Sunday Group Management

Second Straight ST Class Pole for No 18 Insight Racing at Road America 250

Second Straight ST Class Pole for No 18 Insight Racing at Road America 250

ELKHART LAKE, Wis., 24 June – The No.18 ST Class Insight Racing BMW 328i will start its second consecutive GRAND-AM Continental Tires Sports Car Challenge race from the Pole Position. Straight off their Watkins Glen pole, the team continues to show stellar natural-terrain road course form at Road America.

Driver Tyler McQuarrie returned to the driver’s seat having not raced in the Watkins Glen round due to prior commitments. Showing no signs of rust, McQuarrie soon set the benchmark time midway through the 15-minute session in the low 2:32 sec. bracket. With only minutes remaining, McQuarrie reset his own best time to secure the pole with 2:31.988 sec. trip around Road America’s daunting 4-mile lap.

“It’s so nice to be back! I haven’t been here to Road America in a long time. I think it was back in 2000 for a USF2000 test, and even then I didn’t get to drive many laps. This weekend I’ve only done 12 laps so far and none of those were on new tires or clear of traffic, so hat’s off to the crew. They’ve worked their magic on the set up and that made me look good,” said McQuarrie.
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Hopwood Snags Seventh on Road America Grid

Hopwood Snags Seventh on Road America Grid

Elkart Lake, Wis (24 June, 2011)– Trevor Hopwood will line the No. 12 Infinity Audio Kia Forte Koup up from the fourth row for Friday’s Road America 250 after setting a fast lap time of 2:33.700 seconds around the 4-mile circuit in qualifying on Friday.

The 2.5 hour enduro into the darkness will mark round 7 of the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Championship as the series makes a debut visit to the scenic Wisconsin facility. Hopwood will start the race before turning the machine over to co-driver Adam Burrows to take to the finish.
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Burt is Back as GAMMA88 Powers AIM Autosport to Road America

Burt is Back as GAMMA88 Powers AIM Autosport to Road America

http://www.gamma88.com/

Frisselle returns to familiar surroundings as the series ventures to a new location…

(Image: Bob Chapman)

21 June 2011-There are some drivers that are very particular about their surroundings, needing everything to be perfect and familiar in order to perform. From the way the seat insert feels, to where the radio button is placed on the steering wheel, every little detail has to be sorted out before the driver can concentrate on going fast.

But that’s not the case with Burt Frisselle, who has shown time and time again that he has the speed and adaptability to just jump into any car and simply make it go fast.

That quick turn will be on display once again this weekend as the Colorado resident returns to his normal ride with AIM Autosport as the Daytona Prototypes invade Road America for the first time in series history when GRAND-AM partners with the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Powered by support from new partner GAMMA88 (http://www.gamma88.com) Frisselle and his co-driver Mark Wilkins will look to return to the form that has seen the duo show remarkable speed despite not having a regular schedule of outings this season.

The last time out, in the legendary Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, Frisselle was once again in fighting form as he led the field with the Action Express Riley, the second time this season he has ran to the front of the pack for the team and the third different time for him to lead in Rolex Series competition this year.

This weekend, Frisselle returns to familiar surroundings as the series ventures to a new location. The Road America visit is the first for the Daytona Prototypes, and Frisselle can’t wait.

“I’m excited to be back with AIM again this weekend and having GAMMA88 with us, we are looking forward to representing them as well as we can here, at Watkins Glen, and in Montreal,” said Frisselle. “I enjoy the challenge of working with different teams and just focusing on getting in the car and going quickly, but of course it is great to be surrounded by all the familiar faces at AIM again.”

Wilkins and Frisselle have proven potent this year, netting two fourth place positions as they target a run to the podium this Saturday.

“The Rolex Series is so competitive and there are teams like Ganassi operating at the absolute top of their game right now. So for AIM to be showing up with the competitive package that they have been, is really quite impressive. We’ve led races and have had some solid finishes, and really if it weren’t for a little luck could have had a couple of podiums. So I’m optimistic that we can do that again this weekend. Running at a track for the first time kind of levels the playing field a bit, and that will hopefully only play into our hands this weekend.”

The weekend opens with a promoter test day, with the race slated for a live SPEED airing starting at 12:00 PM ET on Saturday.

www.gamma88.com
www.frisselleracing.com
www.aimautosport.com

Road America At-Track Schedule – Rolex DP

Thursday, June 23
TIME LOCATION NOTES
11:30 AM Rolex Driver Meeting Toshiba Trailer
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM Rolex Practice – Combined
2:30 PM – 3:00 PM Rolex Practice – DP only
4:15 PM – 5:00 PM Rolex Practice – Combined

Friday, June 24
TIME LOCATION NOTES
10:45 AM – 11:15 AM Rolex Practice – Combined
11:15 AM – 11:45 AM Rolex Practice – Truman/Akin Participants
2:35PM – 2:50 PM Rolex Qualifying – DP
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM Rolex Driver Autograph Session Team Transporters

