Sunday Group Management

Burt Frisselle Nets Third Row Start for GAMMA88 in Montreal

Burt Frisselle Nets Third Row Start for GAMMA88 in Montreal

Contact: Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management
Media
www.friselleracing.com

Montreal, Que. (19 August 2011) – Burt Frisselle will start the Montreal 200 from the third row after qualifying the AIM Autosport No. 61 GAMMA88 BMW-Riley sixth on the grid for Round 11 of the 12-race GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series championship.

The 15-minute qualifying session saw the ever-competitive Daytona Prototype field post lap times with razor-thin margins with Frisselle missing out on a top-five starting position by just one thousandth of a second. Additionally, the Colorado racer was just under three hundredths of a second shy of a top-four starting spot.

Together with Canadian co-driver Mark Wilkins, Frisselle will look to follow-up last week’s fourth place result at Watkins Glen with a podium finish for GAMMA88 in Saturday’s two-hour sprint race as the Canada-based AIM Autosport team competes in front of its home crowd.

“Yesterday we started with a car that had a lot of issues – especially on corner entry – we were just sliding all over the place,” said Frisselle. “So to be able to go out there and be qualifying and fighting for a top-four just shows how good of a job the crew did, Ian (Willis) did, Mark and I did at just really getting our heads in it and finding out how to make the car better. To beat Ganassi is really kind of the feather in our hat because that’s the team we’re always looking to. They run the same package as us and we’re always trying to gauge where we are to them so that was particularly good. We’ll work hard tonight to find some more because it’s going to be a competitive race.”

The two-hour sprint event will begin Saturday at 11:15 AM (ET) and can be followed online with live timing and scoring at www.grand-am.com. SPEED will televise the Montreal 200 on tape delay at 7:00 PM (ET) Saturday.

BurtMontQual2011_PD.pdf

Matt Cleary
Sunday Group Management
media
http://www.sundaymanagement.com
317.908.2975 (m)


Based in Indianapolis, Sunday Group Management is a leading motorsports management and communications consulting firm.

Sunday Group Management works with clients in a variety of motorsports categories, including NASCAR Sprint Cup driver AJ Allmendinger, Riley Technologies, GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series organization Michael Shank Racing, Continental Tire, and several teams and drivers in Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition.

For additional information: www.sundaymanagement.com, http://sundaygroupblog.com, www.facebook.com/sundaygroup, or twitter.com/Sundaygroup

Montreal NNS News from Gazette

There will be no word on the future of Montreal’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race for a few more weeks, according to the promoters of the event.

The fifth annual NAPA Auto Parts 200 runs on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Friday and Saturday, the final race in the five-year contract between promoter International Speedway Corp. and its subsidiary, Stock-Car Montréal, and Park Jean Drapeau, in which the racetrack lies.

Organizers of the race last fall began discussions with the Quebec government for a tourism-department grant of $500,000 to promote the race beyond Quebec’s borders to bring more fans in for the 74-lap race. That sum presumably would have been matched by the federal government.

But in early July, the provincial government turned down the request, saying that promoters hadn’t provided sufficient data to show that the race has a positive economic impact on the city and province.

Organizers argued that they’re not in a position – nor is it their responsibility – to tell the government how much tax revenue is collected from tourists and the NASCAR family of roughly 1,500 that comes to the city from across North America. Fans arrive annually from across Quebec and throughout Ontario, the Maritime provinces and the northeastern U.S.

It is now up to ISC and Stock-Car Montréal to determine whether it wants to return to Montreal, which for four years has embraced the event with good crowds for a race considered by NASCAR and its teams as among the finest of the Nationwide Series and a favorite destination. Organizers must negotiate, among other things, a new lease with Jean Drapeau Park to run here.

“Stock-Car Montréal is thrilled to host the fifth consecutive NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve,” SCM vice-president Andrew Gurtis said in a release Wednesday. “This weekend’s events are major highlights on the NASCAR Nationwide, Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car and NASCAR Canadian Tire series schedules.

