But Marsal’s CTSCC race literally came to a screeching halt on track just 20 minutes into the event when a braking issue on the No. 71 Aston Martin saw Marsal’s machine careening into a tire barrier at high speed as he entered Turn 2. Though the Aston Martin was badly damaged, Marsal walked away with just a few bumps and bruises.

Marsal started from 14^th on the grid for the Diamond Classic Cellar event and he and co-driver Tonis Kasemets had been hoping to continue their streak of positive performances over the last few races including a fifth place finish in the previous round of Road Atlanta. The results had the driving duo entering the Mid-Ohio event third in the championship and will look to return strong at Watkins Glen in two weeks.

“The hit was really big, but it actually could have been worse,” said Marsal of the incident. “I was thankful for the tire barriers lining the wall there because it provided a bit of a cushion for the car. We’ve had some pretty solid events so far this year and I think our car would have been really great here, but unfortunately we weren’t able to show that today.”

The race day at one of his favorite racetracks was not yet over for Marsal as he was also tabbed to start the Rolex Series race just hours after the CTSCC event finished.

He and co-driver Billy Johnson finished sixth in the 2.75-hour race.

Marsal will be back in race action in two weeks at Watkins Glen InternationalJune 28-30.

After starting from the seventh row, Wilson made early progress despite a car that was keeping him busy behind the wheel. As a range of pit strategies played out, Wilson moved to the point for one lap before taking to the pits for new tires, fuel, and a range of set up changes for the car before the halfway point of the race.

“It was a pretty tough race,” said Wilson. “The first couple of stints, we were loose on entry and that was really compromising our race pace. But Bill (Pappas, engineer) and I just kept communicating and working on the car. I was really happy with where we ended up, but of course we lost enough track position early on that we weren’t able to really factor in the end.”

While Wilson led one lap,  the ambition to lead even more wasn’t realized as Wilson and Pappas continued to play catch up during the 250-lap race. The duo made several adjustments through the run, improving the car each time out.
 
Those efforts saw Wilson close out the night with a machine that was running lap times competitive with the leaders.

Unfortunately, the slow start to the night meant that Wilson was racing from one lap down as he brought the Boy Scouts of America Honda home in ninth place.
 
 But the positive improvement has Wilson already looking forward to Iowa.

“We were hoping to come out of Milwaukee with a few more points,” said Wilson. “But we made some progress after a tough start, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Hopefully we can use this as a good way to come in to Iowa and start the weekend with a solid car and keep improving through the weekend. This has been a busy month, but I’ve really enjoyed it and I am looking forward to hopefully having a strong weekend in Iowa.”

Up next: Iowa Corn Indy 250-June 23 (2:30 PM ET– ABC LIVE). Wilson will be making a visit to Toronto this week as the event is set to reveal a new trophy design. Wilson won the 2005 IndyCar race in Toronto.

Sharing the No. 90 VISITFLORIDA.com Corvette DP, Ricky Taylor and Richard Westbrook combined to lead 60 of the 104 laps that made up the Diamond Cellar Classic, but a series of late race calamities cost the duo a shot at a win as the No. 90 VISITFLORIDA entry came home ninth.

Taylor had been disappointed not to win the pole position on Friday, but took out that frustration in a constructive way–taking the lead at the start and holding the point for the first 36 laps of the race.

After Westbrook took over the reigns, his race-winning defense was on plan as he moved to the lead on lap 74, holding the point for the next 15 laps as he looked to stretch the run with the Continental Tires all the way to the finish. The battle for the lead saw Westbrook suffer from contact as he was forced to cede the lead. But the fight wasn’t just outside the car, as the Briton was soon suffering inside the car and not able to get the most out if it, or himself.

“We haven’t seen the car yet to see if we broke something,” said team owner Troy Flis. “About 10 laps into Richard’s (Westbrook) second stint he was just whooped and he said that when Joao (Barbosa) put pressure on him, he just wasn’t himself anymore. We tried to get him to calm down and just let Joao go, but racers are racers and we had a little touch there. But no fault to the No. 5 car.  Kudos to them they had a great race today. It could have been a great day for us in the points today, but we’ll see if there is something in the temperature of the cockpit or a/c or what it was.”

