GRAND-AM ROLEX SPORTS CAR SERIES RETURNS TO MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE FOR SEASON OPENER

 

DUBLIN, OH (June 18, 2008) – Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course will once again welcome the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series during the EMCO Gears Classic presented by KeyBank, June 20-22, kicking off the 47^th season of racing at the prestigious Lexington, Ohio, road course.

 

Featuring a twilight finish on Saturday, 42 Daytona Prototypes and Grand Touring (GT) machines will light up the evening sky with plentiful battles and an undoubtedly close finish, as the Rolex Series returns to Mid-Ohio for the eighth year.

 

Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas will lead the charge during Saturday evening’s headline race, as the two haven’t finished off the podium in any of their six previous Daytona Prototype starts this season.  The No. 01 TELMEX Target Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley drivers have four victories, a second and a third thus far, and have led nearly 33 percent of all the laps completed this season.  They’ll race the only car which has completed every lap in Daytona Prototype competition this season. 

 

Defending Mid-Ohio champs Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty, who currently sit third in Rolex Series point standings, will be hot on Pruett’s tail as they attempt a repeat performance not only at Mid-Ohio, but as the defending 2007 Rolex Series Daytona Prototype Driver Champions.  Last year, Gurney and Fogarty, co-drivers of the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing GAINSCO Auto Insurance Pontiac Riley, combined to lead 105 of the 111 laps of the EMCO Gears Classic presented by KeyBank. This season has been different; they’ve totaled just 123 laps led all together.  Though it’s been a struggle, Gurney and Fogarty will be back at it in defense of last year’s Mid-Ohio victory.

 

“Mid-Ohio is possibly my favorite track in the States,” said Fogarty.  “I think the circuit has a nice layout from a driving perspective, but more than anything I just have a lot of good memories from the place.  We are going to use the race this year to get back on track and shake off some of the bad luck we have been having.  It is a handling track, so we will be good, and our Pontiac is giving us all of the horsepower it has.”

Consistency and six top 10s – including class wins in Miami, Laguna Seca and Lime Rock – have Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards atop the Rolex Series GT point standings in the No. 07 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R.  The pair finished second at Mexico City, third at Watkins Glen and fourth at Virginia International Raceway, securing a 35-point advantage in the standings heading into Mid-Ohio over the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 of Sylvain Tremblay and Nick Ham.  Spencer Pumpelly and Tim George Jr. are close behind in third after teaming up to give TRG four top-5s in the No. 67 Porsche GT3. 

 

Hollywood actor Patrick Dempsey will also be back in action in Saturday’s Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series GT race as he will drive the No. 40 Hyper Sport Mazda RX-8 with team owner Joe Foster.  Dempsey has competed in selected starts this season, as his filming schedule has kept him from competing fulltime.

 

In addition to the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series races, the EMCO Gears Classic presented by KeyBank will offer plenty of other on- and off-track action.  The Triple Crown Tuner Challenge will showcase the hottest tuner cars, while the Grand-Am KONI Challenge ST class will field 35 cars on Sunday.  Also on the schedule is the Ford Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup and Formula BMW Americas.

 

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is also extending a special thank you to the men and women in the United States Armed Forces for their dedicated service to our country, by providing them and their families with $5 off a Weekend General Admission ticket, with a valid military ID.

 A comprehensive motorsports facility, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course features a permanent road-racing circuit with two primary configurations: a 2.4-mile, 15-turn, and a 2.25-mile, 13-turn circuit.  The park-like, 330-acre complex in Lexington, Ohio also features an amateur motocross venue.  Located 60 miles north of Columbus and 75 miles south of Cleveland near Mansfield, the track has been called the most competitive in the U.S. and annually hosts a diversity of locally, regionally and nationally sanctioned racing events for amateur, club and professional drivers and riders.

 

Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, TrueSports, Incorporated is a privately held motorsports entertainment enterprise.  The company owns and operates Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and The Mid-Ohio School, and promotes a wide variety of motor racing, driver instruction, corporate, and family entertainment events throughout the year.