Dinger’s Dream Team was established in 2011 by Allmendinger and his parent company Walldinger Racing, Inc. The 501c3 non-profit organization was formed with a grassroots approach to fundraising and awareness. Dinger’s Dream Team strives to activate the extremely loyal NASCAR fan base in supporting various charitable causes.

“I’ve been really fortunate growing up to have been given a helping hand on more than one occasion,” said Allmendinger. “It means a lot to me that I am now in a position where I can give back, and even better, give back to more than one cause or group. I also have such a great and loyal group of fans that they are totally willing to join Dinger’s Dream Team and help make a difference, and it is hard to describe how grateful I feel for their support. This foundation helps continuously remind me how truly lucky I am and hopefully help make a positive impact.”

The Pennzoil Victory Burnout Challenge is part of the NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway as NASCAR celebrates the sport and those who participate in it ahead of next weekends Coca-Cola 600.

About Dinger’s Dream Team:
Dinger’s Dream Team was established in 2011 by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver AJ Allmendinger and his parent company Walldinger Racing, Inc. The 501c3 non-profit organization was formed with a grassroots approach to fundraising and awareness. Dinger’s Dream Team strives to activate the extremely loyal NASCAR fan base in supporting various charitable causes.

Dinger’s Dream Team’s mission statement is to identify and support underserved charitable organizations and causes. DDT has primarily focused on the areas of animal welfare, children’s needs, and community-based initiatives.

One of only three tracks in the world to have hosted a Formula 1, IndyCar, and Can-Am race, CTMP has gone through management and ownership changes through the decades. And with each change has come improvement, from paving the paddock to widening the track. But the core nature of the nearly 2.5-mile circuit has stayed the same. This weekend will see Trans Am race as part of a large card as NASCAR’s Canadian Tire Series, Canadian Touring Car, Porsche GT3 Cup, and F1000 series will all be sharing the track during the busy weekend.

The race weekend is one that has long been a part of the Canadian motorsports scene, and with the facility boasting a new name and an enthusiastic new ownership group to steward the track into the future, the event also reflects the new management and direction for Trans Am.

“It’s exciting for us to be starting the year at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park,” said Ruman, who netted a podium finish in her last Trans Am visit to the 2.45-mile track with a run to third place in 2011 after qualifying sixth. “Every year you have a new optimism for the season. With us having this new Corvette and the series under new management, there is a lot to look forward to in 2012.”

For Ruman, the weekend is one that she hopes to start a season-long campaign in the championship as she is set to debut the new No. 23 McNichols Co./Goodyear/Cenweld Corvette.

“I’m happy that the schedule gives us a decent amount of track time this weekend, because we will be looking to learn as much as we can with this new car,” said Ruman. “We’ve got some laps under our belt with the Corvette, but it is still very early for us. Hopefully we can learn a lot and come out of the weekend with some points and some good ideas about the car.”

The event will open with promoter test sessions on Friday, a Saturday morning practice session at 10:05 AM, followed by qualifying at 5:00 PM. Drivers will have a warm-up practice session Sunday morning at 10:00 AM ahead of the 41-lap, 100 mile race slated to start on Sunday at 4:15 PM ET.

Sponsors: McNichols Co., headquartered in Tampa, FL, is the largest U.S. distributor of “Hole” products with service centers across North America. McNichols’ product selection is the most diverse in the industry. McNichols stocks perforated products, both metal and plastic. A toll free number 800-237-3820 connects you to the McNichols Co. distributor in your area and the company’s extensive website, www.mcnichols.com , has online customer service and online ordering. Goodyear Tire & Rubber is a Ruman Racing sponsor as well as the Series sponsor. Cenweld Corp., a well-established manufacturer and distributor of truck bodies and equipment throughout Ohio, is also long-time Ruman Racing sponsor.

For quick news and updates during race weekends, please follow Ruman Racing and the Trans-Am Series on Twitter @rumanracing and @gotransam. Be sure to “Like” our official pages on Facebook: Ruman Racing, Amy Ruman (Official Fan Page), McNichols Company, and Go Trans Am.