The ninth place finish was hardly representative of the strong show the No. 90 VISITFLORIDA.com entry put on all weekend long, but the team will pack up and start to look forward to Watkins Glen in two weeks’ time.

“It just shows how hard it is to win one of these races,” said Taylor, who like Westbrook will shortly be Le Mans bound to compete in the endurance classic next weekend.

“We had a top two car all day long. We had good track position, and the team made a great call to not take tires on that last stop. It was worth the risk, it is so hard to win these. But we showed we will be a tough team to beat the rest of the year. So, on to Watkins Glen and I think we’ll have a really good run there.”

“We’ve had a good car all year and we’ve just had these little things getting us,” said Flis. “We’re trying to build a championship team and sometimes you have a good car and you still finish second or third and I guess that’s what we’re still learning. I hate it for the guys. Ricky (Taylor) did a fabulous job today. The team did their job and it was a great day but Ricky did an outstanding job all weekend. We’re just going to keep building it for 2014.”

Next up will be the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen International onJune 28-30.

About:  VISITFLORIDA.Com:
VISIT FLORIDA’s research department compiles the state’s official air and non-air visitor estimates, tracks tourism trends and conducts surveys on the effectiveness of advertising and marketing efforts. VISIT FLORIDA employs a staff of 98 at the organization’s headquarters in Tallahassee, its five Official Florida Welcome Centers and a dedicated office in Miami serving Latin America. VISIT FLORIDA also has three field offices in Tampa, Jacksonville and Orlando, and has international contractors in the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and China.

Lexington, Ohio (15 June 2013) – Preparation met opportunity on Saturday as Action Express Racing returned to victory lane with a win in the Diamond Cellar Classic as drivers Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi brought the team its fifth GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series victory in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP.

After a fraught battle for the lead that lasted for lap after lap, Barbosa took the point on lap 89 and didn’t look back, holding off the advances of the pursuing field to win by 1.49-seconds.

The sister No. 9 Action Express Racing Corvette DP of Burt and Brian Frisselle finished the race in seventh after fighting back from a pair of setbacks that cost the brother duo a significant amount of track position. Burt was spun off track in the early laps, and then the car suffered two pit lane speeding penalties that were traced to a wheel speed sensor having gone bad. But the race-winning team pace was still on display as Brian carded the fastest lap of the race.

The team will look forward to showing similarly strong form in two weeks time as the group looks to mount a successful defense of the team’s 2012 victory in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.

Christian Fittipaldi, Driver No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP (finished 1st)
“We qualified decent and I was really happy with my stint and it was good to be putting the pressure on the guys in front.  In the race, it all just connected. I had a strong first stint and then Joao just kept it on from there and he did an awesome job. And that was it, we came home P1. The team did a great job and the Corvette DP was just awesome. Getting to victory lane is so sweet–it is great to be back!”

Joao Barbosa, Driver No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP (finished 1st)
“GRAND-AM  is always like this–such tight competition. I knew I was faster than the leader but I had to also make sure to keep an eye on the guys behind me to make sure I didn’t get caught off guard. I was able to manage the traffic really well. Westbrook made it really difficult but it was hard clean racing and I am proud of the way we raced. I just hope we can continue going like this.”

Brian Frisselle, Driver No. 9 Action Express Racing Corvette DP (finished 7th)
“It is a shame with the result. But I am so proud of the team, getting the win with the five car. We’ve got two cars but it is one team. So to see them in the winner circle is great. Our car was awesome, but we got punted early on. Stuff happens and we just kept fighting back. I got two penalties, and that cost us a likely podium and some points. We’ll recover and come back stronger.”

Burt Frisselle, Driver No. 9 Action Express Racing Corvette DP (finished 7th)
“It is awesome for the team to get the win. The nine car had the fastest lap of the race which shows the potential we had today with both cars. It was a shame to get hit by the two car early. But this is a great group of guys. Brian came from so far back and made up a lot of ground with how fast the car was. It was a great effort and I’m really happy for the guys, really lucky to be working with a group like this.”

