Nextel 250 Practice Update
Nextel 250 Practice Update MIAMI, Fla. (March 1, 2002) -- The Rolex Sports Car Series held practice sessions today for Saturday's Nextel 250 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which were halt by the fatal crash of driver Jeff Clinton (see previous story). The #27 Doran Lista Judd-powered Dallara posted the fastest time of the day with a 1:10.399 lap at 122.729 mph. The #6 Miracle Motorsports Ford Riley & Scott had the second fastest time with 1:11.678 lap time. The #31 Konrad Motorsports Saleen S7R led the GTS field with a 1:17.023 lap, while the #42 Wendy's Corvette clocked a 1:18.158 lap to top the American GT class. The #24 ParisHotel.com Mosler MT900R of Perspective Racing was the quickest GT entry and the #07 Momentum Motorcars/USI BMW-powered Picchio led the SRPII class. Rolex 24 Winners To Lead Field To Green With the cancellation of today's qualifying session, the field of 34 cars will be gridded by their point standings, in accordance with the Grand American Rulebook. That will place the #27 Lista Judd-powered Dallara in the pole position with the #8 Rand Racing/Risi Competizione Nissan-engined Lola on the outside. The Lista Dallara leads the SportsRacing Prototype points after capturing the overall win at the Rolex 24 At Daytona last month. The Rand Lola is the leader in the SportsRacing Prototype II class after winning its class at the Rolex 24, in addition to finishing third overall. The Racer's Group's #66 Sun Coast Porsche/ThaList.com/Rennlist.com Porsche GT3 R will lead the GT field, starting in the eighth position, while Flis Motorsports' #09 Indicom Auto Group/Microflexinc.com/Goodyear Corvette will be in front of the American GT class in the ninth position. Both The Racer's Group Porsche and Flis Corvette were class winners at the Rolex 24. Jeff Clinton Co-Drivers To Take Tribute Parade Lap Jeff Tillman and Curtis Francois will take a tribute parade lap in memory of their co-driver Jeff Clinton prior to the start of the Indy Racing League's Grand Prix of Miami. Tillman and Francois were slated to co-drive with Clinton in the Archangel Motorsport Services #21 Budweiser/GreyEagle.com Nissan Lola throughout the entire 2002 Rolex Sports Car Series season. Tillman and Francois will drive Archangel's second car. The team has withdrawn its #22 Nissan Lola from the Nextel 250 and has changed the Lola's decals to reflect the Budweiser/GreyEagle.com sponsorship and #21 for the tribute lap. Damaged Cars Should Be Ready To Race Several cars damaged in practice sessions should be ready to race on Saturday. The team of the #8 Rand Racing/Risi Competizione Nissan Lola worked throughout the day repairing the car after it lost its brakes and hit the wall during a practice session on Friday. Driver Terry Borcheller reported the team plans to have the car as good, if not better, when it takes to the track again on Saturday. The ZIP Racing crew was also busy in its garage today repairing the #35 Alliance Residential/Weather Tech/Alpinehut.com Porsche GT3 R, which was damage at the end of Friday's practice sessions. After working all day, drivers Randy Pobst and Kim Hiskey were able to return to the track in the final practice session today. The #37 Banana Joe's Judd Lola had a small engine fire during the last practice session. Driver Joe Field was in the car and said it was caused by a wire sin the engine. The team is still accessing the damage to the engine and hopes to be ready to take the green flag on Saturday. The Nextel 250 will be aired live on SPEED Channel at 3:30 p.m. ET. Tickets are available for the Nextel 250, part of 20th Anniversary Grand Prix of Miami, on the Homestead-Miami Speedway website at www.homesteadmiamispeedway.com. They may also be purchased by calling 305-230-RACE or by visiting any Ticketmaster outlet. Additional information about the Rolex Sports Car Series is available online at www.grand-am.com. -30- EDITORS NOTE: Race photos will be made available on the Grand American media-specific website at www.grand-am.com/media. Additional information may be requested from: Grand American Road Racing Association Communications Christie Hyde (386) 681-4182; email: CHyde@grand-am.com