on the brakes, and it’s really your only opportunity to pass. The cars seem to hit kind of the same top speed and it becomes a braking duel, if you have position, if you’re willing to get in there and be more brave than the guy you’re racing with. And, with our brake situation – I got stuck behind slow DP cars that I just couldn’t take that chance. So, glad he didn’t take it in the fence, but clearly we have to work on it. The brakes are so tough here, but hopefully we’ll get situated and find out what’s going on.”

HOW LONG WERE IN THE CAR, AND WHEN DO YOU ANTICIPATE GETTING BACK IN? “We’re looking at doubles for all three drivers, so in two (hours) out four and then back in. We considered running some triples through the night once the temperatures came down and things kind of mellowed out on the track, and that’ll be just kind of as we think in the car – if we feel good in there, it’ll give the guys resting more times to rest which could be more beneficial tomorrow in the heat. So, we’ll just kind of play that by ear. But, a minimum of doubles, maybe triples.”

DRIVER AFTER DRIVER SAYS HOW CRAZY IT IS OUT THERE, BUT THAT GETS SAID YEAR AFTER YEAR, ESPECIALLY THE LAST FEW YEARS HERE. SO, NOW, SHOULDN’T IT BE NORMAL TO EXPECT THAT? OR HAS IT BEEN TAKEN UP A NOTCH OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS? “It’s tough to get upset from a DP car to a GT car. I can only imagine how difficult it is to be that much slower, worrying about racing in your class going as fast as you can, and staying out of the way. So, in talking to Boris Said and Brendan Gaughan, it is full-time job, and then you have to race. I sympathize on that front and try not to get too frustrated there. Some of the DP cars that were multiple laps down, they just had to race for position because I was a DP car behind them. That part I didn’t quite understand. I saw two guys in the process being so focused on me, ran into other cars, the 60 and the 55, and both got flats and damage in the process. So, eventually, they kind of took care of themselves, but it was pretty heated for a while.”

WAS THE CAR OKAY? “The last four or five laps I had two moments where I pumped the brakes and into a braking zone and I couldn’t really get the pedal back. I went into the International Horseshoe and then went into turn five, and when I got out of the car, kind of had a feeling that might be coming. When I got in it, Alex (Gurney) said the pedal was starting to become long and then as it went, there were two or three stages where I noticed that I had to be more aggressive with pumping the pedal to get a firm pedal for the braking zone. And, it was fading when I got out.”

JIMMY VASSAR IS NOT HERE THIS YEAR. IS THAT A CHANGE IN STRATEGY? “Yeah, we miss Vassar, for sure. I think it’s kind of a rhythm thing, to keep us three in the car and just stay more connected with the car and what’s going on. In the past, I’ve run with three drivers before and enjoyed the extra seat time, and when Bob came to us about it, Jon (Fogarty) and Alex thought it would be fine and I did as well. I hate not having Vassar here, but I love the fact that I’ll get more seat time.”

I WENT OUTSIDE AND COULD SMELL A LOT OF CAMPFIRE SMOKE. HAS THAT BEEN A BOTHER FOR YOU? “No, I can’t say the campfire smoke is. There are a few areas – turn five, especially – cars are turned up against the fence with their headlights on. And, it’s amazing how difficult it is to look into the corner for your braking marks when headlights are pointed at you. It distracts you and hurts your depth perception. On top of that, you think it’s a car that has spun, coming back on the track. So you’re in a really weird situation, a panic situation. You get there, and it’s somebody on the back side of the fence trying to look at the race with their high beams on. So that’s the most difficult part I’ve had so far.”

 

ERIC CURRAN, NO. 07 BANNER RACING CAMARO GT.R, was involved in a multi-car accident four hours and 45 minutes into the Rolex 24: WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE? “This Leighton Reese Performance Group orange No. 07 Camaro has been great. We got a little bit behind; we got a few laps behind the leaders, but we had a couple of restarts and kind of just kept picking them off and making up ground and were looking pretty strong. Going through turn six out on to the banking a couple of cars got together. One of the BMWs spun and was backwards in the track. I saw it all happen so I went real wide. I think one of the Mazdas didn’t see it quick enough and glanced off and hit the BMW dead center and shot right over in my lane. I never saw it coming. I was all around it and it happened quick. It is disappointing because these guys have done such a good job and the car was just plugging along and just a case of wrong place, wrong time. What are you going to do? I’m totally fine. It is just disappointing. It is one thing if you do something wrong as a driver, but when something like that happens and you can’t avoid it, it is sad. So, I guess it is what it is.”

RICKY TAYLOR, NO. 10 SUNTRUST RACING CHEVROLET DALLARA, suffered damage in on-track contact approximately five hours and 45 minutes into the race and brought the car to the garage for repairs: WHAT HAPPENED ON-TRACK, DISAPPOINTING BECAUSE YOU WERE RUNNING SO WELL? “It’s not over. We were really having a good run, the car was good. I got stuck behind the No. 99 car for awhile, just trying not to take any risks. I got into a little bit of a dice with (Juan Pablo) Montoya and I was on the outside of him, pretty conservatively, I just felt a big hit on the side. I gave him of room. I don’t know. I don’t know.”

IS THERE AGGRESSIVE DRIVING OUT THERE? “A couple of drivers but for the most part everyone is good. I don’t think anybody meant to do anything or anybody meant to block me or anything like that. I think that just might not have known I was there. He was trying to pass a Porsche and I was already there and maybe he didn’t see me or something.”

THE TRACK IS ONLY SO WIDE? “Exactly, exactly.”