Gary Nelson,  Action Express Racing Team Manager
(you have a lot of big wins…how does this one compare to the others?)
“This one is right up there. We struggled with some unfortunate things that happened to us this year. Sometimes, when that is happening it seems like you can’t do anything right and you wonder when it is going to turn around. I’m glad we don’t have to wonder that anymore!”

Bob Johnson, Action Express Racing Team Owner
“Wow! That was a great, exciting race. I really enjoyed it. The whole team did a fantastic job, all of the guys. Hat’s off to Christian and Joao–this is just super!”

Action Express Racing GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Race Victories:
2010 Rolex 24 At Daytona
2011 Virginia International Raceway
2012 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix
2012 Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen
2013 Diamond Cellar Classic at Mid-Ohio

Lexington,Ohio (15 June 2013) – When Michael Shank Racing arrived at their home track of Mid-Ohio for Round 6 of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series championship, the team had been hoping to deliver a strong result in front of the many hometown fans, friends, and family as well as the guests of corporate sponsor Roberts Electrical who were in attendance for the event.

And the team did just that when John Pew and Ozz Negri combined for a welcome run to fourth place in the No. 60 Roberts Electrical Ford-Riley after the team spent countless hours in the weeks leading up to Mid-Ohio repairing the racecar which had sustained significant damage in the previous round at Detroit.

The team was thrilled to welcome back Negri after he had to sit out the previous three rounds of Rolex Series competition due to an offseason training injury.

Pew opened the race from ninth on the grid after setting a qualifying time less than a second off the pole-winning time. He continued to show his strength behind the wheel of the No. 60 Roberts Electrical machine as he clicked off quick and consistent lap times – only a half a second off the leaders – around the 2.238-mile road course.

“We’re finally back – I think maybe we’ve shaken the bad luck away that we’ve had at the beginning,” said Pew following the race. “It’s great having Ozz back, it’s like a missing family member that’s finally back. The whole team is excited that he’s back. The guys did a tremendous job getting the car back from Detroit. Right down to the last nut and bolt it rolled off the trailer just about perfect. It was an awesome car. It’s too bad we couldn’t get a podium, but I’m pretty happy with a fourth place.”

The Roberts Electrical Ford-Riley appeared to be well on its way to a podium finish with Negri immediately returning to his competitive form and moving up to run third in the closing stages of the race. Giving chase for second place, Negri had to peel off for a splash of fuel with just seven minutes left to go in the race.

Though the stop was very quick, the time spent driving at the pit lane speed limit was enough to see the Roberts machine slip one spot down the order to take the checkered flag fourth in line.

“The team helped me so much with a good car – I pushed very, very hard,” said Negri. “The team told me I needed a massive outlap and I pushed as hard as I could – I did not think about the tires being cold. I just thought about being confident and pushed very hard and it helped us leapfrog a few cars. Fourth is a great comeback. John, what can I say about John? I think this was his best race ever. He kept close to the leaders most of the time. He did a pro job like I’ve never seen. I’m so proud of John. I’m so proud of my crew and the support I get from them. Michael Shank Racing is my second family. I also want to thank my doctors- Jonathan Hersh, Matt Cooper, and Dr. Guillermo Valenzuela. I am so blessed to have support like I do from this team and from my family.”

While the team celebrated Ozz’s comeback throughout the weekend as well as the positive fourth place result in the race, the team faced a very disappointing day with the No. 6 Ford-Riley of Gustavo Yacaman and Antonio Pizzonia.

Yacaman had opened the race from eighth on the grid and was fighting for the seventh position when the No. 6 MSR Ford-Riley made contact with the No. 01 Daytona Prototype. The contact punctured a tire on the MSR machine and Yacaman went off track and through the gravel trap which in turn ruptured the oil line. The Colombian was helpless as the Riley was soon engulfed in flames, causing severe damage.

Despite the setback suffered by the  No. 6 car, team owner Mike Shank was extremely proud of the work the entire team did all weekend long.

