Category: Other Series Racing

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.”

TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES
CONTINENTAL TIRE SPORTS CAR CHALLENGE 200
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
JANUARY 28, 2011

JOEY ATTERBURY, NO. 62 MITCHUM MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GS.R, FINISHED 7^TH  IN CLASS AND OVERALL: TALK ABOUT THE START OF THE RACE AND YOUR AMAZING RUN TO THE FRONT OF THE FIELD: “It was good. The key was to stay consistent out there and move our way forward. The Camaro was great out there. Put power down extremely well. We were able to go from 21^st to first. It was fantastic.

“In the middle of the race, everyone settles in a little bit. I had a good fight with Matt Bell in the No. 9 Stevenson Camaro. We were just a little bit more consistent out there. He drove the tires a little hard so we were able to get by him.  Then it was just kind of smooth sailing the rest of the time. There were a few more yellows but that just played into our favor with fuel strategy. It is all ended up nicely.”

LAWSON ASCHENACH,  NO. 62 MITCHUM MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GS.R, FINISHED 7^TH  IN CLASS AND OVERALL: TALK ABOUT THE END OF THE RACE AND THE STRONG TOP-10 FINISH: “We’ll take it. We are very happy considering the work we had to get accomplished yesterday. Everyone did a really good job. The team did awesome and obviously the Chevy Camaro was just awesome. I can’t thank Chevrolet and Mitchum enough for the opportunity.

“Right at the end there, we just couldn’t get it. We had a great car. We couldn’t ask for anything better. The setup was great, the power was great, everything was good, we just had nothing for the BMWs. Hopefully some changes will be made and we will be back on top here real soon.”

ROBERT STOUT, NO. 6 MITCHUM MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GS.R, FINISHED 10^TH   IN CLASS AND OVERALL: TALK ABOUT THE START OF THE RACE TODAY: “It my first time here with Mitchum Motorsports; first time in the Camaro here this weekend. A lot different than anything I have ever driven before. It was a lot of fun. Very good good horse-powered car. We went out there with expectations to get into the top-10 and I have personally never run in GRAND-AM and have only had a handful of laps here at Daytona. My qualifying was basically my first full session out on track so I came in here pretty green.

“But overall, it was really good. I had a really good co-driver (Jeff Bucknum) with me. It ended up with a good result. We came out with a top-10. I am really happy and looking forward to Miami.”

JEFF BUCKNUM, NO. 6 MITCHUM MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GS.R, FINISHED 10^TH   IN CLASS AND OVERALL: TALK ABOUT YOUR FINISH OUT THERE TODAY: “The race was a very good finish to a rough weekend. I am very pleased with that. We struggled with getting Robert (Stout), the new driver up to speed. I mean he is good, he is talented. We just didn’t get him enough laps to get comfortable. He did a great job just bringing the car back to me in whatever position on the lead lap.

“We weren’t sure what the balance was going to be on the car, it was actually really good. We had  a little clutch problem that made sometimes when we shifted, I would miss a shift, but other than that I think we could have easily contended for, if we had the chance to be up front early on, we had a car that could win a race.

“The yellows, in my situation, because we were coming from the back, I welcomed every yellow we could get because it would close the field back up which we gave me new opportunities to catch and pass people. When it gets all stretched out, of course, you just really can’t catch people, it is too spread out.”

CHRIS MITCHUM, TEAM OWNER, MITCHUM MOTORSPORTS NO. 6 AND NO. 62 CAMARO GS.R: EARLIER TODAY, YOU SAID YOUR TEAMS WOULD BE BETTER IN THE RACE THAN THEY WERE IN QUALIFYING YESTERDAY. SO, OBVIOUSLY, YOU’RE NOT SURPRISED BY TODAY. “No, I’m not surprised. I’m actually quite happy. I’m a little surprised by the pace of some of our competitors, not surprised by our pace. I think we did a very excellent job. Joey (Atterbury) was able to come up from his difficult qualifying spot, all the way up to the lead at one point, so once he got to the lead that’s when we decided to start our strategy and get the car in. We pitted as soon as we could to make the race on fuel, and it worked out perfect. That part of it, and I couldn’t be happier with my driver lineup in both cars, as well as how well they performed. Lawson (Aschenbach) did a great job of bringing it home for us, on that last lap picking up two spots, on the white-flag finish. And Robert Stout, being a rookie, having to start in the back of the GS field, keeping the car clean, keeping it happy, and then we were able to get Jeff Bucknum into the car, and Jeff just kept his head down, we were fighting a little bit of a clutch problem on the 6 car and he was actually able to turn fast-enough times to get up to the tail of the 62, and both of those cars actually drafted their way inside the top 10 and Lawson made a big move at the end. So, I’m not surprised at all by the pace of the cars. Very happy with the teams. It was definitely a recovery for us, but we did exactly what we desire to do: We wanted to finish inside the top 10 and start our championship out with some points, and that’s what we got.”