Saturday, June 25
TIME LOCATION NOTES
8:30 AM Rolex Driver Meeting Toshiba Trailer
9:15 AM – 9:45 AM Rolex Practice – Combined
10:00 AM Rolex Pre-Race
11:00 AM START – Rolex Sports Car Series 250 Driven by Visit Florida (2 hours)

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

Burrows and Hopwood Hit Cheese Country as GRAND-AM Heads to Road America

Burrows and Hopwood Hit Cheese Country as GRAND-AM Heads to Road America

Contact: Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management
media
(317) 908-2975-Mobile

TV: SPEED July 3, 1:00 PM ET

Elkhart Lake, Wis (21 June, 2011)– It is a new track and a new challenge this weekend as Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood head north to Wisconsin for round 7 of the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge championship at Road America in Elkhart Lake. The former series champions will share the driving duties in the No. 12 Infinity Audio Kia Forte Koup for Kinetic Motorsports as the duo look to make the most of the first GRAND-AM visit to the track since 2001.

While the Road America race marks a track debut for Hopwood, Burrows will tap into his previous experience on the 4-mile circuit, having raced in the Rolex Sports Car Series as well as in SCCA competition at the facility.

“The entire experience of racing at Road America is pretty outstanding,” said Burrows. “There are some long straights that give you a lot of time to think about the next corner! This is a good place to have a lot of power, but there are also some sections where you are really hustling the car through the corners so hopefully we can make the most of the handling on the Forte Koup. Being part of the NASCAR race weekend is also something that should be fun. I think that we might get some fans interested in the Continental Tire series because the racing is so close, and the fans in this part of the country seem to really know and care about their racing.” Read more of this post

Brian Frisselle Ready For Road America Return

Brian Frisselle Ready For Road America Return

Elkhart Lake, Wis. (21 June 2011) – Brian Frisselle returns to Road America for the first time in seven years as the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal makes its first visit since 2001 to the historic, 14-turn road course for the Rolex Sports Car Series 250 Driven by VISIT FLORIDA.

While Frisselle has never competed at the four-mile road course behind the wheel of a Daytona Prototype, the Colorado racer gained years of experience racing formula car machinery at the Wisconsin road course during the early part of his career. Running in Skip Barber National Championship, Star Mazda, and Formula BMW competition, Frisselle netted his first FBMW podium at Road America and earned nine top-10 finishes in 11 starts at the Elkhart Lake circuit in the three categories.

Frisselle is eager to return to the track that saw him earn such strong results as a young racer in the early stages of his career – this time with the No. 77 Doran Racing Daytona Prototype in hopes of claiming his first Road America victory.
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Tim Bell Looks Forward to Road America Debut

Tim Bell Looks Forward to Road America Debut

Elkhart Lake, Wis. (21 June 2011) Following a three-week break in GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition after two busy back-to-back race weekends at Lime Rock Park and Watkins Glen International, Doran Racing driver Tim Bell will add another historic track to his race resume as he travels to Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin this weekend for Round 7 of the championship.

A rookie racer in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Bell has the added challenge of competing against racers with far more experience at the various tracks on the 10-race schedule. Bell has had to absorb the nuances of each different track to quickly get up to speed against his more experienced competitors. Despite this, Bell has shown his potential against the seasoned drivers, already scoring four top-15 finishes in six races with the No. 14 Office Depot BMW 128i – including a second place finish at Barber Motorsports Park.
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Rum Bum Racing Ready For Road America

Rum Bum Racing Ready For Road America

5th in Team Championship as Summer Season hits stride

Elkhart Lake, Wis. (21 June 2011) – The GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge schedule gives Rum Bum Racing the opportunity to compete at many diverse and challenging tracks around the country, and the team will make its debut at Road America with drivers Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi this weekend as GRAND-AM marks its first appearance at the track since 2001.

Plumb and Longhi hope to rebound in Round 7 of the 10-race championship after Rum Bum Racing faced a disappointing result in Round 6 at Watkins Glen International when contact from a competitor forced the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing BMW M3 behind the wall for repairs. Despite the valiant effort of the Rum Bum squad to return the BMW to race action, the No. 13 was laps down and the team settled for a 20th place result.

Road America is a new circuit for Rum Bum Racing and several other Continental Tire Challenge teams, but Rum Bum took the opportunity to test at the 4-mile track earlier this year and will look to make the most of that data this weekend. In addition, both Plumb and Longhi have previous experience at the track and will look to use their knowledge of the 4-mile, 14-turn road course to their advantage.
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TUNE IN: Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood at Watkins Glen Sunday, June 12 (SPEED)

Programming Reminder: Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge on SPEED – 5:00 PM ET Sunday, June 12

It is a busy weekend of racing all around the world, so don’t forget to close out a great weekend by tuning into SPEED at 5:00 PM ET Sunday, June 12 for the Continental Tire 150 and Round 6 of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge at Watkins Glen International. Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood looked to rebound from a disappointing race at Lime Rock Park to bring home a strong result at Watkins Glen.