“The past four years have produced compelling storylines, intense on-track competition and unforgettable moments at this world-class facility.

“Looking ahead to 2012 and the potential future of Stock-Car Montréal, we are encouraged by the strong interest from race fans, media, sanctioning bodies and the Montréal community for continuing this popular race weekend. Discussions are ongoing with all relevant parties in Montréal concerning future plans. We expect to have a decision in the next few weeks and will make an announcement at the appropriate time.”

NASCAR has not yet released schedules for its three national series – the elite Sprint Cup, the Nationwide Series and the Camping World Truck Series. It usually does so by this time of year. Montreal Gazette

Mr. Montreal Ready for Rolex at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Mr. Montreal Ready for Rolex at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Contact: Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management

Media
www.frisselleracing.com


Montreal, Que. (17 August 2011) – The GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series travels to Montreal this weekend for the Montreal 200 and Round 11 of the 12-race championship as Brian Frisselle looks for a solid showing in Doran Racing’s No. 77 Office Depot Ford-Dallara.

Although Doran Racing has not had the season they have hoped for so far this year with a best finish of fifth at Virginia International Raceway, Frisselle is ready to rebound this weekend as he returns to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – a track where he has had great success.

Not only is the famous 2.709-mile Formula 1 circuit the site of Frisselle’s first ever career GRAND-AM victory with AIM Autosport in 2008, he also returned the following year with SunTrust Racing and scored his second consecutive victory at the track.

Frisselle has earned two of his four GRAND-AM race victories at the 15-turn Montreal road course and has only started outside the top-five once. The Colorado resident certainly knows the quick way around the circuit and looks to put that experience to good use on Saturday as the series stages another two-hour sprint event.

“I always enjoy coming back to Montreal,” said Frisselle. “Any track that you’ve won on, you are always going to like just a little bit better than the others! Having won with two different teams and two different cars makes it even more special. Hopefully, I can add a third team this weekend. Even though the Office Depot car has been consistently quick, we’ve had some unfortunate luck at Doran Racing in the last few rounds. But hopefully, heading back to a track like Montreal, we can turn that a little bit and have a big result.”

Frisselle will again share driving duties with Henri Richard as the duo looks for a run at the front. The Montreal 200 event begins with a practice day on Thursday, August 18 followed by additional practice and qualifying on Friday. The two-hour race is set to start at 11:15 AM (ET) and can be followed at www.grand-am.com for live timing and scoring.

SPEED will broadcast the event on tape delay starting at 7:00 PM (ET) Saturday.

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BrianFrisselle_montrealreturn2011.pdf

Burt Frisselle Looks to Score Canadian Honors for AIM Autosport in Montreal

Burt Frisselle Looks to Score Canadian Honors for AIM Autosport in Montreal

Contact: Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management

Media
www.frisselleracng.com

Montreal, Que. (17 August 2011) – Burt Frisselle and AIM Autosport are eager to return to GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series action this weekend after earning an impressive fourth place finish less than a week ago at Watkins Glen International. The Canada-based AIM Autosport team is all the more thrilled to bring the No. 61 GAMMA88 BMW-Riley a bit closer to their home-base in Ontario, Canada as the series makes its way north of the border to Montreal.

Frisselle, who made his debut at the 15-turn Montreal road course with AIM Autosport when GRAND-AM first visited the Formula 1 facility in 2007, is carrying the momentum of a strong run last weekend in which the team scored its third fourth place result in five races this season.

Despite not running the full schedule, the team was in strong form with with Frisselle leading 22 laps on the way to the finish. Frisselle has been quick in each of the four GRAND-AM races held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with three starts in the top-five including his run to fourth on the grid with the No. 61 AIM Autosport Daytona Prototype last year.

With the three fourth place finishes so far this year, it may seem that “four” is the magic number for Frisselle and AIM Autosport, but the group looks to improve that number with a podium in this weekend’s Montreal 200.

As Frisselle joins Canadian racer Mark Wilkins at the controls of the GAMMA88 machine for their sixth race together this season, the duo will have even more reason to push for a podium as Wilkins and AIM Autosport compete in front of their home crowd.