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 29, 2011 (8:30 p.m. ET)

*The following four drivers changed out during the third hour:

 

JIM LOWE, NO 8 GROUT SHIELD/BURLUSA STARWORKS MOTORSPORT FORD/RILEY:  HOW DID THE ENGINE FEEL OUT THERE?  “It’s a beautiful engine, a beautiful power plant.  The power out of the corners is great, got a lot of good top-end speed here and it’s really a pleasure all the way through the band the thing runs great.  A lot of torque, a lot of grunt.

HOW DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING TO FAIR HERE GOING INTO THE NIGHT?

It’s like everything else.  It’s more about surviving well right now. Keeping the car in good shape, you don’t want to get too over excited.  Try to stay away from some of those GT cars that can make problems for you.  You just want to keep going and going and going.

JOHN PEW, NO. 60 CROWN ROYAL XR MICHAEL SHANK RACING FORD/RILEY:  HOW DID THE ROUSH YATES ENGINE FEEL TO YOU DURING YOUR FIRST STINT?  “The engine is fantastic.  I’m glad I have a Roush Yates engine in there.  It’s a good engine, a strong engine.

 

MARK BLUNDELL, NO. 23 JOHNNIE WALKER/FXI/UBS UNITED AUTOSPORTS WITH MICHAEL SHANK RACING FORD/RILEY:  WHAT CAN YOU REPORT ABOUT THE ROUSH YATES ENGINE SO FAR?  “Everything went really well.  It’s a hard stint, a lot of overtaking for position.  Traffic as always is issue.  Engine wise, no problem whatsoever.  Everything was running 100% so I’m happy and I think the team is happy.

MATT BELL, NO. 77 DORAN RACING FORD/DALLARA?  HOW DID THE ENGINE FEEL OUT THERE FOR YOUR FIRST STINT?  “Engine’s very strong.  The limitation’s me, not the motor.  It’s got more torque than I can really change my driving style to match.  It is difficult but I’m happy with it.  It sounds great, it feels great, its shifting just fine and I have no complaints.”

IS IT COMPETITIVE AGAINST THE OTHER TEAMS?  “Yeah it’s very competitive.  It’s hard to tell but I’m chasing another Ford out there for a while and we both seem to be some of the fastest cars in the field.”

 

*The following driver changed out during the fourth hour:

 

NIC JONSSON, NO. 76 KROHN RACING FORD/LOLA:  HOW WAS YOUR ROUSH YATES ENGINE WORKING TONIGHT?  “Brought that Lola powered by a Roush Ford, it’s running right out there right now.  We had a bad set of second tires that changed the whole handling of the car so we were struggling a little bit through the last hour.  But before that we were running out front and you know keeping the pace so that was all good.  But the car’s is good, we just have to try to stay out of trouble and keep the car in one piece and otherwise everything is running very smooth and very good.  SO HOW DID THE CAR FEEL OUT FRONT IN CLEAN AIR WHEN YOU WERE LEADING?  “Everything is perfect when we were running out there in clean air.  We seem to think we got a second set of bad tires and that’s kind of why we were struggling with the handling otherwise the power seems fine, the motor is running very consistent and reliably so everything is very good.

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Speed is carrying live coverage of the event (check local listings for times).  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 29, 2011
 
ROBIN LIDDELL – NO. 57 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GT.R, lead in class for during both the first and second stints; but a fuel pickup problem began to plague the car. When the second pit stop was made for fuel, tires and driver change, the car would not re-fire and rolled to the garage for repairs:

 

WHEN DID YOU FIRST NOTICE THE FUEL PROBLEM? “I wasn’t 100% confident after the previous stint. We went to reserve and even though we know we only have a limited amount of fuel left in the tank at that point, when we went to reserve, we still had some coughing where it wasn’t really picking up the fuel like it should. My gut feeling sensed there was a problem then and I obviously told the guys. But when we came in and filled the tank again, everything felt good right up until the point where we had the problem again. At that point we still had about nine gallons of fuel in the car; it is not like we were out of fuel like we were before. Clearly we had enough fuel in the tank, but we were not picking it up. I lost all power coming out of turn one and could only drive back on about 10% throttle. As soon as I tried to put any throttle down, I just lost all power. I know it is not an electrical problem; it is a fuel problem. Obviously there is not a lot we can do here on pit road so had to take it back and see what we can work out there.”

HOW WAS THE CAR OTHERWISE UNTIL THE PROBLEM? “The car was going was going pretty well. Ultimately we weren’t quite as strong as the top Porsches when the track was hot, but when the track was cooling down, it was coming back to us.  The BMW is very very strong which we expected. I think the car was running very well. Getting into the lead, at least getting the Chevrolet Camaro at the start was nice for everybody who was watching and I think after a few hours we would have still been staying in the front. Obviously very disappointed at this early stage of the race to have a problem like this where we are going to lose so much time in the pits.”

MAX ANGELELLI – NO. 10 SUNTRUST CHEVROLET DALLARA, came into the media center to give a during-race update on the team following his first turn behind the wheel of the car during which he led: “It was very hot. Inside the car, it was hot, and outside, obviously, so the tires are struggling a little bit, especially with my car. We had a set-up more towards cold weather. We were expecting cold weather, so were kind of surprised how hot it was, and therefore I struggled a little bit in the first stint. Second was much better. I could lead the race and run away. So, overall, I would say I had a good time.”

IT SEEMS LIKE YOU WERE EXTREMELY PATIENT IN THE EARLY LAPS. WAS THAT THE PLAN? “I was surprised with myself, actually. The 45 was fast. This is why I said to myself, ‘I have to be patient.’ The 45 was extremely fast. There was no way for me to get around him. He had a good top speed. And tried at the beginning, the first two, three laps, but then I gave up. But, it’s 24 hours.”

