ALMS: Schroeder, Volk and Halsmer Are Fired Up for Sebring
14 March 1999
TOLEDO, Ohio - The TRV Motorsport team is heading to Sebring, Fla., for the Exxon Superflo 12 Hours of Sebring on Saturday, March 20 with the best equipment that the Toledo, Ohio-based team has ever had, and everyone associated with the team is fired up about the race.Team owner/driver Tom Volk of Blissfield, Mich., announced today that in addition to himself and young lion Jeret Schroeder of Vineland, N.J., Indy 500 veteran Pete Halsmer of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., will share the steering wheel of TRV's yellow and black Supreme Exhaust System/Purity Farms/Yokohama Chevy Riley & Scott No. 95 in the prestigious sports car endurance race.
"Jeret and I are both pleased to have Pete and Yokohama Tires on board for Sebring," said Volk. "Pete drove with us once before, at last year's Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, and we couldn't be happier that he'll be with us at Sebring. We're also all pleased that our team manager, Mike Madden, has recuperated enough from his heart attack in December that he can make Sebring too."
Volk and the rest of the TRV team are also excited about their new 6-liter Chevy motor, which arrived at the team headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, yesterday. "Todd Hertel and the staff at Clements Racing Engines in Spartansburg, S.C., have done an incredible job to give us an unbelievable killer motor," Volk said. "Todd has been working 20-hour days to get the job done; he drove the motor up to Ohio himself. We're all excited because the dyno numbers are real good. We won't be the only team with a 6-liter motor there, but we'll be one of the few teams that have made this investment. There is a big improvement in the throttle assembly since our season opener at Daytona too, so we're really looking forward to the race."
"We finished fourth in the top class, World Sports Cars, at Sebring last year, and this year our equipment is even better," Schroeder pointed out. "It's great to have Pete on board too. Anything can happen in racing, but I'm psyched."
Halsmer was the IMSA GT champion in 1989 (running a Cougar for Roush Racing) and 1991 (in a Mazda RX-7). He also raced in the 1981 and 1982 Indianapolis 500s. He has competed in the 12 Hours of Sebring a dozen times.
Schroeder is one of American motorsports' brightest young stars. He hopes to advance into Indy cars soon, and he has already driven in two Pep Boys Indy Racing League (IRL) events.
The 47th annual version of the 12 Hours of Sebring, which is presented by The New Dodge and is the inaugural season opener for the new American Le Mans Series sanctioned by Sports Car, begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 20 and concludes 12 hours later. Prior to that the TRV team will participate in practice sessions beginning on Wednesday, with qualifying at 4:40 p.m. that day and again at 3:55 p.m. Thursday.
The start of the race is slated to be broadcast live on ESPN from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The remainder of the live television coverage is slated for ESPN2, with a one-hour report at 1:30 p.m. and a half-hour show to cover the finish at 10 p.m. A week later a two-hour highlights show is slated for ESPN2 at 2:30 p.m. on March 27. All times are Eastern Standard.
Sebring is part of the internationally-recognized Triple Crown of Endurance Racing of Daytona, Le Mans in France and Sebring. Every year tens of thousands of fans attend the Sebring race, which is an annual rite of spring for many, and the infield in the center of the 3.75-mile road course has a carnival-like atmosphere. In 1997 the first spectator in line to enter the raceway grounds arrived nine days prior to the opening of the gates.
For more information, Internet users can call up TRV's website at www.trvmotorsport.com, Jeret Schroeder's website at www.pitpass.org, Sebring International Raceway's website at www.sebringraceway.com or SportsCar's website at www.professionalsportscar.com.