“I’m so excited to have GAMMA88 with us for back to back weekends,” said Frisselle. “The AIM Autosport team has been working so hard and despite not being here race in and race out and getting the chance to learn about the new Continental Tires, they deliver us a great car each time out and there’s really something to be said for that. This series is so, so competitive. We’ve had some really strong weekends so far and if it hadn’t been for some bad luck we would have already had a couple podiums this year, so hopefully we can score one this weekend in front of all the Canadian fans.”

The Montreal 200 will be another two-hour sprint event which will see teams consider various pit strategies to compensate for the shorter race length.

The event begins with a practice day on Thursday, August 18 followed by two rounds of practice and qualifying on Friday. The two-hour race is slated for an 11:15 AM (ET) race start and can be followed with live online timing and scoring at www.grand-am.com.

SPEED will televise the event on tape delay at 7:00 PM (ET) on Saturday.

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BurtFrisselle_Preview2011MONTREAL-pd.pdf

RUM BUM RACING SET TO TAKE HIGH SPEED RUN AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

RUM BUM RACING SET TO TAKE HIGH SPEED RUN AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

15 August 2011–While there are several weeks yet to go before the final round of the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Championship, Rum Bum Racing (Orlando, Florida) will still be at full speed in the meantime.

Rum Bum Racing team owner Luis Bacardi has decided to take the No. 13 to a whole different type of race. Using the race-winning BMW M3 as the foundation, his goal was to set a high speed, testing the endurance of the driver and machine at unbelievable speeds. “Let’s get it on!” he announced as the project came together with his enthusiastic support.

While the BMW M3 normally races on the twists and turns of tracks from Daytona International to Watkins Glen with a field of over 60 competitors in three hour endurance events, the high speed run will be down to just one car, one mile, and one number.

The car will run through the “standing mile,” starting from a dead stop and accelerating all the way through the lights one mile later. The event is sanctioned by the International Mile Racing Association and runs at the famed Kennedy Space Center, utilizing the Shuttle Landing Facility.

The team has been invited to the event as guests of fellow Florida organization Performance Power Racing, owned by Johnny Bohmer. PPR will provide aerodynamic feedback from the runs as the team puts the highly successful Rum Bum BMW M3 (3 wins in 2010, 2 wins to date in 2011) to a completely different test.

Rum Bum Racing, which is steered by championship veteran Joe Varde, will not be making any significant changes to the BMW M3 for the run, which will see driver Matt Plumb behind the wheel.

“I’m excited about the chance to just let this BMW stretch its legs and see what kind of numbers we can put out,” said Plumb. “When this opportunity came up, everyone at Rum Bum was behind the idea and we’re looking forward to seeing what this whole style of competition is like. We will be running on the same Continental Tires that we race on, and Joe isn’t going to be making any changes to the car for the run, so we’ll be able to see exactly what we are capable of.”

Date: August 18-19
Location: Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Car: No. 13 Rum Bum Racing BMW M3
Driver: Matt Plumb

You can also follow Rum Bum Racing on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/RumBumRacing

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New Hampshire 100 race results

Firestone Indy Lights
New Hampshire 100
LOUDON, N.H. – Results Sunday of the New Hampshire 100 Firestone Indy Lights Series event on the 1.025 mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (1) Josef Newgarden, 100, Running
2. (5) Jorge Goncalvez, 99, Running
3. (6) Duarte Ferreira, 99, Running
4. (11) Gustavo Yacaman, 99, Running
5. (3) Esteban Guerrieri, 99, Running
6. (8) David Ostella, 98, Running
7. (2) Bryan Clauson, 98, Running
8. (7) Rusty Mitchell, 98, Running
9. (10) Brandon Wagner, 98, Running
10. (9) Victor Carbone, 98, Running
11. (4) Anders Krohn, 77, Mechanical
12. (12) Stefan Wilson, 11, Mechanical

Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 125.508
Time of Race: 00:49:00.0481
Margin of victory: 1 lap
Cautions: 12
Lead changes: 0
Lap Leaders:
Newgarden 1 – 100
Point Standings: Newgarden 449, Guerrieri 381, Wilson 343, Yacaman 302, Goncalvez 287, Krohn 257, Ferreira 256, Ostella 254, Carbone 245, Peter Dempsey 242.

