GRAND AM (DAYTONA) - Grand-Am Confirms Labor Day Weekend Events at New Jersey Motorsports Park

Grand-Am officials confirmed today a Labor Day weekend feature event at Thunderbolt Raceway at New Jersey Motorsports Park in the greater New York Metropolitan area. The Aug. 30-31 event is the crown jewel on the NJMP inaugural schedule and will feature both the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 and the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series.

The announcement solidifies the 15-event Rolex Series schedule with a combined Daytona Prototypes and GT race on Sunday, Aug. 31. The KONI Challenge calendar is also now complete, with 10 races each for the Grand Sport (GS) and Street Tuner (ST) divisions. Both series calendars are available at www.grand-am.com.

The Millville, N.J. facility, featuring the 2.3-mile Thunderbolt Raceway, is a $150 million world class Motorsports complex located on 700 acres of land adjacent to the Millville Airport. NJMP will feature road, oval and off-road racing venues, as well as luxurious spectator and participant facilities including VIP suites, shade tree garages, event garages and trackside villas.

Like its sister property, Virginia International Raceway, NJMP will mix world-class racing facilities with high-end hospitality venues. NJMP, however, will include multiple hotels and restaurants at varying price points, educational and research facilities in conjunction with Rowan University, classic car galleries and a clubhouse with pool, fitness and tennis facilities. In a nod to one of the seminal characters in the racing world, NJMP christened the media center and scoring tower the “Chris Economaki Tower” in honor of the New Jersey native.

Scheduled to open in June 2008, it will be the only motorsports complex in the nation with such diverse venues as two road courses, driver training and skid pad facility, 3/4 mile tri-oval, high performance kart track and an off-road vehicle course for extreme sports – all situated in a country club setting.

The New Jersey Motorsports weekend replaces the previously announced April 26 KONI Challenge Series race at Virginia International Raceway. The move was made at the request of a number of KONI Challenge teams and participants to create exposure for the series in the greater New York and Philadelphia markets and continue to diversify the tracks that the series races on. KONI Challenge competitors will once again end the season with the Twin 6 Hour races Oct. 4 and 5 at Virginia International Raceway.

More information on New Jersey Motorsports Park is available at www.njmotorsportspark.com.

The Grand American Road Racing Association, which operates and sanctions the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve and the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series, is the premier road racing organization in North America. The 15-race 2008 Rolex Series and the 11-race KONI Challenge Series calendars deliver 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.