DO YOU THINK THIS PACE CAN BE SUSTAINED FOR THE 24 HOURS, OR DO YOU THINK THEY’RE GOING TO BACK IT UP A LITTLE BIT? “I’m 100-percent convinced people will go faster, because of the heat. It’s going to be cooler, cars go faster. You have fresh drivers. It’s going to be faster than this one, for sure.”

CAN A GOOD START LIKE THIS SET THE STAGE FOR A RACE THAT IS SO LONG? “Definitely. It makes it easier for us, for the other drivers, and psychologically more difficult for the competitors because they see a car that is running away. Psychologically, it is heavy for the other competitors. So, yes, it can set the tone.”

AS A DRIVER, GOING FIRST, ARE YOU PERHAPS A LITTLE MORE CAUTIOUS BECAUSE YOU DON’T WANT TO PUT YOUR TEAMMATES IN A HOLE? “No, I’m actually pretty relaxed when I’m first because I’m leading the race, I command the race.”

ALEX GURNEY – NO. 99 GAINSCO/BOB STALLINGS RACING CHEVROLET RILEY, came into the media center to give a during-race update on the team following his first turn behind the wheel of the car:

 

HOW DID THE FIRST SHOT GO FOR YOU OUT THERE? “It was ok. Definitely a lot of adventure and not a lot of guys racing like it is 24 hours I don’t think. Not too bad for us. We had an issue with the right rear tire. Had a very large blister on the right rear, so, we had to take a pretty conservative approach during the stint and I eased off quite a bit in the second stint to try and take care of that tire. Had one incident where I came up behind a GT car in the chicane and he moved to the right, right when that cone had been knocked out into the middle of the road and I just clipped it with my right front, which was unfortunate. That was my only incident. The car is running ok, seemed to be kind of reasonably in the mix of the pace apart from maybe the No. 01 and maybe the No. 10. A long way to go, everything is going ok.”

WHEN ARE YOU SLATED TO GET BACK IN THE CAR? “I think both Jimmie Johnson and Jon (Fogarty) are going to do doubles (two fuel runs), so four hours from now or so. We made an adjustment at the pit stop for Jimmie with the right rear, so we’ll see. We lost some time in the pits, but I think he is up to seventh again. Just keep it running.”

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE RIGHT REAR TIRES? “Well, we had been debating something on our setup and I think we were a little too aggressive with the way we set up the cambers, maybe the bars, things like that. Maybe we just missed it a bit. And also, I think the track is pretty greasy, for a lot of guys it is difficult to put the power down. I think we saw the No. 02 blow a right rear, so the track, for whatever reason is putting a load into that butt-end.”

YOU SAID A LOT OF GUYS ARE RACING LIKE IT IS NOT 24 HOURS, WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS THE CASE? “It is just the usual deal. I feel like it is that way every year here. The first two or three hours, everyone is crazy and driving in the dirt and doing crazy things. It is just a function of just a lot of nerves. We all seem silly after 16 or 17 hours or something.”

DOES THE HEAT HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT SINCE YOU GUYS HAVEN’T RUN IN THESE TEMPERATURES EVEN BACK AT THE TEST? AND ALSO, DO YOU JUST KIND OF HANG ON IN THE DARK AND THEN IN THE MORNING WHEN IT IS GOING TO BE HOT AGAIN TOMORROW, WILL YOU GUYS BE READY TO MAKE THE ADJUSTMENTS YOU WILL NEED FOR THE EIGHT OR NINE HOURS TOMORROW? “Yes, I think it is definitely the heat. I think at Homestead, we had a chance to test in the heat a little bit and maybe that is a spot they are working on still with the tire. The test was pretty cool. It is probably hotter than it has been and it is catching a few guys out. We hope we have made the right adjustments. We will be chasing it a lot. But, as long as you are pitted under yellow, you can make some pretty big adjustments; you have time to do that so we are going to take advantage of that.”

WERE YOU HAVING TO MANAGE YOUR USE OF THE TIRES? WAS KYLE (BRANNAN, RACE ENGINEER) TELLING YOU TO BE AS EASY WITH THEM AS POSSIBLE? “Yes, he was. He kept saying that all the time. It is hard to do that and still keep up a reasonable pace but I was definitely trying not to lean into the throttle hard leaving the corners because you can really built the temp pretty quick doing that. Yes, he was pushing that all the time.”

THIS TIME OF DAY WITH THE SUN GOING DOWN, IS THIS A PARTICULARLY TOUGH STRETCH FOR A DRIVER WITH THE SUN IN HIS EYES? “Yes, definitely. Going into turn one and going into the kink, it is definitely very hard to see and I think it kind of a big relief when the sun is finally gone down because it is hard to see. You have the windshields with dirt and oil all over them and guys are putting dirt and grass everywhere so it is a lot more than the glare. It is the glare and those things. Definitely it is difficult with the visibility and it is nice when the sun finally goes down.”

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.

Bob Stallings, owner of GAINSCO /Bob Stallings Racing, is the recipient of the 2010 Rolex Bob Snodgrass Award of Excellence.  The announcement was made at the Grand Marshal dinner, the prelude to the Rolex 24 At Daytona, held Friday, January 28, 2011, at Daytona USA.  

This is the first annual presentation of the Rolex Bob Snodgrass Award For Excellence, created to recognize the team owner or team manager who has demonstrated the qualities of integrity, passion for the sport and the love of cars for which Bob Snodgrass was known during his life and career.  The award is supported by Gorsline Company, the premier insurer of high-risk professionals.  Stallings was chosen for the recognition by a panel of motorsports professionals from a short-list of four highly-successful team owners competing in the 2010 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.
 