Broadcast information: www.goracingtv.com
Race Info/Scoring/Results: www.gotransam.com
Live Timing/Twitter Feed: www.gotransam.com/live-timing-and-scoring/

Looking ahead: Round 2: Lime Rock Park May 25-26
Round 3: Mid-Ohio June 8-10

Ruman Racing, Inc., is based in Munroe Falls, Ohio.

With three podium finishes during the season, Ruman finished third in last year’s championship and has good reason for her optimistic outlook on the 2012 season. 2012 marks Ruman’s sixth year in the category and her new No. 23 McNichols Co./Goodyear/Cenweld sponsored C6 Corvette will give her the best shot at a championship campaign yet as she follows in her father’s footsteps in Trans Am. The Corvette has some racing history behind it, but is new to the Ruman Racing group and marks a large step forward in performance.

“I know there will be a bit of a learning curve with this new car, but the potential with our new Corvette is just outstanding,” said Ruman, who picked up the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association “Rising Star” Award during the off-season. “Trans Am will be even more competitive this year and I’m very excited to get the season started at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, formally Mosport International Raceway. Of course, we are all going to have to get used to the new name, but it is very exciting what is going on at such a legendary track and it is great to see it in good hands with a bright future.”

The 2012 championship features a ten-race, eight venue schedule and Ruman will look to get some early-season momentum with a podium performance when the season kicks off on May 20 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, as part of the annual Victoria Day Speedfest Weekend with the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. Trans Am will travel to various prestigious circuits around the country including Ruman’s home track of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on June 10.

“I have absolutely been counting down the days for the Trans Am season to get started,” offered Ruman of the 2012 championship. “Winning my first Trans Am race at Road Atlanta to finish the year last season was a thrill, and now we’ve got a new car for the 2012 season. I am also pleased to announce that McNichols Company has returned as our primary sponsor for another season of racing!”

Coverage of the events can be viewed at www.goracingtv.com with the organization recently announcing its new GoRacingTV app to Apple iTunes and Google Play, the online storefronts for iPhone and Android Apps products and services. The GoRacingTV app is a free feature-rich web application that allows users to keep up to date with all the news and video content from the Trans Am Series while on the go.  The independent cable network channel MAVTV will also air the half-hour Trans Am Series weekend recap shows produced GoRacingTV.com the week following each Trans Am event.

Sponsors:  McNichols Co., headquartered in Tampa, FL, is the largest U.S. distributor of “Hole” products with service centers across North America. McNichols’ product selection is the most diverse in the industry. McNichols stocks perforated products, both metal and plastic. A toll free number 800-237-3820 connects you to the McNichols Co. distributor in your area and the company’s extensive website, www.mcnichols.com, has online customer service and online ordering.  Goodyear Tire & Rubber is a Ruman Racing sponsor as well as the Series sponsor for Pro Spec Racer.  Cenweld Corp., a well-established manufacturer and distributor of truck bodies and equipment throughout Ohio, is also long-time Ruman Racing sponsor.

For quick news and updates during race weekends, please follow Ruman Racing and the Trans-Am Series on Twitter @rumanracing and @gotransam.  Be sure to “Like” our official pages on Facebook: Ruman Racing, Amy Ruman (Official Fan Page), McNichols Company, and Go Trans Am.

Pew will open the 2.75-hour race from behind the wheel before turning the controls of the No. 60 Liveon.com Ford-Riley to co-driver Ozz Negri who will run to the finish.

“Qualifying wasn’t quite as good as I had hoped,” said Pew of the 15-minute session. “I had trouble with the grip on the last couple of turns before we got on the front stretch. I just couldn’t get on the power like I could in practice. I don’t know what it was, it was just something with the tires. I think we have a good car for the race, it’s good on old tires and it’s a long race so we’ll see what we can do. The pick up is something we all have to be careful about so hopefully we can still make it through GT traffic because when you go off line, it takes several laps to get the tires clean again.”