Frustration for Brian Frisselle at Watkins Glen

Frustration for Brian Frisselle at Watkins Glen

www.frisselleracing.com

Watkins Glen, N.Y. (13 August 2011) – Brian Frisselle overcame several challenges in Saturday’s Canadian Tire 200 to finish eighth at the Watkins Glen International short-course event.

Frisselle qualified the No. 77 Office Depot Ford-Dallara fifth on the grid for the 10th round of the 2011 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series season and looked to make a move forward at the start of the race as the No. 90 car went wide into Turn 1.

“I’m not sure what happened on the start,” said Frisselle. “The inside row really checked up and then something happened with the No. 90 in front of me and I was very unsure of who was inside of me so I just played it safe through there.”

Once the dust had settled, Frisselle slotted into the fifth position and despite setting a decently quick pace, saw those lap times compromised as he quickly began to struggle with rear grip. Doran Racing made the call to bring Frisselle to pit road for changes during the race’s one and only caution on Lap 10.

The team used the caution as an opportunity to put co-driver Henri Richard into the car as he ran the middle stint of the race before handing the No. 77 back over to Frisselle.

The grip issues continued throughout the rest of Richard’s stint and the No. 77 would go a lap down before Frisselle returned to the controls. Despite rebounding with a much quicker pace toward the end of the race, there was just too much ground for Frisselle to make up in the shorter two-hour sprint event.

“We started struggling with rear grip early on so we made some tire pressure adjustments and then we put Henri (Richard) in,” offered Frisselle. “Unfortunately then we were having front tire blistering issues so Henri lost a good chunk of time and by the time I went out, we were down a lap and we just went through our paces from there. Toward the end of the race, I was around the No. 61 car which finished fourth today and our pace was very good in comparison so it was unfortunate that we couldn’t show the speed of our car today. The Office Depot car definitely had speed on newer tires but we just didn’t get what we wanted today.”

Frisselle and Doran Racing will look to come back stronger next weekend as the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series visits Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the Montreal 200.

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BrianFGlen22011Race-pd.pdf

Burt Frisselle Finishes Fourth in GAMMA88 Machine at Watkins Glen

Burt Frisselle Finishes Fourth in GAMMA88 Machine at Watkins Glen

Contact: Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management
Media
www.frisselleracing.com

Watkins Glen, N.Y. (13 August 2011) – Despite not being in the rhythm of a regular race schedule, Burt Frisselle and AIM Autosport co-driver Mark Wilkins delivered another solid performance behind the wheel of the No. 61 GAMMA88 BMW-Riley at Watkins Glen International to score a fourth place finish in the Canadian Tire 200 and Round 10 of the 12-race GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series championship.

The result gives the team its third fourth place finish in five races this season and also marks Frisselle’s best finish on the Watkins Glen short-course since his debut at the event in 2004 when he stood on the podium after finishing second.

Frisselle opened the two-hour sprint race from seventh on the grid and took advantage of an early race caution to pit for fuel only. With the sprint race format, teams would have to determine a different fuel strategy and AIM Autosport opted to utilize the caution on Lap 10 to hit pit road for a splash of fuel. Frisselle would remain at the helm of the No. 61 following the pit stop and steadily began to work his way through the field.

Frisselle took over the race lead on Lap 42 and the GAMMA88 machine would run at the front of the field for 22 laps before the team would reach its pit window and call the Colorado racer to pit road at the 1 hour and 10 minute mark.

Wilkins strapped in to drive the No. 61 to the finish and returned to the field fourth in line – quickly matching the steady pace Frisselle had previously set throughout the opening stages.

Without another race caution to bunch the field, the AIM Autosport squad could not make up the track position to catch the leaders, but were nevertheless pleased with yet another top-five result for GAMMA88.

