Krohn Racing Debuts with Impressive Top-Five Owed to Teamwork
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., January 29, 2006 – At noon yesterday, as the call to start engines for the 44th time in Rolex 24 At Daytona history came, Tracy Krohn sat inside his No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac-Riley Daytona Prototype in disbelief as his engine failed to turn-over. 24 hours later, the first time, stand-alone team owner again sat in disbelief as the same entry sat fifth overall and as the highest finishing Pontiac-powered car. In an event that not only ranks as one of the most prestigious motorsports events in the world but also as the season-opening round of the Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve, the Rolex 24 is a key event in the birth of Krohn Racing. In the end, the team was able to overcome great adversity, including moving up a remarkable 26 spots from 31st on the Daytona Prototype (DP) grid, to earn their first top-five finish in the Rolex Series. Krohn (Houston, Texas) was joined in the inspired drive through the field by Jörg Bergmeister (Langenfeld, Germany), Colin Braun (Ovalo, Texas), Nic Jönsson (Buford, Ga.) and a dedicated team led by Jeff Hazell. Over the course of the event on Daytona International Speedway’s 3.56-mile road course, the Krohn Racing team overcame not only the problem on the grid but low fuel pressure, low oil pressure, a spin, an engine vibration and a complete transmission replacement— accomplished in an impressive 17 minutes from pit lane back to pit lane— as the clock ticked away. Never once did the team give-up and continued to fight for positions moving from sixth to fifth as late as lap 671. Making the task possible was the commitment of this team formed just two and a half months ago; a commitment difficult to find in even the most season group. The Houston-based team would clock 717 laps total, 2,552 miles, over the full 24 hours. Quotes: Tracy Krohn, Owner/ Driver: “I’m ecstatic. This effort is pure team. I started it on the grid yesterday morning it wouldn’t’ start-up. So that puts a little cloud over your head. Going from last to fifth is very gratifying. I’m just real pleased with our team manager, Jeff Hazell and Steve Newey our technical director, Jeff Braun our race engineer, Frank Resciniti, our crew chief, and our whole team. So many of the guys on the team were with me when I started in the Lamborghinis and they did just a terrific job. I’m just real proud of all of them.” Jeff Hazell, team Manager: “Although we had a few difficulties, they weren’t insurmountable in terms of keeping the car running. Knowing the nature of the race we just put our heads down and overcame the difficulties and the result was pretty fair for a car that was not as quick as we’d have liked. The team gelled very quickly and that has been very encouraging. It was a good effort all the way around really.” -more- Quotes cont’d… Jörg Bergmeister: “We definitely didn’t have the quickest car in this 24 Hours. But, we tried to do as good as we can and we didn’t have any big issues beside the one gearbox problem. Other than that the car ran really well. The crew did really good preparation on it. The pit stops were perfect. It’s good to get points for fifth. The last stint was pretty long. I am glad this is over and we can get to the season.” Colin Braun: “This is fantastic. Nic and Tracy and Jörg just did a heck of a job out there. We tried to stay out of trouble and did a good job of that this weekend. The car ran beautifully. Just a little gearbox issue but the guys fixed it in like 17 minutes. I’m just really proud of them. Driving with Jörg [for the rest of the Rolex Series season] is going to be a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to learning a lot from him. Starting out fifth is a great start for the year.” Nic Jönsson: “I think it is a fantastic finish for Krohn Racing. It’s a brand new team assembled over the winter and the guys have done such a great job preparing the cars. We had some engine issues but being the best Pontiac out there and finishing in the top five, I think that is a really, really good start of the season. I think we have a good shot at winning this for the season so I am really happy.” The No. 75 Krohn Racing team is supported by Brooke Super Human Resources and Agilogic. Agilogic is an IT engineering firm based in New Orleans, LA. Its services include engineering custom software, integrating enterprise applications, re-engineering legacy systems, IT contracting and outsourcing, security and the design of Information Lifecycle Management solutions that provide enterprise storage, disaster recovery and business continuity. www.Agilogic.com <http://www.agilogic.com/> . Brooke Super Human Resources is the largest human resources/ staffing firm in New Orleans. With a broad range of staffing solutions, the 16 year-old company can provide professional staffing in fields such as office, legal, accounting and technical/ IT. Today, Brooke is constantly sought-after in hurricane-stricken New Orleans to help fill critical roles for attorneys and qualified accounting professionals as well as the office and IT specialty markets so hard hit in that region. www.BrookeCompanies.com <http://www.brookecompanies.com/> . More on Krohn Racing can be found at www.KrohnRacing.net <http://www.krohnracing.net/>