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GRAND-AM
GRAND-AM: News & Notes, 4.23
GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series storylines heading into Sunday's Grand Prix of Miami (1 p.m. ET, LIVE! SPEED)...
This weekend's Grand Prix of Miami will be Starworks Motorsport's home race as the Peter Baron-led team look to extend their championship lead. (Photo: John Dagys)
Starworks Motorsport Carries Points Lead to Home Track
Ask any racer. There’s nothing like competing at your home track, in front of your home fans and staying in familiar surroundings.
The Fort Lauderdale-based Starworks Motorsport team has an additional reason to have a little more strut in their steps when they come to the Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend. Not only is it their home race, but No. 8 Ford/Riley drivers Enzo Potolicchio and Ryan Dalziel lead the Rolex Series’ Daytona Prototype point standings entering the season’s third race.
Alex Popow and Lucas Luhr also have reasons to smile – their No. 2 Ford/Riley has been updated to the new-for-2012 Riley DPG3 specifications.
The four drivers finished second in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Potolicchio and Dalziel then finished fourth in the recent Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park, two positions ahead of their teammates who were using the older bodywork for the last time.
Native Venezuelans Potolicchio and Popow now reside in South Florida. They will have plenty of support from both their native and adopted homes.
“We’ll have lots of guests coming – not only from South Florida, but it’s the closest race to Venezuela and there will be tons of people coming from South America,” said team owner Peter Baron.
Rolex 24 Winner Pew Once Preferred Open Seas to Race Seat
Long before he began his sports car racing career, John Pew was an expert sailor, logging more than 100,000 miles with his family on trips that carried him to all corners of the globe.
He raised his two sons on a sailboat, sometimes spending years at a time going from port to port. But when it was time for his son Travis to learn to drive, it was back to dry land. Since Pew had never raced, both father and son went to the Skip Barber School at Lime Rock Park in 2000. While Travis raced a little bit before school commitments took priority, his dad became hooked on the sport.
“I sold my sailboat and have been involved in racing almost fulltime ever since,” Pew said.
Pew met his current teammate, Ozz Negri, at the driving school; Negri was a coach. They opened this season by co-driving to victory in North American road racing’s crown jewel, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, in Michael Shank Racing’s No. 60 Liveon.com Ford/Riley with AJ Allmendinger and Justin Wilson.
The Grand Prix of Miami is more than a home race for Pew, who resides in North Palm Beach. He and Negri are karting aficionados, and regularly train on the kart layout in the Homestead-Miami Speedway parking lot. Pew feels there is no better way to prepare for racing in the heat than driving regularly in South Florida.
Homestead-Miami An Early Championship Indicator for Pruett, Rojas
Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas have celebrated the Daytona Prototype championship three times: 2008, 2010 and 2011.
Each year, they also won the Grand Prix of Miami.
Will this year’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway be another championship precursor for the drivers of the No. 01 TELMEX BMW/Riley?
Past history aside, TELEMX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is looking to rebound from its worst start in six seasons. The year opened with a disappointing sixth-place result in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, followed by Pruett’s late-race charge to finish third in the Porsche 250 at Barber. The pair enters Miami fifth in the standings, five points behind leaders Enzo Potolicchio and Ryan Dalziel.
Pruett-Rojas can take some consolation in that two of their perennial DP rivals also started slowly in 2012. Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty, drivers of the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Corvette DP, finished 13th at the Rolex 24 and second at Barber and now are sixth in the standings. Ricky Taylor and Max Angelelli, who share the No. 10 SunTrust Corvette DP, were 14th at Daytona and fifth at Barber, and come in ninth in the standings.
Autohaus Motorsports Hopes Edwards’ Magic Continues At Homestead
Paul Edwards knows how to win in a GT car at Homestead-Miami Speed-way. Now, he’s ready to take that experience to a new team when he returns in the No. 88 Autohaus Racing Chevrolet Camaro that he co-drives with Jordan Taylor.
Edwards is looking for his fourth GT victory in the event. He won in 2008 and 2009 for Banner Racing in a Pontiac GXP, and in 2006 for TRG in a Pontiac GTO.
“Homestead has been a good track for me, and I’m thinking good things are going to happen when we go there this year,” Edwards said. “I’m loving it at Autohaus with Jordan Taylor.”
Edwards stressed that to go fast at Homestead-Miami Speedway, you’ve must apply full power coming out of the infield’s Turns 3 and 8, and then go flat-out on the banking between NASCAR Turns 3 and 4.
“Homestead is a power-down track,” Edwards said. “Coming out of those tight key turns and getting on the power is the real trick, and you are going to gain some time if you can get the banking right.”
Edwards also knows to expect the unexpected at the 2.3-mile circuit.
“There always seems to be some excitement in the closing laps,” Edwards said. “I went from seventh to first during the final two laps one year.”
Edwards and Taylor are currently seventh in the GT points, 16 out of first place. Andy Lally and John Potter lead GT, co-driving the No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche GT3.