“I’m really happy for the GAMMA88 team,” said Frisselle. “We came and worked hard this weekend. We don’t get to race the whole season so it’s always ‘catch up mode’ for us. AIM Autosport gave us a great car tonight and called a great strategy. We’re very happy with a top-five. We need a little bit more work to be in the running with the No. 01 and No. 10 cars but all in all what a great weekend for GAMMA88 and AIM. It’s just so great to be back at the race track. I can’t tell you how much I love racing. It hurts to sit at home and watch the races on tv so to come here and be in the top-five, that’s what we’re looking for. We’ve got fourth place wired, so now we just have to make it P1!”

Frisselle will have a quick turnaround as AIM Autosport travels to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the Montreal 200 next weekend.

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GAMMA88Glen2Race-pd.pdf

Matt Cleary
Sunday Group Management
media
http://www.sundaymanagement.com
317.908.2975 (m)


Based in Indianapolis, Sunday Group Management is a leading motorsports management and communications consulting firm.

Sunday Group Management works with clients in a variety of motorsports categories, including NASCAR Sprint Cup driver AJ Allmendinger, Riley Technologies, GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series organization Michael Shank Racing, Continental Tire, and several teams and drivers in Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition.

For additional information: www.sundaymanagement.com, http://sundaygroupblog.com, www.facebook.com/sundaygroup, or twitter.com/Sundaygroup

New Hampshire 100 qualifying results

LOUDON, N.H. – Results of qualifying Saturday for the New Hampshire 100 Firestone Indy Lights event on the 1.025-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, and speed:

1. (11) Josef Newgarden, 149.119
2. (77) Bryan Clauson, 147.874
3. (7) Esteban Guerrieri, 146.792
4. (9) Anders Krohn, 146.263
5. (4) Jorge Goncalvez, 144.148
6. (28) Duarte Ferreira, 142.635
7. (17) Rusty Mitchell, 141.818
8. (16) David Ostella, 141.155
9. (3) Victor Carbone, 140.977
10. (22) Brandon Wagner, 140.858
11. (2) Gustavo Yacaman, 140.679
12. (5) Stefan Wilson, 137.260

Allmendinger Puts Best Buy Ford on Front Row at Watkins Glen

Allmendinger Puts Best Buy Ford on Front Row at Watkins Glen

13 August 2011 (Watkins Glen, NY)– AJ Allmendinger posted a fast lap time of 69.997 seconds (126.041 mph) with the No. 43 Best Buy Ford Fusion around the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen circuit to score a front row start for the 26th annual Helluva Good Dips at the Glen on Saturday.

The spot is his fourth front row start of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season as he looks to move up from 17th in the championship standings as the Chase deadline of Richmond continues to loom ever closer.

Allmendinger finished the 2010 Watkins Glen race fourth after starting in fourth and the California native will look to convert his front row start into something even better on Sunday.

“I’m proud of the Best Buy Ford and everyone at Richard Petty Motorsports,” said Allmendinger as he was greeted by a throng of journalists. “I’m not going to lie, it’s great to get in front of Marcos (Ambrose) today. He’s the man here. So to put up a lap a little better than him is pretty cool. I still think he’s going to be the guy to beat tomorrow. This is a great starting spot and a great day. We just keep building momentum and hopefully we can get a win. The big thing is to just keep getting better and have a strong finish to the season and build off that.”

The race is the third for Allmendinger with new Crew Chief Greg Erwin.

“The results haven’t showed it, but we’ve been getting better and better,” said AJ. “It’s great to have him making the calls on what kind of changes we need-big or small, just trying to figure out what we need with the cars. He’s got so much experience. We’ve had solid weekends at Indy, Pocono, and ever since we’ve unloaded here at the Glen. Marcos is the guy to beat but I think we might have something for everyone else.”

About Walldinger Racing, Inc.: Walldinger Racing was formed in 2006 to support AJ Allmendinger’s motorsports career by developing commercial opportunities and partnership programs.

www.ajallmendinger.com

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