“I don’t even know what to say – words can’t describe how well they did today,” said Shank of Pew and Negri’s performance. “John Pew had the drive of his life. Great strategy, great call to try to get on the podium, but it’s just tough because we have such devastation with the No. 6 car. It was so great to have Roberts Electrical on board with us this weekend. I’m just super happy for John and Ozz, and we’ll figure out whether we can get to Watkins Glen or not with the No. 6 car.”

The GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series makes its next stop in upstate New York at Watkins Glen International for Round 7 of the championship.

The result is the third consecutive Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge podium in the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro and was a strong encore to the race-winning performance the team had in the most recent round at Road Atlanta.

After a challenging qualifying session on Friday, Bell opened the 2.5-hour race (SPEED, June 23^rd broadcast at 4:00 PM ET) from seventh on the grid but moved up to race in third place by Lap 33. A full course caution on Lap 36 saw the team spring into action, making a full service pit stop and slotting Edwards into the car to take the No. 9 Camaro all the way to the finish in pursuit of a second consecutive win.

“The car got really balanced right in the middle of that stint and I was able to hunt down Jack Roush and finally got by him,” said Bell. “(Team Manager) Mike Johnson is calling some really good races lately. We did that all in strategy.  The timing on the radio call to me was just perfect. If he had called me half a second later we wouldn’t have been in pit lane and that is really what put us on the podium. The teamed worked flawlessly and everyone is working together better than they ever have before. We just have to keep hammering away at this car to make it everything it can be.”

A Lap 52 caution gave the team the chance to put all the cards on the table, as some 45 minutes of racing stood yet on the clock. While several teams decided to forgo the track position to stop for fuel, the Stevenson Motorsports race strategy was once again on display as Edwards stayed out and ran in second place.

A final dash to the checkered flag saw the leaders fight for position while also being mindful of the fuel reserves. A late caution period gave the field some breathing room and made for some relief on pit lane, as a two lap sprint to the finish saw Edwards hold on to score third at the flag, just behind the championship-leading No. 13 entry.

“It’s disappointing to finish behind the 13 because obviously we are racing for the championship but podiums every race is what wins championships,” said Edwards. “I think we did what we could with a car that wasn’t the quickest today. We had a really fast car in Atlanta but we struggled in practice here. Really I think we were aiming for a top-five and ended up on the podium there. But that’s a good finish and that’s what wins championships.”

“I think it just says what a great job that (Team Owner) John Stevenson has done here–hiring a great group of talented people and keeping us together for a long time, and it’s really showing,” said Johnson, who has seen this team score six consecutive GRAND-AM podiums. “We had a fifth or seventh place car, but made a fuel strategy gamble just like a few other cars did, and we were really tight all the way to the end. Matt (Bell) did a great first stint and got us to where we needed to be, but when John (Edwards) got into the car unfortunately he had to get into fuel conservation mode right from the beginning and he did a great job.  We had to make sure we were as close to the 13 (Rum Bum race-winning car) as we could.”

The Continental Tire race will be televised June 23 at 4:00 PM (ET) on SPEED. The team will return to GRAND-AM action at Watkins Glen in two weeks time.

Columbus, Ohio (15 June 2013) — Ray Mason and Adam Burrows combined for a run to seventh place in Saturday’s Diamond Cellar Classic in round five of the 2013 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season. The result is the best of the season so far for the duo, who race the No. 76 Columbus Truck/HPD Honda Civic Si for Compass360 Racing.

Mason showed a steely nerve in qualifying on Friday, taking a slot on the seventh row despite only getting a few laps after the Compass360 Racing squad performed a last-minute motor change ahead of the session. Mason has driven thousands of laps at Mid-Ohio, and put that home track knowledge to good use in the race as he moved up to run in the top ten before turning the car over to Burrows on a lap 22 green flag pit stop exchange.

Burrows returned to the order 48th overall, but worked his way through traffic to move up to run fourteenth in class for a full course caution on lap 35. Working to conserve fuel, tires, and brakes to be strong all the way to the finish, Burrows continued to make forward progress through the field to cross the line seventh in the ST class order.

