For Immediate Release
Contact Laz Denes with True Speed Communication
(704) 875-3388 ext. 806 or Laz.Denes@TrueSpeedCommunication.com
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Online Media Kit Available at www.TrueSpeedMedia.com

ALTON, Va. (May 10, 2011) – Welcome to “GRAND-AM’s Most Wanted,” also known as the Bosch Engineering 250 on Saturday afternoon at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in Alton, for round four of the 2011 Rolex Series championship.

SunTrust Racing co-drivers Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor will not only be out to get their team’s third victory in eight outings at the scenic 3.27-mile, 17-turn road circuit located just a stone’s throw north of the Virginia-North Carolina state line, they’ll be playing the role of bounty hunters as they and their Rolex Series counterparts will be out to get sports car racing’s newly declared “outlaws” – Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates BMW Riley.

Pruett and Rojas have reeled off six consecutive Rolex Series victories dating back to the Crown Royal 200 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International last August. And last year’s Rolex Series champions have won an incredible 12 of the last 15 Rolex Series events dating back to the Grand Prix of Miami in March 2010 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Last week, GRAND-AM posted a $25,000 bounty – complete with an Old West-style wanted poster – for the first team to stop team owner Chip Ganassi and his driving duo. And the first in line to claim that tidy little bonus prize would be Angelelli and Taylor in the No. 10 SunTrust Chevrolet Dallara of Wayne Taylor Racing, who’ve clearly been the “best of the rest” since Pruett and Rojas began their Rolex Series domination some 14 months ago.

VIR is quite the appropriate circuit for the SunTrust duo to bring an end to the Ganassi team’s winning ways. Since joining the Rolex Series in 2004, SunTrust is the only team other than Ganassi to claim multiple victories there. Angelelli and now-team owner Wayne Taylor co-drove to the race win in their very first visit to the track in 2004. The Italian veteran followed that up with a victory alongside co-driver Jan Magnussen in 2007, and he and the elder Taylor added fourth- and second-place finishes in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Last year, Angelelli and Ricky Taylor finished third at VIR to score the younger Taylor’s first career Rolex Series podium en route to second place in the 2010 championship behind the Ganassi duo.

If recent history is any indication, it will take a perfect race for Angelelli and Taylor as they stalk Pruett and Rojas for two hours and 45 minutes around the country club-like VIR layout. But if all goes according to plan, they’ll have custody of a first-place trophy, some celebratory magnums of champagne, and an extra little bounty in their wallets by sundown on Saturday.

Practice for Saturday’s Bosch Engineering 250 begins Friday morning with qualifying set for 3:45 p.m. EDT. Race time Saturday is 3 p.m. with SPEED providing the television broadcast on a two-hour delay beginning at 5 p.m. Live radio coverage will be provided by the Motor Racing Network and Sirius Channel 94 beginning at 2:45 p.m. Live timing and scoring during all on-track sessions can be found at www.grand-am.com, and now on mobile devices at m.grand-am.com.

Max Angelelli, Co-Driver of the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Chevrolet Dallara:

GRAND-AM has posted a $25,000 bounty for the first team that can end the Ganassi team’s win streak. How do you feel about that, and what will it take to beat the Ganassi team at VIR?

“I feel good about it because I’ve always believed in prize money. I hope this is just a beginning, and I’m looking forward to having GRAND-AM adding one zero at the end of the figure the next time they offer a bounty (laughs). Prize money is a good thing, and it can only be a boost to our car counts. What it will take to beat them? We really need to push them. We all need to do it, and I will try, for sure.”

You and Ricky co-drove to his first career podium last year at VIR. It was a good day for the SunTrust team. What do you remember about that day, and why is the SunTrust team typically so good at VIR?

“It was a very special day, that’s for sure, and we were able to do one better at the very next race at Lime Rock. All I wish for is to have many other special days, beginning Saturday at VIR. As far as the track is concerned, yes, we have had some very good success at VIR, but we have had some bad luck there, too. But, based on our current situation, with a new tire manufacturer this year and various other factors, what’s happened in the past is almost useless for us, this year. We basically started over from a clean sheet of paper this season. The good news is that we have had a very good car at each of the first three races, so far, and it’s a good bet that we will have a good car, once again, at VIR this weekend.”

GRAND-AM also recently announced that fuel tank capacity would be downsized from 24 to 20 gallons to necessitate an added pit stop for all teams, and mandated a slower fuel fill rate to facilitate an additional driver change. What are your thoughts on that?

“We need to have all the drivers and teams happy to compete in the series. We need all drivers to be capable of having a shot at race wins. So, that is the reason for all the things that GRAND-AM is trying to do in order to help level the playing field even more. In my opinion, those are all good things and they are welcome. At the end of the day, the best teams and drivers always win, regardless of all the help from sanctioning body, but at least the teams who don’t win will not have so much to complain about.”

Ricky Taylor, Co-Driver of the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Chevrolet Dallara:

You earned your first career Rolex Series podium finish at VIR last year. How special was that for you and the team?

“It was really special. If you take the podium out of it, we had a good race and we had a possibility of winning the race, so that would have been even better. It all just came down to how the race went at the end. The track position just wasn’t there for us. This weekend, we’ll really need to take advantage if we have a really good racecar, again, and close the deal once an