Burrows and Hopwood next travel to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for Round 7 at Road America June 23-24.

www.trevorhopwood.com

www.adamburrowsmotorsport.com

You can also follow the teams progress at www.facebook.com/kiaracing.

-30-

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

Burt Battles in Return to Action Express at Watkins Glen

Burt Battles in Return to Action Express at Watkins Glen

www.frissselleracing.com

http://samanthashope.com/

Watkins Glen, N.Y. (6 June 2011) – Burt Frisselle rejoined Action Express Racing for the Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International and overcame numerous obstacles to score a top-five result with co-drivers David Donohue and Darren Law. The race was the second start of the season with Action Express for Frisselle, having raced the Porsche-powered Riley in the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Moments before the drop of the green flag, the skies opened up and made for treacherous conditions throughout the opening laps of the race. The No. 5 was forced to make an early unscheduled green flag pit stop when the windshield began to fog, causing significant visibility issues for Donohue. However, the team rallied back to move the Daytona Prototype forward and lead the race prior to the first driver change.

Frisselle strapped into the No. 5 Action Express machine for the team’s second stint and faced slippery conditions as the track began to dry and the team made the switch over to slick tires. Frisselle put the car into the second position and ran at a phenomenal pace to hold off the third and fourth place cars that were close behind and putting unrelenting pressure on the Colorado driver for an intense 15 laps around the 3.4-mile circuit. Looking to bring the team the best possible result in his guest driving appearance, the Colorado racer would only relinquish second place as he made a pit stop just before a full course caution.

Having pitted just prior to the caution, Frisselle cycled to the front and led the field to the green. With everyone on fresh tires, he would settle into the third position at the start and again defend against a pack of Daytona Prototypes for another 21 laps before handing the car back over to Donohue.

“The car was quite strong, and I was having a very good race with the Ganassi guys—I raced against both drivers through my stint so it was pretty interesting to see where they were strong and where the Action Express car was good. I didn’t want to give anything up out there.”

Despite a broken header, the early visibility issues, and a dense fight through traffic late in the race, the team brought the No. 5 home fifth as the AE team continued to show strong championship form despite the setbacks.

“I was excited to be with Action Express this weekend, they are a very good group and I think they will continue to be more and more competitive as the season goes on,” said Frisselle. “Of course, next time out, I’ll be racing AGAINST these guys when I’m back in the GAMMA88 machine with AIM Autosport!”

The fifth place finish marks Frisselle’s third top-five result of the season as he looks for another strong performance when he heads to Road America in three weeks with AIM Autosport.

“I’m very happy to have GAMMA88 on board for three more races and I’m pumped to be heading to Elkhart Lake for the next one”, said Frisselle. “I’ve raced there in formula cars, and for us to get the chance to race at that track in the DP is pretty awesome. It is also a great chance for some of the real race fans that call Road America their home track a chance to see GRAND-AM in person, and I think that they are going to love it.”

The GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car series returns to race action at Road America June 23-25 for Round 7 of the championship.

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

Matt Bell Makes Strong Daytona Prototype Return

Matt Bell Makes Strong Daytona Prototype Return

Watkins Glen 6 Hour Debut nets sixth place finish despite in-race setbacks

Watkins Glen, N.Y. (4 June 2011) – Following his first podium of the season in the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge on Friday, Matt Bell added to a highlight weekend of racing as he delivered another strong performance in his return to the cockpit of the No. 77 Doran Racing Daytona Prototype at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.

Bell, who raced for the Doran squad earlier this year at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, was welcomed back by the team and joined co-drivers Brian Frisselle and Henri Richard to finish sixth in the six-hour event.

The race began under hazardous rainy conditions as Frisselle opened from the fifth starting position. Frisselle set a steady pace and worked his way up to fourth before handing the car over to Bell who would strap in for his fourth career Daytona Prototype appearance.

The California racer returned the No. 77 machine to the track and ran in the seventh position while setting consistently quick lap times. Bell had a great battle with the No. 99 of former series champion Jon Fogarty and set up an expert pass on the veteran Rolex Series driver to move into sixth place.

Bell continued to impress as he moved to the point and marked his career-first lap in front of the Daytona Prototype field before relinquishing the car to Richard for the third stint. Bell not only had the pace to run up front, but the young driver also put his experience to good use, keeping calm and composed in the car despite a series of frustrating setbacks including a loss of all dashboard information and even more crucially, no team radio.

As Bell looks to advance his racing career, he utilized the six-hour event to gain a bit more experience and hopes that this strong performance will lead to another opportunity in a Daytona Prototype.

“I was pushing pretty hard and the car was doing pretty well,” said Bell. “It’s a big step for me to be able to do an entire stint in a car that’s been set up by someone else. I’ve experienced the whole range of downforce with these cars, and I feel like now I know what a Daytona Prototype is supposed to feel like. I’m learning more about how to drive it over a full stint. So it was good for me to keep learning and progressing, and I want to thank Doran Racing for inviting me back.”

Bell returns to on-track action with the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Challenge June 23-24 for Round 7 of the 10-race championship.

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