“We went for a strategy where we felt like we could try to make it to the end on fuel,” said Burrows. “We were a little worried about tires and we didn’t want to be fighting both fuel and tires. So we pushed Ray to about 45 minutes into the race and actually pitted under green.
That got us into a fuel window so all we really had to do was manage the tires for the race.”

That saw a long green run that was punctuated by a pair of yellows as Burrows made up track position with some solid race pace, although he had to manage the resources available from the car.

“I got two front tires and basically just focused on just managing the tires through the first part of my stint and then toward the middle of my stint after the yellow,  I was able to pick up quite a bit,” said Burrows.  “After running on them for nearly two hours,  the fronts were pretty much shot at the end of my stint, I was pretty much just trying to hang on. Overall the car was really good.”

The top-ten result is the first of the 2013 season for Burrows and Mason, who have suffered a lousy luck streak so far. But with a solid weekend under their belts, the duo will look to keep up that momentum in two weeks’ time at Watkins Glen, the site of Burrows first GRAND-AM victory.

“Ray did a great job all weekend long-dealing with qualifying the way he did and really just being very relaxed and focused,” said Burrows. “It was our first weekend to not have any kind of set back that kept us from executing on our plan so hopefully this is something we can build on in the second half of the season.”

For additional information, please visit:

http://adamburrowsmotorsport.com/
http://www.c360r.com/

The usual shrewd strategy from the Rum Bum team as well as perfect driving by drivers Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb propelled the No. 13 machine to the front of the 56-car combined class GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge field. But as fuel strategy came into play late in the race, it was a lucky full course caution with under 10 minutes remaining that sealed the deal for Rum Bum Racing to take their second win of the season.

The result marked a return trip to the Mid-Ohio podium as Plumb and Longhi finished third in last year’s event on their way to claiming the 2012  GRAND-AM Team Championship Title.

Longhi opened the race from the fourth row after having qualified the No. 13 Porsche eighth on the grid. He ran a very strong opening stint – moving up to fifth on just the first lap. He continued to move his way forward to run as high as second before a brilliant call from the Joe Varde-led Rum Bum squad saw the No. 13 take its first pit stop immediately prior to a full course caution about an hour into the race.

“The first time I got in the car was yesterday and I actually, quite frankly was feeling terrible,” said Longhi. “I had a long travel day on Thursday and missed the promoter test day and had a migraine yesterday so definitely wasn’t feeling on top of it and the car was new to me. But this morning I woke up feeling better. This is a strong team. I knew on the start I had to make up for lost time and I got a couple of guys, which was great. It just went really well. We also had a bit of a radio issue, but fundamentally we made the right call at the right time to pit and we were able to get in at the right time.”

A quick, efficient pit stop by the Rum Bum crew saw Plumb return to the track sixth in the order for the restart, and he wasted no time in moving forward, making it look easy as he maneuvered his way up into the second position in just a matter of laps. When the third of four cautions was displayed on Lap 50 with about 45 minutes remaining in the race, the leader headed down pit lane, but the Rum Bum team took a gamble and kept the No. 13 Porsche out on track in hopes that another full course caution would give them the necessary fuel mileage to make it to the end.

Plumb restarted at the point and led for 31 laps defending against the hard charging No. 96 BMW of Bill Auberlen. As the laps waned, so did the fuel in the No. 13 machine. The team knew it would be very close on fuel in order to make it to the finish, but with less than 10 minutes remaining in the race, a full course caution was displayed and the Rum Bum team breathed a collective sigh of relief – knowing that Plumb would indeed make it to the checkered flag on the amount of fuel in the car.

However, the caution also set up a two-lap dash to the finish with a bevy of hungry GS machines also pursuing the victory behind the No. 13 Rum Bum Porsche. But Plumb once again kept his cool behind the wheel as he brought the No. 13 Porsche across the finish line first with a .452-second advantage.

“It was perfect! We got so lucky there at the end,” said Plumb of the win. “Once again ‘Lucky 13’ came through at the end for us. We were spot on from the beginning to the end. We only did one set of Continental Tires and they were just so consistent throughout the whole run.  I’m sorry Luis Bacardi couldn’t be here today but hopefully we did well for him.”

