Monday, June 15, 2009

Busch/Speed to race Daytona Prototypes in Grand Am Series

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 15, 2009) - Three-time Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Daytona Prototype team champion Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates will field a second entry for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Kyle Busch and Scott Speed in the July 4 Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

The race will be televised live on SPEED at 2 p.m. ET.

The duo will make their Grand-Am Rolex Series debut piloting the No. 02 Waste Management Lexus Riley alongside defending Rolex Series Daytona Prototype champions Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas in the No. 01 TELMEX Lexus Riley. The team is the defending winner of the Brumos Porsche 250, with Pruett executing a last-lap pass in the trioval to beat Alex Gurney to the checkered flag last July. Pruett and Rojas won their first race of 2009 at Watkins Glen International last weekend to capture a share of the Daytona Prototype point lead.

"I am really looking forward to seeing Kyle and Scott in one of our Grand-Am cars," Ganassi said. "Kyle is one of the best racecar drivers in the world and Scott is a young talent with a lot of road course experience. Also, I think having the opportunity for them to work with a road course veteran like Scott Pruett should make for a great experience for them. It will be exciting to see what they can do."

Since the team's introduction into the Grand-Am Rolex Series in 2004, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates has won the Rolex 24 At Daytona three consecutive times, in addition to capturing three Daytona Prototype team championships and winning 22 races in a six-year span. Last season, Pruett became the first two-time Daytona Prototype champion and Rojas became the first Mexican driver to win a major racing championship in the United States.

Currently, Busch is the leading winner in all three of NASCAR's stock car national touring series. He won three events in Sprint Cup competition in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 M&M's Toyota and is ranked ninth in the point standings, in position to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. In the Nationwide Series, he has four victories and leads the point standings. Busch also has two victories to share the lead in Camping World Truck Series competition in wins. Last year, the 24-year-old native of Las Vegas, Nev. won a record 21 races in the three series.

Prior to moving to stock cars, Speed raced in Formula One, making 28 starts in 2006 and 2007 for Scuderia Toro Rosso. A 2008 winner in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Speed is ranked second in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings behind Joey Logano. The 26-year-old native of Manteca, Calif. was fifth in the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway in April at the wheel of the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota.

The Brumos Porsche 250 will be a one-day show on July 4, with practice beginning at 8:30 a.m. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will follow the two-and-a-half hour race with the 8 p.m. Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think Speed will be the better driver of the two but at the same time I am sure Kyle will get more in car time.

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