Lexus Eyes First Prototype Win at Homestead

TORRANCE, Calif., Feb. 24, 2004 -- After a runner-up finish in its series debut at the Rolex 24 of Daytona, Lexus hopes to move up one spot in this weekend's Rolex Series Daytona Prototype race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway as part of the Toyota Indy 300 weekend.

Lexus prototypes finished second, fourth and six among the 17 Daytona Prototypes entered at Daytona with all three cars finishing the grueling 24-hour marathon race. In addition, Scott Pruett (CompUSA Lexus) won the pole in Lexus' first race.

"To win the pole and have all three Lexus-powered entries finish in the top six in our first race -- you couldn't ask for much more -- except to win," said Mike Wells, Lexus vice president of marketing. "We hope to add that distinction this weekend. We're proud of the effort of our drivers and teams to be able to come out of the box so strong. This series has grown tremendously in just one year and it's extremely competitive. To win here against the likes of BMW, Porsche, GM and Ford would be a terrific accomplishment."

The lineup of Lexus-powered teams will grow by one this weekend with the addition of a second entry from Chip Ganassi Racing. Jimmy Morales, who co-drove in the No. 01 car at Daytona, will partner with former Toyota Atlantic Championship series star Luis Diaz in the No. 02 CompUSA Lexus.

Joining the No. 02 entry will be the Daytona pole-winning No. 01 CompUSA Lexus with Pruett and Max Papis. Ganassi Racing will try to pull off a unique double-header this weekend with the Lexus prototype entries in Saturday's Rolex Series race and a pair of Target Toyotas in Sunday's IRL IndyCar Series season-opening Toyota Indy 300.

Joining the Ganassi efforts will be the one-car entries from Doran-Lista Racing and Michael Shank Racing. The Doran-Lista team's second-place showing at Daytona was the highest among the Lexus-powered teams. Lead driver Didier Theys will co-drive with sports car star and former F1 pilot Jan Magnussen, who will be filling in for Fredy Lienhard.

After a strong fourth-place showing at Daytona, Michael Shank Racing will be making the switch from endurance to sprint mode at Homestead. With the switch comes a pair of South Florida residents in open-wheel hard-chargers Oswaldo Negri and Burt Friselle, the son of ex-road racer Brad Friselle, a former IMSA star and designer of the Frisbee chassis that dominated Can-Am competition in the early 1980s.

Qualifying for the Grand Prix of Miami is on Friday, February 27 at 4:30 p.m., with the green flag falling on Saturday, February 28 at 3 p.m.