A year ago, Taylor finished second in the final standings, losing the title by two points.
“This year has been very competitive with the new manufacturers getting involved, but the Camaro is running strong,” Edwards said.
Ask any racer. There’s nothing like competing at your home track, in front of your home fans and staying in familiar surroundings.
The Fort Lauderdale-based Starworks Motorsport team has an additional reason to have a little more strut in their steps when they come to the Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend. Not only is it their home race, but No. 8 Ford/Riley drivers Enzo Potolicchio and Ryan Dalziel lead the Rolex Series’ Daytona Prototype point standings entering the season’s third race.
Alex Popow and Lucas Luhr also have reasons to smile – their No. 2 Ford/Riley has been updated to the new-for-2012 Riley DPG3 specifications.
The four drivers finished second in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Potolicchio and Dalziel then finished fourth in the recent Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park, two positions ahead of their teammates who were using the older bodywork for the last time.
Native Venezuelans Potolicchio and Popow now reside in South Florida. They will have plenty of support from both their native and adopted homes.
“We’ll have lots of guests coming – not only from South Florida, but it’s the closest race to Venezuela and there will be tons of people coming from South America,” said team owner Peter Baron.
Rolex 24 Winner Pew Once Preferred Open Seas to Race Seat
Long before he began his sports car racing career, John Pew was an expert sailor, logging more than 100,000 miles with his family on trips that carried him to all corners of the globe.
He raised his two sons on a sailboat, sometimes spending years at a time going from port to port. But when it was time for his son Travis to learn to drive, it was back to dry land. Since Pew had never raced, both father and son went to the Skip Barber School at Lime Rock Park in 2000. While Travis raced a little bit before school commitments took priority, his dad became hooked on the sport.
“I sold my sailboat and have been involved in racing almost fulltime ever since,” Pew said.
Pew met his current teammate, Ozz Negri, at the driving school; Negri was a coach. They opened this season by co-driving to victory in North American road racing’s crown jewel, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, in Michael Shank Racing’s No. 60 Liveon.com Ford/Riley with AJ Allmendinger and Justin Wilson.
The Grand Prix of Miami is more than a home race for Pew, who resides in North Palm Beach. He and Negri are karting aficionados, and regularly train on the kart layout in the Homestead-Miami Speedway parking lot. Pew feels there is no better way to prepare for racing in the heat than driving regularly in South Florida.
Homestead-Miami An Early Championship Indicator for Pruett, Rojas
Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas have celebrated the Daytona Prototype championship three times: 2008, 2010 and 2011.
Each year, they also won the Grand Prix of Miami.
Will this year’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway be another championship precursor for the drivers of the No. 01 TELMEX BMW/Riley?
Past history aside, TELEMX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is looking to rebound from its worst start in six seasons. The year opened with a disappointing sixth-place result in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, followed by Pruett’s late-race charge to finish third in the Porsche 250 at Barber. The pair enters Miami fifth in the standings, five points behind leaders Enzo Potolicchio and Ryan Dalziel.
Pruett-Rojas can take some consolation in that two of their perennial DP rivals also started slowly in 2012. Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty, drivers of the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Corvette DP, finished 13th at the Rolex 24 and second at Barber and now are sixth in the standings. Ricky Taylor and Max Angelelli, who share the No. 10 SunTrust Corvette DP, were 14th at Daytona and fifth at Barber, and come in ninth in the standings.
Autohaus Motorsports Hopes Edwards’ Magic Continues At Homestead
Paul Edwards knows how to win in a GT car at Homestead-Miami Speed-way. Now, he’s ready to take that experience to a new team when he returns in the No. 88 Autohaus Racing Chevrolet Camaro that he co-drives with Jordan Taylor.
Edwards is looking for his fourth GT victory in the event. He won in 2008 and 2009 for Banner Racing in a Pontiac GXP, and in 2006 for TRG in a Pontiac GTO.
“Homestead has been a good track for me, and I’m thinking good things are going to happen when we go there this year,” Edwards said. “I’m loving it at Autohaus with Jordan Taylor.”
Edwards stressed that to go fast at Homestead-Miami Speedway, you’ve must apply full power coming out of the infield’s Turns 3 and 8, and then go flat-out on the banking between NASCAR Turns 3 and 4.
“Homestead is a power-down track,” Edwards said. “Coming out of those tight key turns and getting on the power is the real trick, and you are going to gain some time if you can get the banking right.”
Edwards also knows to expect the unexpected at the 2.3-mile circuit.
“There always seems to be some excitement in the closing laps,” Edwards said. “I went from seventh to first during the final two laps one year.”
Edwards and Taylor are currently seventh in the GT points, 16 out of first place. Andy Lally and John Potter lead GT, co-driving the No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche GT3.
A year ago, Taylor finished second in the final standings, losing the title by two points.
“This year has been very competitive with the new manufacturers getting involved, but the Camaro is running strong,” Edwards said.
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