IN TERMS OF THE CAMARO, HOW DID THE DAY TURN OUT AS FAR AS YOUR EXPECTATIONS? DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT THE CAR? “We learned a lot about the car. We had a whole development last year, solely focused to be ready for this year, to try different things. We did learn even more today. There’s obviously all of the development that we had that was in the car, we’ve still got a couple of areas to work on. Right now, it’s a lot of small improvements. We don’t have any big swipes to take. We’re not at the end of the development curve, by any means, but what it takes to be competitive in this series is a whole bunch of small fixes, that are very minor and will add up to something in the end. We think we have something for them in Homestead. I think both cars will be really strong in Homestead.”

JOEY ATTERBURY MADE UP A LOT OF GROUND EARLY. HOW DID HE DO IT? “Joey, actually, was just very good today. Sometimes, when you look at the beginning stints of these races, it depends how hard you’re willing to push and how clean you can do it. And Joey pushed a little harder than everybody else around him. He was able to pass the number 9 Stevenson car – they had a great race going, I’m not sure what they’re failure was – but they are actually instrumental in our finish by helping us with the parts we needed. The biggest highlight, next to our finish, is knowing we have competitors in the field that we’re all looking for the same result.”

 

MATT BELL, NO. 9 STEVENSON CAMARO GS.R, FINISHED 28^TH IN CLASS, 54^TH OVERALL AS A RESULT OF BROKEN CV AXLE:  WHAT HAPPENED TO PUT THE CAR BACK IN THE GARAGE? “It looks like we’ve got a broken CV, so basically the axle seized up, and eventually it just started slipping. So, John (Edwards) was out there and just couldn’t put any power to the ground.”

YOU RAN UP FRONT WHEN YOU WERE IN THE CAR. “It’s good. The thing about this class, it is very close racing between all of the makes. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get by Joe Foster in the Mustang. Having some issues there. A lot of rough racing, but my job is to bring the car back in one piece. But, unfortunately, an axle broke. I don’t know if it was me or just fate, but it’s unfortunate.”

DID YOU LEARN A LOT ABOUT THE CAMARO TODAY? “We ran the car last year, and it is wholesomely different than it was before. We’ve got a new differential, we’ve got new dampers on the car. We’ve moved weight around a little bit. Also, we do have less fuel and so it sort throws a lot of what we learned last year out the window. We have learned a lot and every weekend we’re learning more.

“This Stevenson crew is amazing, and they’re just taking volumes of information from all of our experiences that we’re learning here – even down to the unfortunate things like a broken CV axle or even some damage to the front end, how that affects our aero. Maybe how we can make a quicker fix, something we can do something like that. I’m excited to go to Homestead and finish out the rest of the year, and see how high up we can go, and I’m sure a win is in the cards for this thing.”

 

OTHER TEAM CHEVY FINISHERS:

ASHLEY MCCALMONT/ERIC CURRAN, NO. 00 CKS AUTOSPORT CAMARO GS.R, FINISHED 14^TH IN CLASS AND OVERALL

DAVE MUNDY/TONY RIVERA, NO. 01 CKS AUTOSPORT CAMARO GS.R FINISHED 20^TH IN CLASS AND OVERALL

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 Performance gears up for 2011 season opener at Daytona entering two cars  

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After a solid 2010 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season, Jack Roush Jr., and Billy Johnson are back in action with sights set on the 2011 championship, but this time they will be piloting a brand new No. 61 Ford BOSS 302R Mustang.  The ROUSH Performance team will again add a second car to the stable with drivers Roly Falgueras and new talent Shelby Blackstock who will share the No. 51 Ford Mustang.  

The ROUSH Performance team had an impressive 2010 season finishing in the top five in nine out of 10 races, with six podium finishes and two wins. The team fell just eight points shy of the championship while acquiring the most driver and team laps led, and winning in Homestead; marking team owner Jack Roush Sr.’s 400th victory in racing.

  “The 2010 season was a great year for us,” says Johnson. “There have been a lot of changes in the off season with a new crew chief, Jeff Campey, and most notably our new BOSS 302R.  We learned a lot in both the Homestead and Daytona tests about the car.  It’s quick but we have been working hard to make it last over the long haul like our old FR500C and we are preparing to come to Daytona ready for action.”

In 2009 Jack Roush Jr., finished fifth in the driver points.  In 2010 he finished third in points with co-driver Billy Johnson.  