“It’s crazy, congratulations to everybody in this field,” added Longhi. “The level of driving and preparation in the Continental Tire Challenge is fantastic. It’s just such a privilege to be here. With that said, I personally didn’t do what I needed to do in qualifying but hopefully I made up for it today and just handed the car off to Matt in a good position. I’m calm because, I keep saying it over and over again, this is the best team I have ever worked with. It’s mind-blowing.”

The victory extends Rum Bum Racing’s championship lead to an 11-point advantage as the team returns to race action at Watkins Glen in two weeks to defend their 2012 win at the Upstate New York road course.

Saturday’s Diamond Cellar Classic will see Adam Burrows and co-driver Ray Mason teaming up in the No. 76 Columbus Truck/HPD Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si (SPEED, June 23rd 4:00 PM ET).

For Mason, the Mid-Ohio weekend is one that he always looks forward to as the Columbus, Ohio native gets to race at his home track. Mason’s history at the 2.238-mile circuit stretches back for decades to when he first got the taste of speed.

“I took my SCCA driving school at Mid-Ohio, and I’ve seen it go through every iteration through the years,” said Mason. “It is a great, natural terrain circuit that has something of everything. I’ve always loved the track.”

The weekend will see Mason also playing host to the always hard-working Compass360 Racing crew after the race as the veteran racer gets to spend the weekend commuting to the track from his home.

“It takes about 45 minutes to get to the track and normally I’d never stay that far from the track for a race weekend but of course it is the home event so that’s what happens!” said Mason with a laugh. “It’s great to sleep in your own bed and not have to deal with the travel that you have for most weekends, so it is an easy trade off and I am really looking forward to it.”

The 2012 GRAND-AM visit to Mid-Ohio saw Burrows score a podium result for the Compass360 squad, and the Connecticut resident is hoping to have a similarly strong outcome on Saturday.

“Last year’s third place (with Andrew Novich) was a big highlight and of course it would be great to jump start our season with another big finish on Saturday,” said Burrows, who started the 2008 race from the front row. “Ray knows this place inside and out, and I know everyone on the team is looking forward to hopefully doing some celebrating on Saturday night. This track has always been a mixed bag for me so hopefully this weekend is one of the good ones again!”

The Diamond Cellar Classic weekend will open with a promoter test day on Thursday, with Friday slated for practice and the grid-setting qualifying session. A busy race day on Saturday has the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge set to go green at 10:35 AM.

Wilson took fifth in the 2013 Indianapolis 500, won the 2012 race at the Texas Motor Speedway, and has a long record of strength on the one-mile West Allis track that has been such an integral part of IndyCar history through the years.

While his record includes several strong qualifying efforts and two top-five finishes, it lacks a victory, and that is something that Wilson is targeting ahead of this weekend.

“I’m going in with the mindset that we are going there to win,” said Wilson, who qualified on the front row in 2012 only to be shuffled back to 12th on the grid for an engine change penalty. “Last year, I had a really good car, and thought we had a chance for a win but then we lost the motor and it was a really tough day. So, I’ve had some great races at Milwaukee, and some really terrible ones!”

The track is one that has played host to races for decades, and the recently rejuvenated event is one that makes for a unique challenge for drivers and engineers alike.

“You don’t have much banking, so it’s really just two high speed corners,” said Wilson. “If you are off even slightly with your set up, it makes a huge difference. So it is critical to get it just right.”

A big part of getting it ‘just right’ is the working relationship Wilson has with his Dale Coyne Racing engineer Bill Pappas.

“I trust him, and we’ve got good communication when we are working through a weekend and building the car to do what we want it to do,” said Wilson. “When he makes changes to the car, it’s clear what the direction we are taking is. It is all about confidence, especially at a place like Milwaukee.”

Practice and qualifying is set to take place on Friday, with the race to begin Saturday at 4:30 PM (ET). NBC Sports Network will carry live coverage beginning at 4:00 PM (ET).