National Speed Sport News

SEBRING, Fla. - Intersport Racing officials have withdrawn from the LMP1 class for Saturday's 12 Hours of Sebring as a result of a major crash while testing Monday at Sebring Int'l Raceway.

Driver Jon Field was unhurt in the crash between turns nine and 10 Monday on the 3.7-mile, 17-turn road course. The team determined that the right rear suspension failed on the car, which caused the accident.

"Firead more

SEBRING, Fla. - Intersport Racing's Jon Field survived a horrific crash Monday at Sebring Int'l Raceway and was later treated and released from an area hospital.

Field was testing Intersport's AER-powered Lola B06/10 LMP1 entry for this weekend's 12 Hours of Sebring when his car got airborne and flipped several times between turns nine and 10 on the 3.7-mile road course.

The car eventually came to aread more

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Jason von Kluge completed a sweep of the opening weekend of the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge Series with his second victory in as many days Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Von Kluge was joined on the podium by polesitter Pratt Cole, with George Winkler emerging from a thrilling race with Dan Aweida to take third.

"I definitely had to be patient, to get up there, get by Tonyread more

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Scott Pruett held off a furious late-race challenge from David Donohue to win Saturday evening's Grand Prix of Miami Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Pruett, who shared the Chip Ganassi Racing BMW-powered Riley with Memo Rojas, took control of the race during the final portion of the two and one-half-hour event, which started in the daylight andread more

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Jack Roush, Jr. and Billy Johnson won their second Grand Sport race together, the two-and-a-half hour, 91-lap Homestead 200 for the Grand Am-sanctioned Continental Tire Series. In the process, Roush gave his car owning father his 400th career victory.

For Johnson, it was his second consecutive victory at the 2.3-mile, 11-turn road course, in a car (No. 61 Roush Ford Mustang) thatread more

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - It could have been a runaway victory, but it turned into a nail-biter.

Jason von Kluge led from the pole in Saturday's opening race of the 2010 Ford Racing Mustang Challenge season at Homestead-Miami Speedway to open a five-second margin over the field.

But he had to fight off Tony Buffomante, who charged into the lead on a lap-18 restart. But von Kluge battled back to regainread more

ALPHARETTA, Ga. - Just weeks after telling National Speed Sport News that the Atlantic Championship Series was on track for its scheduled season opener March 19, series owner Ben Johnston announced late Wednesday that the series has postponed its 2010 season.

"It is with a heavy heart and only after deep consideration that I have accepted the recommendations from the stakeholders in the series toread more

SEBRING, Fla. - Aston Martin Racing may have ended the American Le Mans Series winter test at the top of the speed charts Tuesday, but the team still has a lot of work to do.

Harold Primat, who will share the Aston Martin-powered Lola B09/60 LMP1 entry during the 12 Hours of Sebring with Adrian Fernandez and Chris Buncombe, turned the fast lap of the day at 1:46.894 (124.609 miles per hour) beforeread more

SEBRING, Fla. - Adrian Fernandez and the Aston Martin Racing team laid down the fastest lap during the first day of American Le Mans Series testing Monday at Sebring Int'l Raceway.

Driving the Aston Martin-powered Lola prototype, Fernandez turned a lap of 1:47.826 at 123.532 miles per hour on the 3.7-mile road course during the day's first four-hour session. Fernandez joined Aston Martin this yearread more

WARWICKSHIRE, England - Mexican road racer and former Indy car driver Adrian Fernandez has signed a three-year contract with Aston Martin Racing and will serve as one of the British's manufacturer's factory drivers.

Fernandez - co-champion of the American Le Mans Series LMP2 class in 2009 alongside Luis Diaz - will enter at least three races in the LMP1 class in a Gulf-liveried, Astonread more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The fastest car won the Fresh From Florida 200 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race Friday at Daytona Int'l Raceway, but the victory wasn't easy for its drivers Gianluis Bacardi and Matt Plumb.

Making his pro debut in the series' biggest race of the year, Barcadi survived a 19th-place starting spot in the 77-car field and stayed out of trouble in order to turn the Rumread more

Action Express Claims Back-To-Back Rolex Triumphs For Porsche

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The 48th annual Rolex 24 At Daytona will go down in the books as a race won by what amounted to a mechanical version of a "nobody" fielded by a "nobody" underdog team that had been given little chance of success by the experts.

Yet the triumph posted Sunday at Daytona Int'l Speedway by the Action Express Racingread more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Some teams have tried for years to win the Rolex 24 At Daytona and never made it victory lane at Daytona Int'l Speedway.

But the first time was certainly the charm for the Action Express Racing team headed by former Brumos Racing affiliate Bob Johnson. Drivers Joao Barbosa, Terry Borcheller, Mike Rockenfeller and Ryan Dalziel celebrated victory in the 48th annual enduranceread more

By Linda Mansfield

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Friday morning Continental Tire announced that it will become the official tire of the Rolex Series starting in 2011 and continuing at least through the 2014 season, replacing Pirelli.

Continental's research and development team will partner with Hoosier Racing Tire to develop new rubber for the Daytona Prototype and GT classes in order to service all ofread more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Pitting for fresh tires proved to be a winning strategy for Matt Plumb and the Rum Bum Racing team Friday as Plumb made a late-race pass of Charles Espenlaub to claim the season-opening Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona Int'l Speedway.