“If we keep this yearly improvement, we should attain our goals for 2011,” said Roush Jr.   Joining the team and driving the No.51 ROUSH Performance Mustang is Puerto Rican Roly Falgueras and young gun Shelby Blackstock.  Falgueras is returning to Grand-Am GS action after a brief hiatus racing GT cars in South America .  This will be Blackstock’s first Grand-Am start, but after showing speed in both the Skip Barber series and Mustang Challenge cars, as well as a solid performance in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill, the up and coming star is surely someone to keep an eye on.  

“I’ve kept track of Shelby for a year now and am looking forward to working with him and seeing what the kid can do,” said team manager Brad Francis. “Roly has been doing this for a while now and is a solid addition to the team.”

“I am very excited to compete in my first Grand-Am race,” said Blackstock. “To be driving for such an historic team like Roush is quite a privilege.”  

While new to the team, Campey is not new to the game.  Having years of experience as a crew chief under his belt ranging from ARCA to NASCAR, he is a great addition to the No.61 program. 

Combining Campey with Francis makes for a strong combination with decades of experience.  

“I love sports car racing and it’s in my blood,” said Campey.  “In fact I first started working for the Roush organization in IMSA before moving over to NASCAR years later.  The team is already proven winners and we have an outstanding driver lineup with Jack Roush Jr., and Billy Johnson.  It’s also an honor to be able to work hand in hand with Brad Francis. 

We also have a great crew who have been working very hard in the off season preparing our new BOSS 302R and I hope to contribute to this effort to make everyone’s hard work into a year-end championship.”  

The 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season will kick off at Daytona International Speedway on January 28.

Angelelli Qualifies 2nd in DP; Taylor 2nd in GT

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 27, 2011) – Max Angelelli and Jordan Taylor paced Chevrolet’s qualifying efforts Thursday in the manufacturer’s first event as an official promotional partner of GRAND-AM Road Racing.

Angelelli, driving the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Chevrolet Dallara, qualified outside front row in Daytona Prototype (DP), and Taylor, in the No. 88 Autohaus Camaro GT.R, qualified second in GT for this weekend’s GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Rolex 24 at Daytona.

“That was good,” Angelelli said after a fast lap of 1:40.133 (127.990 mph) at Daytona International Speedway. “We have a good car and a good engine…. We’re looking forward to this season. This Chevy-powered car – we’re going to be fast.”

Taylor’s fast lap occurred late in the qualifying session.

“I went out basically to try and get a gap in qualifying just get in clean air, no traffic,” said Taylor (1:48.821, 117.771 mph). “I caught traffic in the middle of the session, but once I got a clear lap on that last lap, it was a really good lap. I got a little bit of a lockup in turn one, but other than that it was a pretty solid lap. We have not had one issue with our Camaro – so, so far, so good for a 24-hour event.”

Chevrolet announced its partnership with GRAND-AM Road Racing and team lineup earlier in the day.

“It is good to see all of the hard work by the Chevy teams during the off season paid off with front row starting positions in both the DP and GT classes,” said Mark Kent, GM Racing Director. “While starting up front in a 24-hour race isn’t critical, it’s definitely a morale boost for our teams.”

Other Team Chevy qualifiers: In DP, Antonio Garcia (No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Chevrolet Coyote), sixth, and Alex Gurney (No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Chevrolet Riley), 10th. In GT, Robin Liddell (No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R), seventh, and Oliver Gavin (No. 07 Banner Racing Camaro GT.R), 19th.

The Rolex 24 at Daytona starts Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Matt Bell, driver of the No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GS.R, qualified fifth in Continental Tire Challenge GS. Other Team Chevy qualifiers in GS: No. 00 CKS Autosport Camaro GS.R, 16th; No. 62 Mitchum Motorsports Camaro GS.R, 21st; No. 6 Mitchum Motorsports Camaro GS.R, 26th; and No. 01 CKS Autosport Camaro GS.R, 27th.

The Continental Tire Challenge GRAND-AM 200 begins Friday at 1:30 p.m.

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.

Offers Contingency Program for DP, GT and GS Teams  

DETROIT (Jan. 26, 2011) –Chevrolet will be more visible both on and off the track this year, as an official promotional partner of GRAND-AM Road Racing for the first time.  

Chevrolet will supply the official pace vehicle and have a major at-track presence for the races at Elkhart Lake (Wisc.) in June and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International in August.  

“Being a partner with GRAND-AM is an exciting opportunity for Chevrolet,” said Jeff Chew, marketing manager, Chevy Racing. “In addition to being the pace vehicle later this summer, Chevrolet also will bring its Team Chevy Racing Display trackside for the fans to enjoy. Chevy’s display showcases its full lineup of award-winning cars and trucks.”    