“It was a tough decision to select one team owner or manager among four outstanding candidates in the Rolex Grand-Am Series,” said Hurley Haywood, the most winning driver of the Rolex 24 at Daytona (1973, ’75, ‘77, ‘79, ‘91).  “Each of these gentlemen put together one or more teams in 2010 that proved to be top performers in the Daytona Prototype class,” explained Haywood.  “However, the one team owner who the voting panel felt best exemplified the unique qualities of my friend and business associate Bob Snodgrass is Bob Stallings.  His team scored only one victory in 2010, seven top-fives and 11 top-10 finishes, but his driving passion to be a successful businessman off the track and a winning team owner on the track clearly reflects what Bob Snodgrass was all about.”
 
Stallings is a reported workaholic who has seen considerable success in various business endeavors, primarily in the fields of commercial banking and finance.  He found his way into motorsports via a four-day race school at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving – a gift from his wife that unlocked a new passion.  It took only three years for Stallings to make it to the winners circle and following his win of the 2004 SCCA Formula Atlantic National Championship he founded the GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing program to fulfill his dream of fielding a top-level DP team.  By 2006 Stallings took the decision to replace himself as a driver in order to have his team realize its championship potential.  It was a key move and created a winning foundation for the team in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and with seven wins, 10 poles and numerous qualifying and race lap records, GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing’s 2007 championship season remains one of the most successful years of competition on record in Rolex Series DP history. The team backed it up with a runner-up championship showing the following season before taking the team’s second set of Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Championships in three years in 2009. GAINSCO finished third in the team standings in 2010.
 
“I am humbled by this award,” said Stallings who was presented with a specially-engraved Rolex Stainless Steel and Platinum Yacht-Master timepiece by Haywood.  “I only got to know Bob for a few years, and he was an absolutely fantastic guy.  He gave me guidance every once in a while.  Bob was a terrific owner and he is someone for me, frankly, to emulate. “
 
Stallings, a native of Malden, Missouri, is the father of three daughters and the grandfather of seven. He and Linda Stallings, who manages the racing team’s marketing and sales efforts, reside in Frisco, Texas.
 
About Bob Snodgrass – Snodgrass, who passed away in 2007 at the age of 64, was president of Brumos Racing, and president and CEO of the Brumos auto dealerships in Jacksonville, Fla., where he lived for 35 years.  As a team owner he has three Rolex 24 At Daytona wins (Brumos Racing has eight) and a total of 10 wins at Daytona.  He was a driving force behind the formation of the Grand American Road Racing Association and the Daytona Prototype class.  Born in Elmira, N.Y., he saw his first race at Watkins Glen, N.Y., and was hooked.  Famous for his humor and wit and an accomplished vintage-car racer, Snodgrass (and Peter Gregg, who owned Brumos Porsche from 1965 until his death in 1980) was instrumental in Brumos’ entry into motorsports.
 
About Rolex Motorsports – Rolex’s presence in motorsports began in the 1930s with Malcolm Campbell.  While wearing a Rolex Oyster in 1935, he was the first person to drive an automobile over 300 miles per hour, setting a new land speed record.  Rolex truly solidified its position in the sport in 1959 when it began an association with the Daytona International Speedway in Florida and later became the title sponsor of its pre-eminent endurance race, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, in 1992.  It was shortly after its initial affiliation with the race track that Rolex introduced a watch designed for lovers of speed, the Cosmograph Daytona, which allowed its wearer to clock elapsed times and calculate average speeds.

Rolex is involved in sponsorships of some of the most prestigious events in the motorsport industry.  Endurance races such as the Rolex 24 At Daytona, The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and the Rolex Sports Car Series have been a critical piece of the Rolex portfolio.  In addition, Rolex has supported the bygone era of racing by celebrating design, speed, passion and endurance in sponsoring historic races such as the Goodwood Revival and the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, as well as concours events such as The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the Pebble Beach Tour D’Elegance presented by Rolex, and The Quail, a Motorsport Gathering.
 
About Gorsline Company – Gorsline Company, headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., pioneered the business of providing insurance for high-risk professionals. The company specializes in providing racing drivers and owners creative, custom designed insurance packages and estate planning strategies.

Upon completion of the first round of driver changes, all eight Roush Yates-powered Ford’s are still in contention.  The No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford/Lola was the first Ford to take the lead during the second stint with Nic Jonsson (SWE) behind the wheel. 

JAN HEYLEN, NO. 7 XTREME INDOOR KARTING/BURLUSA STARWORKS MOTORSPORT FORD/RILEY:  YOU TOOK THE FIRST STINT IN THE CAR HOW DOES THE ROUSH YATES ENGINE FEEL TO YOU?  “Well right now we’re having a little problem with the set up on the car so hopefully during my next run we can get that a little bit better and hopefully we’ll be able to race with the other cars a little bit.  So this first stint was a little tough.  The engine is running fine so no complaints there.”

RYAN DALZIEL, NO 8 GROUT SHIELD/BURLUSA STARWORKS MOTORSPORT FORD/RILEY:  HOW DID THE ROUSH YATES ENGINE FEEL TO YOU DURING THIS FIRST STINT?  “We’re good definitely got some strong straight lane speed seemed like we had the legs on the Ganassi car so at early gaze it’s definitely a good sign for tomorrow.”