Plumb's co-driver, Gianluis Bacardi, started 19th and drove the No. 13 RumBum.com BMW M3 E92 to secondread more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Max Angelelli prevailed in a back-and-forth battle to capture the pole Thursday for the 48th Rolex 24 At Daytona, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

Angelelli secured the top position for the opening round of the 2010 Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series with a lap of 1:40.827 (127.108 miles per hour) in the No. 10 SunTrust Ford Dallara. It is Angelelli's fourth career pole in theread more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Four-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson was uninjured in a hard crash during practice for this weekend's Rolex 24 At Daytona Grand American sports-car race.

Johnson crashed the No. 99 GAINSCO-sponsored Bob Stallings Racing Chevrolet Riley, forcing the defending series championship team to revert to a backup car currently housed in the team's Texasread more

ALPHARETTA, Ga. - Ben Johnston, owner of the Cooper Tires presents the Atlantic Championship, is headed to England to take part in the Autosport Show held at NEC in Birmingham, England on today through Saturday.

Johnston and top series officials are set to meet with many talented European drivers that have shown great interest in running in the Atlantic Championship this year.

"I have two days ofread more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series has expanded its awards program to provide greater recognition for the efforts and achievements of the racers who do not derive their primary income from racing cars professionally.

The Grand Am Pro-Am Championship will recognize drivers in the Rolex Series Daytona Prototype and GT classes. Competitors in both classes will accumulate pointsread more

LAKEVILLE, Conn. - As part of its 35th anniversary, the Skip Barber Racing School will present the Skip Barber 35th Anniversary Triple Crown, an interdisciplinary race series.

The series will feature three race weekends, each utilizing both the open-wheel Formula Skip Barber race cars of the Skip Barber Race Series and the Mazda MX-5 Cup cars of the Skip Barber MazdaSpeed Challenge. The seriesread more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same, which in the case of the Grand American Road Racing Ass'n's Rolex Sports Car Series is not necessarily bad.

Given the fact that the 2009 series opening Rolex 24 saw the closest competitive finish in long-distance competition, this past weekend's tight times during testing for the 2010 Rolex were clearly a promiseread more

CORNELIUS, N.C. – With more than 1,000 races in a quarter-century's worth of NASCAR experience, you would think it would take a lot to get Michael Waltrip excited about an off-season race.

But Waltrip can't wait for his first foray into the world of international sports car racing when the two-time Daytona 500 champion competes in the fifth annual Dubai 24 Hour sports car race at theread more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - TRG Motorsports will enter an astounding five teams in the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona Int'l Speedway Jan. 30-31.

The team previously announced plans to enter four Porsche 911 GT3's in the race, but recent sponsorship agreements have allowed the team to enter a fifth entry while shuffling its driver lineup.

Driving the teams No. 66 with sponsorship from AXA will be Brentread more

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Grand American Road Racing Ass'n has announced its President, Roger Edmondson, is taking a leave of absence, effective Jan. 4, 2010, to address personal health issues.

Tom Bledsoe will assume the day-to-day leadership role for Grand Am in Edmondson's absence and continue to be supported by the management team including Vice President of Competition Dave Spitzer, Managingread more

DANBURY, Conn. - Simon Pagenaud will join the championship-winning Patrón Highcroft Racing squad next year, joining co-driver David Brabham as a replacement for the recently-departed Scott Sharp.

Pagenaud spent last season driving for Highcroft's main rival, de Ferran Motorsports, but he will join forces with Brabham at the Honda Performance Development factory squad armed with the newly revisedread more

DANBURY, Conn. - Simon Pagenaud will join the championship-winning Patrón Highcroft Racing squad next year, joining co-driver David Brabham as a replacement for the recently-departed Scott Sharp.

Pagenaud has spent the last season driving for Highcroft's main rival, de Ferran Motorsports, but he will now join forces with Brabham at the Honda Performance Development factory squad armed with theread more

ORLANDO, Fla. - In its first year as part of the IRL's Road to Indy developmental ladder, the Star Mazda Championship will feature an 11-weekend, 13-race schedule, including a trip to Indiana's O'Reilly Raceway Park the night before the Indianapolis 500.

The series will maintain its traditional season opener, visiting Sebring (Fla.) Int'l Raceway March 19. The following week the series will share aread more

HARRISBURG, N.C. - The American road racing community lost two of its legendary figures with the deaths last week of Bill Scott and Dave Sloyer, both after long illnesses.

Scott, the long time owner of West Virginia's Summit Point Raceway, was one of the very first stars in the open-wheel Volkswagen powered Formula Vee single-seat class, winning the International Formula Vee championship atread more

Who Won What

Date Track Winner Car Laps
March 20 Sebring Int'l Raceway (Fla.) John Edwards Swift-Mazda 19
May 17 Miller Motorsports Park (Utah) Simona De Silvestro Swift-Mazda 31
June 13 New Jersey Motorsports Park Jonathan Summerton Swift-Mazda 38
June 14 New Jersey Motorsports Park Simona De Silvestro Swift-Mazda 38
July 18 Lime Rock Park (Conn.) Simona De Silvestro Swift-Mazda 53
Julyread more

Who Won What

Date Track Winners Car Laps
March 20 Sebring Int'l Raceway (Fla.) TC: Seth Thomas BMW 328i 18/GT: Tony Rivera Porsche 911 GT3 20
April 19 Long Beach Grand Prix (Calif.) GT: James Sofronas Ford Mustang Cobra 29/
May 3 New Jersey Motorsports Park TC: Jason Saini Mazda6 27/GT: Andy Pilgrim Volvo S60 30
May 17 Mosport Int'l Raceway (Ontario) TC: Kuno Wittmer (Race 1) Acura TSX 28/TC:read more