Additionally, Chevrolet is offering a contingency program to support its teams competing in the Daytona Prototype and GT classes of the Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, and the Grand Sport class of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.

  Chevrolet has three teams competing in both DP and GT, and five teams in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS class. The season opens this weekend at Daytona International Speedway with the 49th Rolex 24 At Daytona.   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.

Milwaukee, WI – January 27, 2011 – Tradition and local pride unite at the Milwaukee Mile as MillerCoors and Beer Capitol Distributing will join together to be a prominent sponsor of the Milwaukee 225 IndyCar event, June 18-19, 2011.

The deal makes Coors Light the official beer sponsor of this summer’s Milwaukee 225 IndyCar race at The Mile. In addition to signage and hospitality, the sponsorship also establishes Coors Light as the title sponsor of the race’s pole qualifying day.

“We have a long history of supporting great racing at the Milwaukee Mile and look forward to an exciting race this summer,” said Jim Wright, MillerCoors general manager-sales for Wisconsin.  “Coors Light, The World’s Most Refreshing Beer, is the perfect complement to an afternoon spent enjoying hot racing action on the track. And thanks to our outstanding partners at Beer Capitol Distributing, we’ll be able to ensure race fans have that ideal experience at the track.”

MillerCoors and Beer Capitol Distributing join several other Milwaukee businesses who have chosen to show support of this legendary local event. David Hobbs Honda will be sponsoring the Firestone Indy Lights race (David Hobbs 100), and will be the official car dealership of Racefest weekend. Chris McGrath, the Milwaukee 225’s promoter, indicates a title sponsor may be just around the corner.

“The Milwaukee 225 is rich in history, but also about local pride and a promising future,” says McGrath. “This is an exciting time for the state as well. With the Packers headed to the big game, Wisconsin will be first on the national stage. When the drivers and teams of the IZOD IndyCar Series come to town this summer, fans will experience the excitement, danger and speed, while businesses can showcase their wares and show support for this once-a-year Wisconsin tradition.”

For additional information about the Milwaukee 225 or to order tickets, please visit www.MilwaukeeMile2011.com or call 1-800-722-3840.   About Beer Capitol Distributing Beer Capitol, a distributor of malt beverages in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties for MillerCoors, has been in existence for 30 years this May, delivering excellence in taste to all on- and off-premise accounts in southeast Wisconsin. We pride ourselves on being a community leader and making sure we give back to the market place. We are part of delivering fun in southeast Wisconsin, always with responsibility.

About MillerCoors Built on a foundation of great beer brands and more than 288 years of brewing heritage, MillerCoors continues the commitment of its founders to brew the highest quality beers.  MillerCoors is the second largest beer company in America, capturing nearly 30 percent of U.S. beer sales. Led by two of the best-selling beers in the industry, MillerCoors has a broad portfolio of highly complementary brands across every major industry segment. Miller Lite is the great tasting beer that established the American light beer category in 1975, and Coors Light is the brand that introduced consumers to refreshment as cold as the Rockies. MGD 64 completes the company’s premium light beer portfolio, offering consumers fresh, crisp taste at just 64 calories.  MillerCoors brews premium beers Coors Banquet and Miller Genuine Draft; and economy brands Miller High Life and Keystone Light. The company also imports Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Pilsner Urquell, Grolsch and Molson Canadian and offers innovative products such as Miller Chill and Sparks. MillerCoors features craft brews from the Jacob Leinenkugel Company, Blue Moon Brewing Company and the Blitz-Weinhard Brewing Company. MillerCoors operates eight major breweries in the U.S., as well as the Leinenkugel’s craft brewery in Chippewa Falls, WI and two microbreweries, the 10th Street Brewery in Milwaukee and the Blue Moon Brewing Company at Coors Field in Denver. MillerCoors vision is to create America’s best beer company by driving profitable industry growth. MillerCoors insists on building its brands the right way through brewing quality, responsible marketing and environmental and community impact.  MillerCoors is a joint venture of SABMiller plc and Molson Coors Brewing Company.

About Avocado, LLC Founded in 2008, Avocado designs and implements custom motorsports marketing programs for businesses, race teams and drivers, using three principles – accountability, momentum and results – to drive business. This individualized strategy permits clients to participate in producing exactly what they want. By controlling the executables, Avocado ensures those expectations are met. Avocado is located 20 minutes north of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Carmel, Indiana.

About AB PROMOTIONS, LLC AB Promotions is joint venture between Avocado, LLC and BMG Event Productions formed specifically for promoting and managing the 2011 Milwaukee Mile IndyCar race and associated weekend entertainment and activities. Named for the first letters of its corporate namesakes, AB is comprised of the complementary resources and talents of key personnel from Avocado Motorsports and BMG Event Productions.