 

AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 6 CONTINENTAL TIRES/CURB RECORDS/PVA/ROCKY FORK COMPANY MICHAEL SHANK RACING WITH CURB/AGAJANIAN FORD/DALLARA:  HOW DID THE MOTOR FEEL TO YOU DURING THIS FIRST STINT?  “The motor is running fine, the car is a bigger problem.  Motor runs fine down the straight-aways the problem is you can’t put any power down to the ground to get it to go so it’s running fine.”

OSWALDO NEGRI JR, NO. 60 CROWN ROYAL XR MICHAEL SHANK RACING FORD/RILEY:  HOW’S THE ROUSH YATES ENGINE WORKING FOR YOU SO FAR?  “It’s running good.  The car is flawless and the engine is doing as we expected, pretty well.  Running P4, P5, those first couple of hours is pretty encouraging.  The car will be good.”

 

Speed is carrying live coverage of the event (check local listings for times).  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.

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

TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES
ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
JANUARY 29, 2011
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 99 GAINSCO/BOB STALLINGS RACING CHEVROLET RILEY, is set to make his seventh start in the GRAND-AM Road Racing’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.  The five-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion spoke with members of the media about this opportunity both at testing for the Rolex 24 and following practice and qualifying this weekend.

COMMENT DURING NASCAR TESTING AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY: “January has been extremely busy.  I’ve missed being in the car.  I think all drivers would say wanting to go to the track and drive the car and compete, you can do that year round. I was here for the Rolex test and had a great time in that car and will be back next weekend for that race and really excited for that race in the GAINSCO Chevrolet powered DP car.  I really enjoy running that event.”

FOLLOWING PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING FOR THE ROLEX 24: “The race is such a challenge mentally and physically. The cars are a lot of fun. Being able to see friends and guys I have respected and watched over the years race, shoot the breeze with them some and then be out on the track with them wheel-to-wheel is a lot of fun as well. It is a great event. I love competing in it and I look forward to a great race.”

THOUGHTS ON GOING INTO THE 24-HOUR RACE: “Luckily I’m not in the rhythm on the Cup side and I have done this enough over the years (six times) to understand how chaotic the race is and what is important for me from a rest, hydration, nutrition standpoint to be ready. I feel that I am better prepared coming in on all those fronts and have more things in place during the event to make sure I am well rested and ready to go. We have gone down to three drivers in our GAINSCO Chevrolet and its going to be a real big load for all three of us to carry. Excited for the challenge and just looking forward to it.

“We’ve made some progress on the car during the weekend.  Qualifying trim was not very good for the team but now that we are in to race trim, we ended that last session on top of the board.  I think the car is coming around.

“It doesn’t really matter where you start, but speed does make a difference. When you have to run at 10 tenths the entire race, there is no room for error and you can break gear boxes; get off the road and rip the nose off the car, get into traffic and crash the car. Ideally you want to have some speed that you can call on when need be. I don’t know if we are there, but the car is much more competitive. If you can be within a half second to three tenths from the fast guys, that is a good place to be because traffic plays such a big game in your overall lap time and you can have a huge gap and lose it just because of where traffic falls.  I think we are back in the window of where we want to be right now.”

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.

Earlier this week, Chevrolet announced a promotional partnership with GRAND-AM Road Racing. Chevy will supply the official pace vehicle and have a major at-track presence for GRAND-AM races at Elkhart Lake and Watkins Glen. Jim Campbell, Chevrolet’s U.S. Vice-President for Performance Vehicles and Motorsports, met with the media at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday and discussed the new agreement. Here are highlights from the press conference.

 

JIM CAMPBELL – U.S. VICE-PRESIDENT FOR PERFORMANCE VEHICLES AND MOTORSPORTS – “Good morning, everybody. It’s great to be here. This is a special day. I couldn’t wait to get here this weekend – we’re back racing – and Chevrolet has just an amazing tradition at this race. This is the 49th year of the race, so it’s very special for us to be here. We’re getting ready to celebrate our 100th anniversary at Chevrolet, and we’re really looking forward to racing in the Prototype Class, GT, and, obviously, yesterday in GS. This promotional partnership, we’re very proud to put this together with Tom [Bledsoe, GRAND-AM President] and his team. This, really, just formalizes something that we’ve been working on in an informal basis, and this really gives us an opportunity to put Chevrolet and our products front and center as we can expose our lineup to this amazing fan base that attends these races on the circuit all year long. We’re very proud to do this, and looking forward to pacing a couple of races, as well, and I can’t wait for the race to start today.”

“What’s really exciting for us is to be racing, obviously, in the GS and GT categories, the Camaros, allows us to accomplish one of our key goals in any race series: To connect the car we race with the car we sell. Camaro, in the market, it was number one in the regular sports segment for the first time since 1985, and that was done with a Camaro coupe. And, obviously, when you look at the car we’re racing on the track, the connection is absolutely right there. That’s important for us in any series in which we race, and we accomplish that right here. And, in the Prototype category, the power powered by the Chevy small block V-8 is really the connection point for us. We have a very robust business in the crate engine side of the business, our performance parts, so that is a great connection point for us, so we’re looking forward to the race today, and also we’re very proud to take part in a great tradition here as we prepare to celebrate our 100th anniversary at Chevrolet in November of 2011. What a great way to kick off the race season.”

