3/5/2011
Bill Lester
6th Place Finish At Homestead!
After starting fourth in the Grand Prix of Miami, Team Chevy’s SunTrust Racing Chevrolet/Dallara driven by Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor finished the 2:45 hour event in third-place on the podium in the Daytona Prototype (DP) class. The solid run vaulted the SunTrust Racing team to second in the standings with two races of the 2011 Grand-Am Road Racing Rolex Sports Car Series season in the record books.
"It has been a weekend of tight competition at Miami Homestead Speedway for Team Chevy,” said Mark Kent, Director, GM Racing. “Our Chevrolet teams got off to a great start by capturing the pole positions in both DP and GT as well as securing three of the top-five starting positions in DP and three of the top-10 in GT.
"All of our teams were strong throughout the race and it was great to see our cars leading laps and showing the strength of our Chevrolet power. Congratulations to SunTrust Racing drivers Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor for their third-place podium finish in DP.”
After starting the weekend on a high note by winning the pole in DP, GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Chevrolet/Riley with Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney handling the driving duties had to settle for an eighth place finish in DP after battling tire-related handling issues throughout the race. The third Team Chevy DP team, Spirit of Daytona Chevrolet/Coyote started third but had an early exit from the race.
In Grand Touring (GT) the Stevenson Motorsports team gave Camaro GT.R its first pole position in the series and was a strong contender until on-track contact ended the day early for drivers Jan Magnussen and Robin Liddell. At the checkered, the Autohaus Motorsports Camaro GT.R driven by Bill Lester and Jordan Taylor captured a sixth-in-class finish. The Banner Racing Camaro GT.R piloted by Oliver Gavin and Gunter Schaldach finished eighth in class.
In the Grand Sport (GS) class of the Continental Tire Challenge Series, the Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GS.R team showed strength in qualifying turning in the third fastest effort. Drivers Matt Bell and John Edwards ran among the leaders through the two-thirds mark of the race, but drifted back to an 11th place at the finish.
The CKS Motorsports Camaro GS.R with drivers Eric Curran and Ashley McCalmont overcame a disappointing qualifying effort to finish ninth in class in the Kia 200. The second CKS Camaro GS.R entry with Dave Mundy and Tony Rivera was 13th at the checkered flag.
The two Camaro GS.R entries from Mitchum Motorsports unfortunately were unable to duplicate their strong Daytona runs in today’s event at Miami Homestead. Lawson Aschenbach and Joey Atterbury started in seventh and were scored 21st in class at the finish. Jeff Bucknum and Robert Stout qualified 17th and finished 25th in class.
"It is clear that it is going to be a highly competitive season in Grand-Am Road Racing” Kent concluded. “We feel our Chevy teams are up to the task and we are looking forward to further success as the season continues to unfold."
The next event for both the Rolex Sports Car Series and the Continental Tire Challenge Series will be April 7-9, 2011 at Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Alabama.
Note: Team Chevy press releases, high-resolution images, and media kit can be downloaded from the Team Chevy media website: http://media.gm.com/product/public/us/en/gmracing/news.html
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.
Submitted By: Philip Hampton
