GRAND AM (MID-OHIO) - Hospitality Hits High Gear at EMCO Rolex Series Race at Mid-Ohio

Corporate hospitality hit high gear at last weekend’s EMCO Gears Classic presented by KeyBank at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where numerous companies entertained thousands of customers and clients during the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve’s annual stop at Ohio’s premier road course.

Companies ranging from official Grand-Am partners like Pontiac and Featherlite’s Vantaré line to event sponsors EMCO Gears and KeyBank to team partners such as Preformed Line Products (PLP) and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption used the Mid-Ohio event as the perfect setting for some high-speed hospitality and trackside business.

"The EMCO Gears Classic was a spectacular weekend of activity on and off the track and we are very happy with the volume of corporate hospitality that was conducted during the event," said Michelle Trueman-Gajoch, president of TrueSports, Inc., owner and operator of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. “I believe we have hit on a good concept in combining Grand-Am Rolex Series and KONI Challenge races with our Triple Crown Tuner Challenge events in as much as it seems to appeal to both our corporate customers and our loyal race fans.”

In addition to the ample corporate hospitality, the EMCO Gears Classic presented by KeyBank also had a strong spectator turn out for the third consecutive year. Although Mid-Ohio does not release attendance figures, early returns indicate the EMCO Gears Classic presented by KeyBank drew as large a crowd as it has since the featured Daytona Prototype race was moved to the early-evening Saturday time slot in 2005.

“It has become clear that Grand-Am has a strong following at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and the EMCO Gears Classic presented by KeyBank there embodies all that we are as the most competitive sports car road racing organization in North America,” said Roger Edmondson, president of Grand-Am. “The on-track product that our teams and drivers work so hard to deliver can have no better stage than Mid-Ohio, and I want to thank them and everyone on Michelle’s team at TrueSports, Inc. for a job well done.”

In addition to practice and qualifying on Friday, the Rolex Series Daytona Prototype race and Sunday’s Rolex GT event were each supported by Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series rounds. The four races combined for a total of 10 hours of racing, which provided the perfect backdrop for the various corporate hospitality programs.

EMCO Gears invited more than 400 guests to the event and entertained key clients in the top-level suite of Mid-Ohio’s Goodyear tower. The list included 25 top industrial customers from the local Mansfield, Ohio area and beyond. The races were also used to assist the company’s top Grand-Am customers who were able to bring their own guests to the race due to EMCO’s generosity.

Pontiac supported its competition programs with over 150 members of the GTO and Solstice owners clubs who traveled to Mid-Ohio in nearly 60 different cars from seven different states. The colorful Pontiacs were on display in the high-profile bluff area adjacent to the Mid-Ohio paddock where Pontiac’s corporate hospitality unit was also housed. Among the guests was Jeremy Croiset, the winner of the Pontiac SETUP show on SPEED, who mingled with his fellow Pontiac enthusiasts all weekend before testing a Pontiac GXP.R GT race car at Mid-Ohio on Monday. Croiset also signed more than 100 autographs during the Pontiac Track Talk that was held at the Pontiac mobile marketing trailer in the infield on Saturday. The featured guests were Banner Racing driver Leighton Reese and Crawford Race Cars Chief Designer Andy Scriven.

Cleveland-area based PLP – which sponsors the No. 3 Southard Motorsports Lexus Riley – also entertained 150 clients and employees at a trackside chalet near the pit entrance. Guests were treated to visits by drivers Randy Ruhlman and Shane Lewis, and Ruhlman presented PLP executives with a bicycle jersey custom-made with the logo of Direct Power and Water, PLP’s newest acquisition. The jersey, representing the “green power” of solar as well as Ruhlman’s active role in cycling, was signed by all of the Daytona Prototype drivers.

The No. 3 Southard Motorsports Lexus Riley also displayed the markings of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption on both sides of the race car in a special alliance for the Mid-Ohio weekend. The Foundation is dedicated to increasing adoptions of more than 150,000 children throughout North America, and the Southard team boosted the visibility and awareness for the Foundation by hosting several Wendy’s Wonderful Kids families who have been adopted out of foster care. Several VIP representatives of the Dave Thomas Foundation were also in attendance.

Vantaré Village, an extension of the popular Sahlen’s Paddock Club, also debuted over the weekend and was met with rave reviews by all guests who enjoyed their first experience in the new facility. The enhanced Motorsports entertainment experience, which features a variety of up-scale and exclusive services geared toward key Grand-Am team principals and sponsors, will next be available July 20-22 during the Porsche 250 presented by Bradley Arant at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala.

KeyBank entertained nearly 270 guests, including several executives, at a hospitality chalet nearby the PLP area throughout the weekend. KeyBank also sponsored the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Lexus Riley of Mark Patterson and Oswaldo Negri for the Mid-Ohio race. Like Southard Motorsports, Shank is based in the Columbus, Ohio-area and entertained its own contingent of family, friends and associates during the weekend.

Ford Racing also had a strong hospitality presence during the weekend with an assortment of activities held in conjunction with the track. A large contingent of Ford guests watched as Ken Wilden and Dean Martin won the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series Grand Sport (GS) race in the No. 52 Rehagen Racing Piloti Ford Mustang GT, the team’s first series victory.

Several Scion owners also enjoyed track time Saturday afternoon as they were allowed to lap the track. Hundreds of Scion owners attended the event to follow the various Lexus-powered Daytona Prototypes in addition to participating in the Triple Crown Tuner Challenge activities.

Next up for the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series is the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona on Thursday, July 5 (Live on SPEED at 8 p.m.). The Grand-Am KONI Challenge heads to Watkins Glen International for an afternoon race on Saturday, July 7 during the Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix weekend.

The Grand American Road Racing Association, which operates and sanctions the Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve and the KONI Challenge Series, is the premier road racing organization in North America. The 15-race 2007 Rolex Series schedule and the 12-race KONI Challenge Series calendar delivers professional sports car racing to key markets throughout North America in addition to being televised in the United States and Canada on SPEED and distributed globally through ESPN International. With title sponsorship support from Rolex Watch USA and presenting sponsorship from Crown Royal Special Reserve, the Rolex Series showcases emerging and legendary drivers from around the globe and thoroughbred racing machines from the industry's leading constructors and the world's top automobile manufacturers. Learn more about Grand-Am at www.grand-am.com.