IS THIS A WORLDWIDE PROGRAM YOU’RE STARTING? YOU’VE GOT FIA WORLD TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP (WTCC) IN EUROPE OR MAYBE WORLDWIDE, AND INDYCARS NEXT YEAR, NOW THE GRAND-AM SERIES. “We sell Chevrolets in 138 countries. Camaro is going to be sold in our Chevrolet dealer network in Europe as well as a number other locations around the world. So, whenever we do enter a race series, we look at it not only for the local market but also the ability to extend the exposure to markets worldwide. We’ll be doing that here, with GRAND-AM, but also we have investments in other race series where it allows us to extend the Chevrolet presence – basically improve our awareness of the brand, especially in a lot of markets that we’re just entering, we’re a very young brand in other emerging markets around the world. To, number one, improve the image and awareness of Chevrolet and its brands. Number two, whenever we’re involved in racing we want to drive leads. So what you’ll see here today, we have a very significant display in the infield here where we’re displaying ll of our production vehicles, all of our race car entries, including a Camaro GS and a Camaro GT that race in the series here. And, we’re interested in gaining a lead from a customer and beginning a relationship with a customer, or perspective customer, to convert to sales.”

“And finally, the third thing we want to do in all of the race series, is get technical learning from racing to production. It’s an easy thing to say, it takes hard work to do it. We know we can do it. We have other examples – you look at our Corvette program, what we’ve learned on the track. And by the way, our first race with Corvette, when we started in 1999, our first race was right here, at this race. We led for 18 hours. I was so excited, and then you realize what it takes to win in a 24-hour race, and it takes every single minute, every lap. It takes incredible effort by the team, by the mechanics of the vehicle. We ended up getting a podium finish right here at this race. It was a very exciting day. But, the bottom line is what we learn on the track we drive into the production car. Vehicles like ZR1, the Z06, the carbon edition are really learnings that are true valid learnings from racing into the production to make it better. And, we’re going to do that in every series, including this one with Camaro.”

“Huge learnings in aerodynamics that we get in every race program that we can take right over to production. Obviously, Camaro and Corvette are great examples of racing to production, but even in vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt, which is an electric vehicle with an extended range capability, the amount of aero testing we do and how we do aero testing in racing, the same principles do apply to what we do on the production side in vehicles all the way to the Volt.”

“We love this style of racing. We love road racing. We love this connection between racing and production, and the way you get the learning is you’ve got to field a team that’s big enough, so you get the learning, and drive it over to production.”

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.

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES   
Grand-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Page 1
January 27, 2011
Daytona International Speedway
 
SCOTT MAXWELL – No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang BOSS 302R (qualified 2^nd, finished 2^nd) – “Overall, we’re pretty happy with the start to our season.  We had a strong car all month.  You never know until race time who’s showing.  In the race, our car was strong.  It was an all BMW dominated the race.  I think we had six BMWs in the front at the end and the one Ford. We were there and getting stronger as the race went on and they started to lose their tires.  Ironically, BMWs are known for their handling and braking and that’s where our strength was today.  It was easy on the tires and the race got farther into it, our car got stronger and they started to drop off.  I was able to move up to second and just ran out of time with the leader.  They have a lot of power and got up beside them a few times but not enough to get ahead.  Overall, it was a good start to the year.”  HOW MUCH TIME DID YOU NEED TO CATCH AND PASS THE LEADER? “If we had another long green run, that’s really what I needed because their tires were going away.  With all the cautions in the end, you can cool your tires and they were strong on the restarts.  I needed to have a non-caution run at the end where I could have a couple of go’s at him.  That’s the way it is; it’s still a strong start.”  HOW WAS THE NEW DAYTONA SURFACE?  “It’s good.  It doesn’t affect us nearly as much as it does the NASCAR guys because the oval is just flat out for us anyways, we’re accelerating onto it and through it.  It makes it a little easier to transition on and off of it.  But it’s the same for everybody.”  WHAT CAN YOU TAKE FROM THIS RACE AND APPLY TO THE REST OF THE SEASON? “This is a huge positive for the Ford Mustang, the BOSS 302 guys because last year reliability was our big issue, so we had to dumb down the car a little bit in terms of performance to make it last.  Today, I abused it the whole time and pushed it as hard as it would go and rev’d it as high as I could rev it because we were fighting for a win and they told me, to leave nothing behind and we didn’t and the car never missed a beat.  That’s a real, real big positive for us; that fact we finished a really hard race and pushed the car hard and it didn’t miss a beat.  We can see where our strengths and weaknesses were because we were running with all the top BMWs for the last hour.  I took a lot of information out of that to pass on to the Ford guys and engineers on where we are weak and where we are strong.  Collectively as a group, Multimatic and the Ford Racing guys did such a great job all winter; they worked really hard.  I think today was a bit of a payoff for that.  Everyone is going away happy.  We would have liked the win, but it’s a great way to start the season being that close and being a threat is a good feeling.”

JOE FOSTER – No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang BOSS 302R – (qualified 2^nd, finished 2^nd) – HOW WAS THE RACE OVERALL? “It was a fantastic race, obviously in the beginning a lot of restarts. We kind of had to wait until the race found a rhythm. We were able to stay in the top two for a while.  The Ford BOSS 302R Mustang was fantastic in traffic so we were able to put a gap on the field. Once we started lapping the other cars without problem. We worked on preserving the brakes and the transmission and Scott got in the car and was able to get it back in the front. We finished second, a very close fought second. It was a great event for us in a still in-development program. This is our best result so far. We were able to get it on the podium, our first podium for the BOSS 302R program. We’re very excited about it.” YOU DIDN’T GET THAT MUCH TIME IN THE CAR FOR PRACTICE. WHAT WAS IT LIKE GETTING IN THE CAR? “I was kind of figuring out the car during the race. I got a few laps in practice and the program came together a bit last minute for me, but I’ve been a Mustang driver and a fan for many years so it didn’t take too long to figure it out.” 

