Grand-Am Rolex Series Teams Return to Track Next Week For Two-Day Test at Homestead-Miami Speedway

The Daytona Prototypes and the GT machines of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 return to the track next week for a two-day test at Homestead-Miami Speedway in preparation for next month’s GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami. Included on the entry list for the Feb. 25-26 test are 19 Daytona Prototypes and 15 GT cars.

The test marks the return to the track for the Rolex Series, led by Rolex 24 At Daytona champion No. 01 TELMEX/Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley and drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas. Pruett and Rojas’ overall race win gives them an edge in the 2008 championship battle, as joined with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti to capture the car’s second consecutive victory in the twice-around-the-clock race.

Defending Rolex Series champions Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty are in much better shape after one race than a season ago, when a 22nd-place class finish put the duo behind the 8-ball on their run to the title. A second-place finish with Jimmie Johnson and Jimmy Vasser at this year’s Rolex 24 places the pair just three points behind Pruett and Rojas entering the second of the season’s 14 races.

Other Daytona Prototypes expected to attend include the Lola machines of Krohn Racing, the No. 16 Cheever Racing Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Pontiac Coyote, the No. 31 Chase Engineering Pontiac Chase, and the Riley prototypes of SAMAX, Michael Shank Racing, Southard Motorsports, RVO, Brumos Porsche, AIM Autosport, Riley Matthews and Spirit of Daytona.

In GT, the top three cars from the Rolex 24 (entries from SpeedSource and TRG) won’t attend the test, but with the depth of the Rolex Series GT field there will be no shortage of talent at the event.

Defending Team Champions Farnbacher Loles Racing lead the 15-car GT field with the Nos. 86, 87 and 88 Porsche GT3 machines on hand for the test session. Alegra Motorsports will join the Farnbacher Loles team to represent Porsche.

Pontiac will also be well represented at the test, with Banner Racing, Autohaus and Stevenson Motorsports testing Pontiac GXP.R machines. Matt Connolly Motorsports will test a GTO.R at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Blackforest Motorsports will test its two-car Mustang effort, while Racers Edge Motorsports will continue to develop the Mazda RX-8 and Level 5 Motorsports debuts the Ferrari the team will campaign for 2008.

The Grand American Road Racing Association, which operates and sanctions the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 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. Learn more about Grand-Am at www.grand-am.com.