The Michael Shank Racing squad has continued to improve the car throughout the weekend as the team targets a return to the New Jersey podium – having won at the track in the inaugural GRAND-AM event in 2008.

“The car is much better than it was yesterday,” said team owner Mike Shank. “We’re starting P87and I think we’ll be in a good position for the race. John raced really, really well here last year. The car did pretty well on old tires, so I think we can do well tomorrow. We’ve had good cars but not great luck the last two races, so hopefully we can come out of here with a solid points finish.”

The Global Barter 250 is set to go green on Sunday, May 13 at 1:00 PM (ET) with SPEED carrying live coverage of the event. Live timing and scoring can also be followed at www.grand-am.com.

As Marsal looked for a return to the podium at his home track, he was set to move forward early in the 2.5-hour race and made quick work of it by picking up two positions on the first lap to run 12^th prior to the first full course caution period.

When the race returned to green flag action, Marsal began a charge to the front to run as high as seventh before pitting during the second race caution to hand the car over to Said.

Said returned to the track 18^th in the order but wasted no time returning to the front of the field as he improved 11 positions within five laps.  Said continued to run among the top-five until a late-race full course yellow set up a three-lap sprint to the finish.

Using all his skills and decades of experience, Said moved to the outside in a slick maneuver to move the  No. 97 machine up to fourth in Turn 1 on the restart,  contending for a podium finish  all the way to the final stages of the race.

“Fourth place feels good – I think I ran a great race and I think Boris (Said) did too,” said Marsal, whose mother made the three hour drive  to be in attendance for Marsal’s Mother’s Day race weekend event. “I think we did exactly what we were supposed to do. Obviously we didn’t have the car to win – the Subaru is way faster than us. Everybody else just kind of checked out which seems to be a common theme here. There’s not really a lot of passing at the end. Everybody kind of stretches out and holds their ground.  I’ve always performed well at New Jersey but I’m not really sure why – I guess it just suits me. It’s fun, it’s a patience track and it’s a technical track. It was good to be in a position for a podium there at the end and I’m happy with fourth.”

In addition to his compact Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race schedule which saw a morning practice, qualifying, and the 2.5-hour race all in one day, Marsal doubled up on the day as he also took part in the ITC series driving for Auto Technic in a 40-minute race held prior to the start of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge event.

That race would see him run at the front of the field as he raced ahead of his Turner Motorsport team owner Will Turner. But the day ended early as a car spun in Marsals path and he had no option but to make race-ending contact with the spinning machine.

The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge next travels to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for Round 5 of the championship June 8-9.

“I’m really looking forward to Mid-Ohio,” said Marsal. “It’s probably my favorite track to go racing. It’s not the greatest track for pure driving but for some reason it just makes for some great dog fights. People are making passes for positions all throughout the race and it’s really just a track where you’re always working and driving and it’s a ton of fun.”

The B+ Heroes 200 presented by BCKSTGR will broadcast May 26 at 2:00 PM (ET) on SPEED.

Nick Longhi started the race from sixth on the 58-car combined-class grid, and moved directly up to third on the opening lap.

“I had scouted the outside line on the reconnaissance laps, and I knew that there was enough grip to get the braking done there if I needed to,” said Longhi. “I just stayed on the outside on the start and it worked perfectly–I thought I was going to have to give up the spot but I don’t think the Camaro got a good start so we were right up to third.”

Longhi was part of the lead pack, which stretched the advantage in the early laps before a full course caution brought Longhi into pit lane to turn the controls over to Matt Plumb, who returned to the field in 19th.

Plumb, keeping to the playbook, proceeded to charge forward and was quickly back into the top-10. But that forward progress was slowed to a disappointing halt after the No. 13 lost power and stopped on the side of the track.