 

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES   

Grand-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Page 2

January 27, 2011

Daytona International Speedway

 

ROB FINLAY – No. 50 Finlay Motorsports Ford Mustang BOSS 302R – (qualified 8th, finished 12^th) – HOW DID YOU FEEL YOU DID OUT THERE? “For our first race it was pretty good. The car was really good but of course Ford always puts out a really good product and it was no different today. Of course we would have liked a better result but it was the first race of the season and we have a lot more to go. HOW DID THE TRACK FEEL OUT THERE? “It was super smooth, it was very fast. It’s a great track, actually one of my favorite tracks. It’s good to be done here and if you’re from the North it’s really warm weather. It’s great to be down here in sunny Florida and racing at Daytona. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE BOSS 302R? “It’s fantastic. I’ve driven the other Mustangs and this BOSS 302 is fantastic. It’s great power, great handling let’s just say it’s a great overall car.”

 

TONY BUFFOMANTE – No. 68 Capaldi Racing Ford Mustang GT (qualified 18th, finished 17th) – “It was a good day.  We had a lot of cautions there at the start.  Kyle did a nice job starting the car for us; got us up there in the top 15 or so.  The car was running really good.  The guys did an awesome pit stop.  We got out of that really good when we changed drivers and all four tires.  When I jumped in the car, I had a bad vibration with the front tires and so when we came back in and got the fuel, we ended up going back to the other set of front tires and the car was way better.  So, I was a lot faster at the very end of the race than I was when I jumped in about midway.  We had a bit of a shootout there at the end.  I think we passed about four cars on the last lap and I don’t know how many were for position. Everybody was dicing and slicing going through there.  It was a good job for the Capaldi Racing 68; for us, first time out, finished with all the fenders on and got a top 20.”  SINCE THIS IS YOUR FIRST SEASON , TALK ABOUT WHAT IT IS LIKE TO RACE A MUSTANG. “The car is just awesome.  You’ve got a lot of different makes out there.  Each car has its strengths and weaknesses.  I think we got the car handling really, really well. We’re learning a lot with it; the car is handling great and I think you’ll see us keep moving up the running order next time out, for sure.”  IF THE RACE WAS GREEN UNTIL THE END, WHAT COULD YOU HAVE DONE DIFFERENT?  “I think I had one or two more cars left in me, in terms of getting around them.  It’s hard to tell. The crew was in my ears telling me which cars for position and which ones weren’t.  The last few laps there, I was absolutely going for it in the dirt, sideways, inside, outside.  I never rubbed anybody which is amazing, but that way the Capaldi guys can work on tuning the car, not fixing the car next month.”  THE MUSTANG LOOKS CLEAN AND DOESN’T APPEAR TO HAVE ANY DAMAGE. “It sure does.  I’ll take a few donuts next time if it gets us up in the top-10. But for now, we’re happy with it.”

KYLE GIMPLE – No. 68 Capaldi Racing Ford Mustang GT (qualified 18th, finished 17th) – “We started the races in 19^th position, there was a car that was disqualified, so we were bumped up.  The start of the race came and it was pretty hectic.  It looked like everyone was playing it safe going through turn one and all the way to turn five.  After that, it started to spread out a little bit and that’s when it started getting dicey.  Cars were going off in the bus stop, turn one and wrecking.  We moved up to 11^th before the driver change.   Then we had some pit strategy that we were trying to get going and it didn’t quite work out the way we thought it would and dropped us down to 18^th.  We finished 17^th in the race.  According to lapping and scoring, we were the third highest finishing Mustang, but the highest finishing 500C Mustang.  All in all, it was a pretty good day.  We’re definitely looking forward to getting the car back to the shop and getting ready for Homestead.”  YOU RACED IN THE MUSTANG CHALLENGE LAST YEAR.  CAN YOU COMPARE THE MUSTANGS? “This Mustang has more power.  It doesn’t have the front grip that we had because it doesn’t have a front splitter on the car.  The suspension is a little bit better.  The tires are full slicks on these where we had the BFG that were D.O.T tires.  All in all, it’s a faster car.  It has bigger brakes, so we can brake deeper than we could in the Challenge cars.  The wing on this Mustang is smaller, but it gives us good downforce in the rear.  The car is about 300 pounds lighter than the Mustang Challenge car.”

 

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES   

Grand-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Page 3

January 27, 2011

Daytona International Speedway

 

 

ROLY FLAGUERAS – No. 51 Roush Performance Ford Mustang GT – (qualified 24^th, finished 18^th) – IF YOU HAD AN EXTRA LAP OUT THERE ON THE GREEN DO YOU FEEL THAT WOULD HAVE HELPED YOU OUT THERE TODAY? “It would have helped, definitely moved us up one or two more positions. We didn’t want to stress the race car but we did good out there. We brought the car home. HOW DID THE CAR HANDLE OUT THERE? “Very good; we have a great car. The car ran great all day. We’re pretty happy. We finished in the top 20 our first race in Daytona. HOW WAS IT WORKING WITH YOUR ROOKIE CO-DRIVER SHELBY BLACKSTONE? “He did a heck of a job really. He put the car up there, all the way to first.” 

