OHIO TEAMS, DRIVERS MAKE HOME STATE APPEARANCE THIS WEEKEND AT MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE

 

LEXINGTON, OH (June 19, 2008) – Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course will welcome a number of home-grown teams and drivers this weekend, as the EMCO Gears Classic presented by KeyBank, kicks off the 47^th season of racing at the Lexington, Ohio facility.

 

In terms of the number of teams calling one state home in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, Ohio is near the top.  The Buckeye state is home to five drivers and three Daytona Prototype teams that will compete on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn, road course, June 20-22.

 

The top team, in terms of the standings, is Michael Shank Racing, which calls Pataskala, Ohio, home. Shank’s two Ford Rileys will contest for the race victory, with Mark Patterson and Oswaldo Negri leading the way in the No. 60 and Ian James and John Pew in the No. 6. Patterson and Negri have five top-10 finishes this season, while James and Pew have a best finish of fourth at Virginia International Raceway.

 

Another Columbus-area team is Southard Motorsports, which fields the No. 3 Lexus Riley. Located in Powell, Southard has Shane Lewis and NASCAR veteran Bill Lester driving the No. 3 fulltime this season.  Southard driver Shane Lewis also has connections to Mid-Ohio, as an instructor for The Mid-Ohio School, the comprehensive driving and riding instruction company located at the racetrack.

 

Doran Racing, of Cincinnati has its two-car effort primed for Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with Memo Gidley and Cincinnati-born Brad Jaeger in the No. 77 Kodak Ford Dallara and Burt Frisselle and Ricky Taylor in the No. 47 CDOC Roush-Yates Ford Dallara. Gidley and Jaeger earned a season-best fifth-place finish at Watkins Glen earlier this month.

 

“I was born and raised in Cincinnati, and Mid-Ohio is the home track for both myself and the Doran Racing team,” said Brad Jaeger.  “It’s where I started racing when I was 16 in my dad’s old Sports 2000 car and in recent years have race there in F2000, the Star Mazda Championship and the Indy Pro Series.  It’s a fun track because of the elevation changes, the long, flowing turns and the long back straight that lets you really build up some speed.  This will be my first race there in a DP car, but we’re carrying some momentum from our top-5 finish at Watkins Glen and the entire team is looking forward to the weekend.”

 

A family of three from North Canton will be action at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course also looking for strong finishes.  Joe, Wayne and Will Nonnamaker drive for Team Sahlen of Buffalo, New York.  The Nonnamakers have competed in both the Rolex Series and Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series, with brothers Wayne and Will each recording two KONI Challenge class championships and their father Joe, one.

 

“We always have a big party at Mid-Ohio with family, friends as well as our many of our partners including Hawk, CORSA and Forgeline, who are all from Ohio,” said Joe Nonnamaker.  “Hopefully the improvements we’ve made will be just the thing to put us up to the front for our home track fans.”

 

Another driver with an Ohio connection is Bryan Sellers, who was born in Centerville – south of Dayton – but now lives in Georgia.  Another instructor at The Mid-Ohio School, Sellers will co-drive the No. 68 TRG CRG/Maxter Porsche GT3 this weekend with defending GT race co-winner R.J. Valentine.

 

Grand-Am KONI Challenge ST drivers from Ohio competing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend include Cincinnati’s B.J. Zacharias, who anchors a deep three-car effort from the RSR Motorsports stable.  Jason Henderson from Cincinnati, Zach Schiff of Dublin and Ray Mason from Columbus make up three-parts of the Fountain Motorsports team.  Zach Arnold of Tiffin co-drives for V-Pack, while John Schmitt of Sunbury co-drives for HART.  Other Ohio natives are Chad Gilsinger of Marysville with Bill Fenton Motorsports and Brian Flint of Galloway with Team Cobalt California.  Andy Brumbaugh, who drives for Meyer Motorsports, was born in Coshocton, but now resides in Columbia, South Carolina.

 

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.