SunTrust Racing: Rolex 24 At Daytona Preview
For Immediate Release
Contact Laz Denes
True Speed Communication
(256) 717-8014 or Laz.Denes@TrueSpeedCommunication.com
www.TrueSpeedCommunication.com
SunTrust RACING Rolex 24 At Daytona Preview
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 22, 2008) – Storylines abound in the SunTrust Racing camp as it heads to Florida for this weekend’s Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series traditional season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona.
A year ago, the bright, blue No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Riley, which dominated the 2005 Rolex 24 en route to that season’s Rolex Series championship, hit the track for the first time campaigned by newly formed Wayne Taylor Racing and with none other than four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and three-time Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon as part of its all-star driver lineup. This year, the familiar faces of Max Angelelli and Wayne Taylor will be joined in the SunTrust Racing machine by newly named full-time co-driver Michael Valiante and, for the first time, by none other than Taylor’s 18-year-old son Ricky, who will be making his Rolex Series debut after testing for most of the past year in the No. 10 SunTrust Daytona Prototype.
Adding to the Taylors’ father-son story – the latest edition in a long history of father-son stories at the Rolex 24 which over the years has featured famous racing family names like Andretti, Unser, Gurney, Allison and Pearson – is the added presence of Taylor’s 16-year-old son Jordan in the No. 17 Terra Firma Motorsports GT-class Porsche.
With not one, but two sons in the race, Taylor also for the first time has not one, but two stout race cars entered in the 67-car field thanks to an offseason alliance formed with Roger Penske, the American sports car racing pioneer who returns to the Rolex 24 after a 35-year absence.
The No. 9 Toshiba Pontiac Riley of Penske-Taylor Racing features Penske’s 2008 Indy Racing League (IRL) tandem of Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe, and Penske’s NASCAR Cup Series driver Kurt Busch. Like the No. 10 SunTrust Racing machine, the No. 9 Toshiba Pontiac has been prepped in the Wayne Taylor Racing shop in Indianapolis. The technical staff and crew comprised mainly of Penske’s IRL team have taken charge of the No. 9 effort, which also carries SunTrust as an associate sponsor.
Starting the new season with two sons and two cars in the same, grueling 24-hour marathon run, Taylor and SunTrust Racing remain as focused as ever on one goal for 2008 – another Rolex Series championship to go with the one Taylor and Angelelli co-drove to in 2005.
That almost came to be each of the past two seasons as Angelelli and the SunTrust Pontiac went to the year’s final event at Miller Motorsports Park outside Salt Lake City in contention for the series title. Last September’s championship hopes came to a shocking end in the final hours of the 1,000-mile event when, while moving into the race lead as the other contenders encountered problems, a punctured tire on the No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac led to significant body damage and, ultimately, a major oil fire that sent Angelelli and the race car to the garage for the rest of the day.
This year, Taylor, Angelelli, Valiante and the rest of the SunTrust team are banking on a much happier ending to the 14-race season, which begins with the stiffest test man and machine undergo each year – the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Practice and qualifying for the Rolex 24 begins Thursday. Race time for Saturday’s twice-around-the-clock event is 1:30 p.m. EDT with the FOX network’s live, high-definition coverage beginning at 1 p.m. SPEED-TV picks up the coverage from 2:30 to 10 p.m. Saturday, and again through the race’s conclusion from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. The detailed event schedule, as well as live timing and scoring during all on-track sessions, can be found at www.grand-am.com.
Another new season is upon us, and your SunTrust Racing effort – with a second car in the mix for the first time -- is looking pretty stout. How do you rate your chances of bringing home another victory for SunTrust this weekend?
“This is the race everybody has been looking at since we finished last season contending for the championship once again in Utah. It’s a huge challenge. There are a lot of drivers, good drivers, famous drivers, fast drivers. It’s definitely the No. 1 race on our schedule. I rate our chances very high because I definitely feel we have the best team, the best organization. Now we have two cars so we can help each other. And the sister car is also fast. So it’s going to give us an advantage we haven’t had before.”
You mention the organization. How much more of a factor is the team in this race than the other races on the schedule?
“We have a great team. Travis (Jacobson), our race car engineer and strategist, and Simon (Hodgson, team manager) and all the guys, they see the big picture and help us to do things like we did in this race last year, when we fell five laps down because of an electrical problem and they eventually helped us get our five laps back. They know when to call us in and how to run the race. It was like that all year long. I don’t remember any other team that I’ve driven for that was managed so well. A lot of teams go out and try to run a sprint race at Daytona. We know not to do that. When I’m in the car, I might get pulled into that because that’s just the way I am, but I’m trying to improve on that. And that is where having Travis and Simon manage me and the entire race is very, very important.”
This is a milestone event for you and the team in that it’ll be the last time you run the Riley chassis. Any special thoughts there?
“We won a lot of races with the Riley. And we want to win more races in the future, so this is the reason that we switched. It is a window that is about to be closed, but I have no regrets. I’m looking forward to the change.”
You’ve had a couple of successful tests with the SunTrust team and now it’s time to finally go racing. How has the experience been for you?
“Wayne Taylor and SunTrust Racing have been just great. They invited me for my first test at Daytona in November and, before I was even selected to be Max’s co-driver for the season, they really welcomed me with open arms. I think it was very easy for me to settle in with the car and the crew. I think a big part of why they’ve been so successful is the special relationships that have been formed within the team, and they work really well together. So, for me, it’s been great because it’s helped me adapt very quickly. Max is a great teammate to have. I’m really looking forward to this new experience. I’m with an intense group whose goal it is to win races. I’m looking forward to driving with Max. It’ll be my third full season in the Rolex Series and I think what I’ve learned driving open-wheel cars and the Daytona Prototypes prior to this season, and now moving to this team, has taught me what it takes to win championships.”
After testing the No.