Grand-Am Cup Gears Up for West Coast Swing

FONTANA, Calif. (March 11, 2002) -- After opening the season in Daytona, the Grand-Am Cup Street Stock Series is gearing up for a west coast swing. The series' second race of the year will be held at California Speedway, where the four classes of street stock cars will help break in the Speedway's new road course with a 250-mile race on March 24 prior to the Indy Racing League race.

The second stop on the west coast swing will take the series to Phoenix International Raceway, April 19-20. This will be the first race of the year where the Grand-Am Cup field will be split into two races. The Sport Touring cars will run a 250-mile race on Friday night, and the Grand Sport cars will take to the track for their own 250-mile race on Saturday afternoon.

Several Southern California Drivers Slated to Race
Several Southern California drivers are looking forward to racing in their backyards during the first stop of Grand-Am Cup's western swing. Orange County's Gary Hutto, of Villa Valley, and James Sofronas, of Newport Beach, will race together in the Sport Touring I class, running the #28 Global Motorsports Group BMW 328i. 2001 Sport Touring I Driver Champion Bob Endicott, of San Pedro, will continue the defense of his title in the #64 King Motorsports Acura Integra R. Marty Miller, of Riverside, will not have to travel far to race in the #65 SpeedSource Porsche 911.

Villaconn Announces Drivers for West Coast Swing
Villaconn Motorsports announced its BMW Z3 Coupe driver lineup for Grand-Am Cup's two-race west coast swing. Bransen Patch, Don Salama, Beau Buisson, Neal Heffron, Ken Dobson and Matt Connolly will make up the three-car squad. Patch and Salama were the team's highest finishers at the first round in Daytona. They hope to captialize on the strong start to the season and lay the foundation for their run for the 2002 Sport Touring I Driver Championship. Bolstered by a strong finish from Buisson and Dobson, Villaconn Motorsports has the best start to a season ever in their short three year history.

Marks Completes Hyundai Driver Lineup
Hyundai Motorsports announced that Justin Marks will complete the driver lineup for the California Grand-Am Cup race. In doing so, he becomes the sixth driver of the Hyunai Motorsport team and joins Mark Craig, Michael Ciasulli, Wade Gaughran, Steven Gorriaran and Chris Guerrieri. In 2001, Marks successfully competed in the Speedvision World Challenge Series, finishing second in the rookie standings.

Tickets are on sale for both the Grand-Am Cup events at California Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway. They may be purchased online at www.californiaspeedway.com and www.phoenixinternationalraceway.com.

More information on Grand-Am Cup is available online at www.grand-am.com/grandamcup.

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EDITORS NOTE:
Photos and results from the events are 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