Krohn Racing Post-Daytona
Krohn Racing Concentrated on Points Chase Following Setback in Rolex 24 At Daytona Although Krohn Racing experienced some electrical problems in the 45th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona race January 27-28, they prefer to accentuate the positive and be happy that both cars finished the grueling race and that they acquired points for the Rolex Sports Car Series season-long championship. The No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley of owner/driver Tracy Krohn and teammates Nic Jönsson and Boris Said suffered two major electrical setbacks which took numerous pit stops to the garage and pits to make adjustments in an attempt to remedy the problem. The car finished 21st overall and 13th in class, 61 laps down from the leaders. The No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley of Max Papis, Colin Braun and JJ Lehto finished 17th overall and 11th in class, 53 laps down. They also suffered a major electrical problem, requiring over an hour in pit and garage stops to change the electronic harness, coils, injectors, spark plugs/wires and ECU unit. Additionally, JJ Lehto experienced an off-road excursion in the chicane when he attempted to cross in the grass, thus damaging the nose by getting bottomed out in the rain-soaked grass. The race was won by the No. 01 Telmex Chip Ganassi Lexus Riley of Scott Pruett, Salvador Duran and Juan Pablo Montoya. QUOTES: COLIN BRAUN, Driver of the No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley: The car was really good. Unfortunately we had those electrical problems. The car was so quick in the infield we could run times competitive with the leaders. Despite the problem we had, the team did a really good job trying to get as many points for the championship as we could. It was a really good effort by everybody. NIC JONSSON, Driver of the No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley: We finished 11th and 13th in both cars. I think it’s encouraging we finished with both cars. It makes a good statement to the rest of the teams. We really worked hard, like everybody else. I think we had more problems than anyone else had. We were in the garage three or four times with our cars. The guys have done a heck of a job putting cars back together. Unfortunately we didn’t get the win this time because of that. We got some points and it’s a long season. We have to put this behind us and I think we’re going to have a good season. JEFF HAZELL, Krohn Racing Team Manager: We determined before the race that whatever problems we had, we would just stick at it and try and accumulate points for the championship. Last year the points were very valuable to us. Overall in class, we finished 11th and 13th. They are going to be very valuable points, I hope. They will make the difference between winning and not winning the championship. That said, we’ve obviously got some problems to investigate and it’s going to keep us pretty busy. Outside of the electrical problems and difficulty with the rain wiper, the car was really faultless, which is encouraging. In perspective, it was not a great result, but could have been a lot worse. A lot of the work we put into the car this year did show its benefits this race. We certainly had the speed in the cars, if we didn’t have the reliability. I’m not too disheartened. We’ve got two racing cars in good condition and that allows us to concentrate on overcoming the problems we encountered. We have every expectation of putting some drivers on the podium in Mexico. MAX PAPIS, Driver of the No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley: Finishing the 24 Hours is always a good accomplishment. I think the team did everything in its power to create the opportunity. Unfortunately, we got held back a lot by this electrical problem that we need to find out why. But on the overall situation, we rebounded really well out of a difficult time. Congrats to Scott Pruett and the Ganassi people for winning. TRACY KROHN, Owner/Driver of the No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley: The good part was that we finished. The other good part was the crew did everything that they could possibly do to keep the cars rolling as quickly as they could get them in and get them out (of the pits) like they did. I was very proud of the crew, despite all the troubles we had with the electrical system. I thought they did an outstanding job. We finished 11th and 13th and we got some points. It’s a long season and this is just one race. # # # 1.28.07 For more information, contact: Barbara Burns, For Krohn Racing BurnsGroup Unlimited Ph: 404.873.0772 Cell: 770.329.7134 burnsgroup@aol.com