 

SHELBY BLACKSTONE – No. 51 Roush Performance Ford Mustang GT – (qualified 22nd, finished 18^th) – IT WAS YOUR FIRST GRAND-AM RACE. HOW DO FEEL YOU DID OUT THERE? “For the first GRAND-AM race, I thought, personally this is bigger than I could have ever imagined.  We started 24^th and I just wanted to get the car home in one piece. As the race progressed on we moved up to 10^th, moved up to fourth, moved to third and then sooner or later we got up to first. Driving for five months and getting to first place and leading laps in Daytona 200, I was ecstatic. They told me that and I was just screaming in the car. You can’t get any better than this.” WHAT DID YOUR MOM [Reba McEntire] THINK? WAS SHE NERVOUS FOR YOU? “Yes, at first. I told her before, at the start, it’s going to be crazy. We’re going to be four-wide going into one. She loved it. She had the best time I think she’s ever had. It was a lot of fun. HOW WAS THE TRACK OUT THERE? “The track is very good. The banking was smooth. They did a really good job to get the track ready for race day. I had a blast out there.”     

 

DEAN MARTIN – No. 52 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang BOSS 302R – (qualified 6^th, finished 23^rd) – We actually had a disappointing weekend this weekend. We were running strong. We were running up to third or fourth place. We had a fuel issue. We didn’t get as much fuel in the tank as we thought and we ran out a lap before we thought we were going to and that put us three or four laps down. We were competitive; we had a top five car, I think. Something just happened with the fuel cell, we missed the fuel calculation but we were close.” HOW DO YOU FEEL THE BOSS HANDLED OUT THERE COMPARED TO THE FR500C YOU HAD FOR LAST YEAR’S RACE? “It’s fantastic. It’s definitely the next generation car. The fact that the new car, the new engine gets up to 7800 RPM, it’s a very strong motor. It’s night and day the difference out there.” WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE NEWLY PAVED DAYTONA TRACK? “The best improvements have been in the brake zone. Coming down into turn one you can go a lot deeper than you used to, same thing with the bus stop. The bus stop is a lot smoother, making the transition smoother. We were able to pick up a lot more speed out there. I think we picked up four to five mph more than we did last year, that’s why the lap times we’re a lot faster out there.” HOW WAS IT DRIVING WITH CO-DRIVER BRET SEAFUSE? “Bret did a fantastic job. He ran into some bad luck early. He went bum-to-bum with the BMW guy. The BMW guy hit the brakes coming down into turn one, he got turned around and he actually slipped backwards into Bret and knocked him off track a little bit. We dropped back to 10^th and he made it back up to fourth. We just ran half a lap short on fuel which hurt us.”

 

 

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES   

Grand-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Page 4

January 27, 2011

Daytona International Speedway

 

SCOTT PANZER – No. 21 Frederick Motorsports Ford Mustang GT – (qualified 17^th, finished 30^th) – “We had a good start to the race.  We started in 17^th and moved up a little bit at the start. There were a couple of bobbles in front of us, so we stayed clean, that was the most important thing.  We came around the first 30 minutes and we were holding our position for the most part because those BMWs, they’re fast.  I turned the car over to my co-driver Todd and I’ll let him tell you about that.  The Mustang was running pretty well; handling just fine.”

TODD SNYDER – No. 21 Frederick Motorsports Ford Mustang GT – (qualified 17^th, finished 30^th) –  “Scott did a great job keeping out of the trouble; there was a lot of melee going on in those first couple of laps.  We did a strategy change, which I think was going to work out pretty good; it would have gotten us in the top-10, but unfortunately we had the alternator go bad.  The Mustang was running fine until then.”  YOU STOPPED ON PIT ROAD A FEW TIMES AND OPENED THE HOOD.  WHAT WAS THE TEAM LOOKING FOR? “They were trying to check the alternator.  The voltage dropped, so the car was misfiring, so they were trying to see if it was spark plugs, coil packs, that type of stuff.  Then we figured out it was the alternator.”

 

JACK ROUSH JR., No. 61 Roush Performance Ford Mustang BOSS 302R – (qualified 5^th; finished 32^nd) – “We had no brakes going into [turn] one.  I tried to avoid hitting the 15, I braked a little earlier than he did and just couldn’t stop.  I avoided hitting him but I couldn’t stop from hitting the wall.  I don’t know what happened.”  YOU WERE ON A GOOD RUN, FROM FIFTH TO THIRD. WE’RE YOU WORKING ON SECOND? “I might have been.  I was working my way up to him.  I wasn’t trying to get up to him that quick.” THAT WAS A PRETTY HARD HIT IN THE WALL. “Yeah, it’s really unfortunate.  We had a great car.  It might have been a great day had we not had that issue.”

 

BILLY JOHNSON – No. 61 Roush Performance Ford Mustang BOSS 302R – (qualified 5^th; finished 32^nd) “I want to thank everyone at Roush Performance for doing such an amazing job.  They worked at the shop so hard to get this car ready.  Jack did a great job qualifying, moving through the field and looking awesome.  I’m not sure what happened or what went wrong but the important thing is that he was okay and able to walk away from it unscathed.  We’ll go back to the shop, put her back together and go on to the next one.

JOE FOSTER AND SCOTT MAXWELL PRESS CONFERENCE

JOE FOSTER – No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang BOSS 302R – (qualified 2^nd, finished 2^nd) – “It was a fantastic day for us.  As you know, this BOSS 302 program is still something that’s in development. We had a whole year last year and we’re starting to get some reliability in the car now. This was the best finish that Scott and I had in this car, so we’re very happy to be contenders and have gotten a lot of the teething problems out of the way.  It was a very good day.”

SCOTT MAXWELL – No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang BOSS 302R – (qualified 2^nd, finished 2^nd) “I’m happy with the race.  I wish we avoided some of those late yellows so I could have had a couple more go’s at the BMWs but overall our car was good.  It was good on the tires, which was key at the end.  We had some good traction, just lacking a bit of top end speed.  It was a good day.  Had a great dice with Bill; he was really tough but fair.  It was fun racing today.”