“I felt us lose a little bit of pace, and then we were just dead in the water,” lamented Plumb, who had played host to a huge crowd of friends and family including his mother on the Mother’s Day weekend at his home race track. “I hate it for Luis (Bacardi) to not bring home a result that showed really what we were capable of. This is going to make for a big hill to climb in the points, but we’ll just put our heads down and focus on winning at Mid-Ohio again just like we did last year and then fighting our way back.”

The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series next travels to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the EMCO Gears Classic June 8-9.

The B+ Heroes 200 presented by BCKSTGR will be televised May 26 at 2:00 PM (ET) on SPEED.

But beyond trophies and champagne, that strong work ethic and professional preparation–not to mention great pit work and top-level driving–was rewarded with a 75-pound weight penalty from GRAND-AM ahead of Round 4 at New Jersey Motorsports Park. The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge boasts one of the most varied fields in all of motorsports and GRAND-AM works to even the playing field among a grid that features everything from V8-powered cars to turbocharged all wheel drive machines to small-displacement entries like the Porsche 911.

The added weight for the championship-leading team was on clear display on Saturday as the team, which set the fastest time in qualifying at team owner Luis Bacardi’s home track of Homestead-Miami Speedway, was only able to secure sixth on the grid for Saturday’s B+ HEROES 200 presented by BCKSTGR after driver Nick Longhi posted a fast lap time of 1:29.500 seconds on the 2.25 mile circuit in south Jersey.

“The team did a great job trying to get the car going, but that’s what happens when you get 75 pounds added all at once,” said Longhi. “The car is okay it’s just a small capacity engine and when you put that kind of weight on there, that’s what happens. We’re going to be okay for the race but they certainly knocked the edge off of the car, there’s no doubt about it. It also makes it much more difficult handling wise. The team is great, everything is good, but 75 pounds moves you back, end of story.”

Longhi will open the 2.5-hour race before turning over the car to co-driver Matt Plumb.

Live timing and scoring can be followed at www.grand-am.com. SPEED will broadcast the event on May 26 at 2:00 PM (ET).

With a quick time of 1:30.739-seconds around the 2.25-mile track, the effort earned Marsal his best starting position of the year, and he will grid for the 2.5-hour race from the seventh row as he and co-driver Boris Said look to move forward at Marsal’s home track located just a couple of hours south of where he resides in New York City.

“Qualifying was good – it’s the best start I’ve had this year so I’m happy about that,” said Marsal of the qualifying run. “We made a set-up change and it was the wrong way to go but we’re going to put it back and I think it should be good for the race. I burned off the tires in traffic and then by the time I got a clean lap it was only good enough for 14^th. I perform well at this track and I’m happy to be starting in the top-15. I’m looking forward to working my way through the field.”

Prior to the start of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race, Marsal will have little time to spare as he competes in another race, driving a different BMW. Marsal has joined Auto Technic in the ITC series in a 40-minute race which will see him go up against Turner Motorsport team owner Will Turner.  The run in a BMW will add to his BMW Trophy points count as the young racer continues to add more lines to his racing resume.

The B+ Heroes 200 presented by BCKSTGR will begin at 3:15 PM (ET). Live timing and scoring can be followed at www.grand-am.com.

Additional information: http://www.marsalracing.com/

Carroll Shelby was best known for creating the high-performance Shelby Cobra during a successful career as a race-car driver, automaker, team owner and entrepreneur and he was all about winning no matter what he did. Born in 1923 in Leesburg, Texas, Shelby quickly became passionate about cars through his dad’s love of cars.

He would serve as a flight instructor in the Army Air Forces and a tank commander in World War 2 before he owned his own dump truck business, worked in the oil fields and as a chicken farmer. At first the chicken business flourished, but after his second flock of chickens died of disease, Shelby found himself without much money. A friend invited Shelby to be an amateur race car driver. He entered his first race in 1952 while he continued to work and even wore his farming clothes while racing the car.

His endeavors led to forming a relationship with Aston Martin and racing all over the world with the team in 1954. He quickly became one of America’s leading sports car racers.

