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GRAND AMERICAN KICKS
OFF SEASON
HOOSIER TIRES MAKE GRAND
ENTRANCE
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2-7-05
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 DAYTONA,
FL (February 4-6, 2005) -- The Grand American Road Racing Association kicked
off its 2005 season this past weekend marking the first time in history that all series competitors used the same tire brand--Hoosier. A 50+ member team
from Hoosier traveled to Florida to service the event and to make sure the
historic event went off without a hitch. We are pleased to report--Mission
Accomplished! In the Rolex 24 at Daytona race, the Sun Trust Racing Car /
Pontiac Riley car No. 10 driven by Max Angelelli (Monaco), Wayne Taylor (South
Africa) and Emmanuel Collard (France) were the overall winners in the Daytona
Prototype (DP) class. In the GT class, Farnbacher
Racing USA / Porsche GT3 Cup car No. 71, driven by Wolf Henzler (Germany), Dominik
Farnbacher (Germany), Shawn Price (Santa Clara, CA), Pierre Ehret (Santa Rosa,
CA), finished first (10th overall). The Rolex 24 race featured a Grand
American Rolex Sports Car Series record 43 lead changes among the Hoosier-shod
field. More than 13,500 tires were transported to Florida from Hoosier's
Indiana warehouse for the 24-hour event.
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 In
the Daytona Prototype (DP) class as the race neared its conclusion
on Sunday, it was déjà vu once again when the race-leading car No.
20 driven by Tony Stewart suffered mechanical woes with less
than 2 hours remaining in the race. Last year, the car driven
by Stewart, Andy Wallace and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also fell out of contention
while in the lead after breaking their rear suspension with less
than 20 minutes remaining in the race. The heartbreaking turn of
events handed the lead to the only other lead-lap car. The Sun Trust
Racing Car / Pontiac Riley No. 10 driven by Max Angelelli (Monaco),
Wayne Taylor (South Africa) and Emmanuel Collard (France) held on
during the final two hours to take the win--11 laps ahead of the
runner-up Howard-Boss Motorsports Howard / Pontiac Crawford car No.
4 driven Butch Leitzinger (Rebersburg, PA), Elliott Forbes-Robinson
(Sherrills Ford, NC) and Jimmie Johnson (El Cajon, CA). After
replacing their gear box, the CITGO-Howard-Boss Motorsports No. 20
settled for a third place, also 11 laps behind the race winner,
driven by Andy Wallace (England), Jan Lammers (Netherlands) and Tony
Stewart (Rushville, IN). The top three finishers were all
Pontiac-powered with fourth through seventh Lexus-powered.
Wayne Taylor of race winning
No.10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley DP car commented on tire
management. "There was an allotment of tires, so yes, you were
watching what everyone else was doing. We planned on using hard
tires, we tried softer tires at night, and preferred the harder
tires. I don't believe we used all our allotment of tires."
Jimmie
Johnson of the No. 4 HowardBoss Pontiac Crawford DP car started 8th
and finished 2nd stated, "I thought that they (Hoosier Tires)
held up. They were consistent and hung in there for the whole
run."
After
starting 6th en route to finishing 3rd, Tony Stewart driving the No.
20 CITGO-Howard Pontiac Crawford DP car said, "I was a little
more use to driving on the Hoosier tires than some of the other
drivers. I thought the tires did well and had a pretty good day. I'm
sure they (Hoosier) will go back and make improvements like they do
in every racing entity that they build tires for." Stewart
added confidently, "They (Hoosier) just keep getting bigger and
better. Hoosier is a great company. Bob and Joyce Newton are really
good friends of mine. I've worked with them for some fifteen years
or so. I know their staff--some even by name." Stewart
concluded, "They are the kind of company that if you go to them
and tell them something needs to be changed, they will make the
adjustment right away. It doesn't sit on a piece of paper making its
way up the corporate ladder like other companies do. If they
(Hoosier) think something needs to be changed, they do it right away
and they do it with calculated results. They just don't jump in and
make foolish decisions. I've won numerous championships with Hoosier
Racing Tire and these tires will just keep getting better and better
as we go. The company (Hoosier) will keep refining it until they
have a tire everyone enjoys running on."
Roger Edmondson,
president of Grand American, said at the Press conference, after the
race. "It was something that no one has ever done, to be the
sole tire provider for all teams. There were a couple of snags along
the way; most being from the fact not everyone likes change. But we
are very proud of the job Hoosier Racing Tire did, for me is not an
issue."
Hoosier Racing Tire
brought over 13,500 tires for the 2005 Rolex 24hrs. The DP
class was restricted to a 30 set limit for the complete event
(practice through race conclusion). There were two compounds
available, D50 and D60, with the D50 being the softest. Teams were
limited to no more than 10 sets of D50's. In the GT class there were
three sizes specified with no tire limits in effect. Hoosier Racing
Tire staff on hand included over thirty tire technicians to mount
and dismount throughout the event. In addition, Hoosier's
engineering staff had sixteen people working closely with all teams
to optimize car set-up and monitor tire performance.
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 In
the Grand Touring (GT class), Farnbacher Racing USA / Porsche GT3
Cup car No. 71, driven by Wolf Henzler (Germany), Dominik
Farnbacher (Germany), Shawn Price (Santa Clara, CA), Pierre Ehret
(Santa Rosa, CA), finished first in their class (10th overall).
Finishing in second place (11th overall) the TPC Racing Porsche
GT3 Cup No. 37 driven by Mike Fitzgerald (Scottsdale, AZ),
Manuel Matos (Puerto Rico), Emil Assentato (Locust Valley, NY), Nick
Longhi (Locust Valley, NY). Rounding out the top three was TRG
East's car No. 61 Porsche GT3 Cup driven by Robert Nearn (England),
Dave Lacey (Toronto, ON Canada), David Shep (Caledon, ON Canada), Greg
Wilkins (Toronto, ON Canada), Mark Wilkins (Toronto, ON
Canada).
After starting
30th, the No. 71 Farnbacher Racing, Porsche GT3 Cup car driven by
Henzier/Farnbacher/Price/Ehret won the GT class in the 24-hour race.
After starting
56th, the No. 37 TPC Racing Porsche GT3 Cup car driven by the team
of Fitzgerald/Matos/Assentato/Longhi came in 2nd place and 11th
overall. Mike Fitzgerald commented after the runner-up finish,
"They (The Hoosiers) were great." Emil Assentato added,
"The tires were great, (they) did their job perfectly."
Asked about Hoosier Racing Tire's engineering and service staff Emil
said, "They were great, very informative."
The No. 61 TRG
East Porsche GT3 Cup car driven by the team of
Nearn/Lacey/Shep/G.Wilkins/M.Wilkins started 37th and rounded out
the final podium spot--12th overall. Driver Robert Nearn commented
on the tires, "They were good and had a lot of grip the first
5-10 laps and then they backed off a little bit, but were very
consistent after that." Nearn added, "I thought the rain
tires were even better than the slicks. We had a bit of rain
Thursday night and got to run them then and I thought they were very
good."
SPEED Channel
carried over 14 hours of exciting LIVE coverage of the Rolex 24 race
at Daytona.
The next race
on the 14-race Rolex Series schedule is the 250-mile Grand Prix of
Miami on March 3-5.
To learn more about the Grand
American Road Racing Association, visit their website at www.grandamerican.com.
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Copyright ©
2005 Hoosier Racing Tire Corp.
All rights reserved.
Do not duplicate or redistribute in any form.
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