He caught the attention of Enzo Ferrari, who tried to hire Shelby three times, but Shelby turned him down as he blamed Ferrari for the deaths of many of his friends. He went on to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Aston Martin in 1959 with co-driver Roy Salvadori. He became only the second-American born driver to win the prestigious event. Shelby also won U.S. sports-car championship titles with Ferrari and Maserati and raced in Formula 1 for two seasons. In 1960, doctors told Shelby that he would not live longer than five years due to a heart ailment. He was forced to quit racing but he wasn’t about to leave the world of motorsports. He founded Shelby American in 1962 and approached Lee Iacocca of Ford Motor Company for money to build the original Cobra. Shelby pestered Iacocca until he finally gave in just to get Shelby to leave him alone. Shelby had wanted to build his own car since the early 1950s and paid close attention to how other car companies operated. He built two prototypes and displayed them in front of 4,000 Ford dealers but both of them blew up. Despite that, the Cobras began selling like crazy. In 1962, the Cobra was the fastest production model ever made when it was displayed at the New York Auto Show.

The Cobra was quite a success and captured the SCCA United States Road Racing Championship in 1963 and the GT World Championship in 1965. The Cobra won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966 & 1967 ending Ferrari’s winning streak with a 1-2-3 finish in the endurance event. In 1969, when the high-performance car market took a downturn, Shelby pursued other endeavors including the development and marketing of a chili mix and the operation of a Safari company in Africa during the 1970s. Shelby returned to sports car design in 1982 when Iacocca became Chairman of Chrysler and the two paired to produce special edition models of the Dodge Charger among other types of cars. Despite his ailing health as he grew older, he continued to work in the auto industry.

In 1992 he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame and he recently worked as a technical director on the Ford GT project and designed the Shelby Series two-seat muscle car.

The 2013 Shelby GT500 has the most powerful production V8 engine with a top speed of 200 MPH. Prior to the creation of the 2013 Shelby GT500, whenever Shelby was asked which of his cars was his favorite, he would respond with “the next one”, but he changed his mind with the production of the GT500 saying that this car was in fact his favorite. He was the only man in the history of the sport to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a driver, team owner, and manufacturer.

While he had many great moments throughout his decades of involvement in the auto industry, his proudest accomplishment was beating Ferrari for the championship in 1965. Despite being told he would not live past the year of 1965, he lived 47 years longer and was one of the nation’s longest-living heart transplant recipients.

Marsal will once again team with Boris Said in the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 as he looks for a return to the New Jersey podium, having netted a run to third place in his 2010 debut at the New Jersey road course with co-driver Joey Hand.

Last year’s NJMP race weekend saw Marsal pull double race duty as he scored a 10th place finish in Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge with Turner co-driver Sam Schultz as well as take a career-best GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series result of 10th while driving the No. 93 Turner Motorsport Rolex Sports Car Series GT entry in the American Red Cross 250.

Marsal rebounded from getting spun into a massive crash in Round 2 of the 2012 championship at Barber Motorsports Park to score another top-10 result in the most recent round at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Despite having to start at the rear of the GS field due to a drive train issue, he and Said drove to a seventh place finish in a race that saw a mix of wet and dry conditions.

“I’m looking forward to returning to New Jersey especially since it’s not all that far from home,” said Marsal, who will graduate from nearby LaSalle University with a degree in Marketing next weekend. “Turner Motorsport is typically pretty strong at New Jersey and I’ve had a couple of good results there, so I’m excited to see what we can do. Boris (Said) and I have really been working well together this year and I think we can add another good result this weekend. Racing so close to home means there will be some extra friends and family on hand as well, so I’m just looking forward to the weekend getting going.”

The event opens on Thursday with a promoter test day followed by official practice on Friday. Saturday will see a busy morning of practice and qualifying prior to the 3:15 PM (ET) start of the 2.5-hour race.

Live timing and scoring can be followed at www.grand-am.com. SPEED will broadcast the event on May 26 at 2:00 PM (ET).

Additional information:
http://www.marsalracing.com/
http://www.dysonracing.com/
http://www.sundaymanagement.com/