EMCO-Gears Classic, Mid-Ohio – Preview
Half Way

Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas arrive at Mid-Ohio looking to continue their remarkable run of form in the 250 mile (or 2 hours, 45 minutes – whichever comes sooner) race on Saturday evening, having so far failed to finish lower than third and having taken four wins out of six. This leaves the drivers of the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley with a 36-point championship lead at the halfway point of the season.

A whole plethora of Daytona Prototypes will be looking to call an abrupt halt to this record of success; several of whom fancy their chances after strong runs at Watkins Glen.

Darren Law and David Donohue came closest to depriving the #01 of the win at the Glen and are confident that the #58 Brumos Racing Porsche will be strong after continued improvement through the season so far and after a positive test after the last race. Mid-Ohio has a special place in Brumos Racing’s heart; this being the track at which the team recorded its first victory back in 1974. The #58 finished fifth at the same race last year.

Krohn Racing’s quartet of drivers return from Le Mans for this race, having experienced mixed emotions. Tracey Krohn, Eric van de Poele and Nic Jonsson had the great misfortune to be sharing the car that recorded the first retirement of the race; whereas Ricardo Zonta finished third overall in the #9 Peugeot. Despite this, the quartet will be buoyed by a strong performance at Watkins Glen; with Zonta and Jonsson denied an improvement on their twelfth place finish (and possibly a win?) by a refuelling problem that necessitated a late extra stop in the #76 Pontiac Lola.

But nobody will be wanting a good result more than Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney in the #99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley. The defending champions recorded a convincing victory in the 2007 race, but have had enjoyed just one podium finish so far in 2008. "We have had it all and then some as far as what can go wrong in the year's first few races," Fogarty said. "Hopefully all of our bad luck will have been used up long before we get to Mid-Ohio."

Marc Goossens and Jim Matthews currently lie second in the championship in the #91 Bob Stallings/Riley-Matthews Pontiac Riley and are one of only two other teams to have recorded a win this season. The Belgian is looking forward to his first taste of the track; “We sure had a good test the Monday after the race at Watkins Glen,” he said.  “During the weekend we had not the best car but during the test, we improved quite a bit. I think we will have a much better run when we go back to the Glen in August.  The team had a good race there last year with Jim Matthews and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Next week will be my first time at the track.  I have never been there so I have no idea about the track. But with the data and some on-board footage from last year which I can study, it shouldn't be too hard to find a good pace in practice.”

Max Angelelli and Michael Valiante wheel out their trusted SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley for (hopefully) the last time this season. The car earned them a podium finish in the last round, but will be replaced by the team’s new Dallara from Daytona onwards.

In GT Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards a 35 point lead in the #07 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R over the #70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 pairing of Sylvain Tremblay and Nick Ham.

The Pontiacs certainly noticed the extra weight that they must now carry at the last round, but that didn’t stop them from occupying two of the three podium spaces available; Collins and Edwards finishing third behind the Stevenson Motorsports GXP.R of Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell.

But it was a Mazda that took the win; Jeff Segal and Emil Assentato now looking to make it two in a row in the #69 SpeedSource RX-8.

However, despite a calamitous showing at Watkins Glen, the Porsche contingent will be looking to capitalise on the performance break that they were looking for earlier in the season; said. "This year has been a challenging one for the Porsche teams as the rules and new tire package have been better suited to other manufacturers in the series,” said Farnbacher Loles Racing owner Gregory Loles. Kevin Buckler and I have been working with the series and our engineers to get Porsche back on an equal footing with the Pontiacs and Mazdas. We have both experienced success in the Grand-Am series and we expect to get Porsche back on top before long.”  

The race begins at 5.10pm, local time, and is live on SPEED.

Entry:

DP
01 Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Lexus / Riley
2 SAMAX Ryan Dalziel, Henri Zogaib, BMW / Riley
3 Southard Motorsports Bill Lester, Shane Lewis, Lexus / Riley
6 Michael Shank Racing Ian James, John Pew, Ford / Riley
7 Rum Bum Racing Matt Plumb, Gene Sigal, BMW / Riley
09 Spirit of Daytona Racing Marc-Antoine Camirand, Guy Cosmo, Porsche / Coyote
10 SunTrust Racing Max Angelelli, Michael Valiante Pontiac / Riley
16 Cheever Racing Antonio Garcia, Tom Kimber-Smith, Pontiac / Coyote
23 Alex Job Racing Bill Auberlen, Joey Hand, Porsche / Crawford
47 Doran Racing Burt Frisselle, Ricky Taylor, Ford / Dallara
58 Brumos Racing David Donohue, Darren Law, Porsche / Riley
59 Brumos Racing Joao Barbosa, JC France, Porsche / Riley
60 Michael Shank Racing Oswaldo Negri, Mark Patterson, Ford / Riley
61 AIM Autosport Brian Frisselle, Mark Wilkins, Ford / Riley
75 Krohn Racing Tracy Krohn, Eric van de Poele, Pontiac / Lola
76 Krohn Racing Nic Jonsson, Ricardo Zonta Pontiac / Lola
77 Doran Racing Memo Gidley, Brad Jaeger Ford / Dallara
91 Bob Stallings/ Riley-Matthews Marc Goossens, Jim Matthews, Pontiac / Riley
99 GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing Jon Fogarty, Alex Gurney, Pontiac / Riley
GT
06 Banner Racing Marc Bunting, Jan Magnussen, Pontiac GXP.R
07 Banner Racing Kelly Collins, Paul Edwards, Pontiac GXP.R
21 Matt Connolly Motorsports Diego Alessi, Ryan Phinny, Pontiac GTO.R
30 Racers Edge Motorsports Ross Smith, Craig Stone, Mazda RX-8
32 PR1 Motorsports Patrick Barrett, Mike Forest, Canada Pontiac GXP.R
40 Hyper Sport Patrick Dempsey, Joe Foster, Mazda RX-8
42 Team Sahlen Will Nonnamaker, Joe Sahlen, Corvette
43 Team Sahlen Joe Nonnamaker, Wayne Nonnamaker, Corvette
53 Playboy Racing Mike Borkowski, Tommy Constantine, BMW M6
57 Stevenson Motorsports Andrew Davis, Robin Liddell, Pontiac GXP.R
65 TRG/Riegel Autosport Josemanuel Gutierrez, Craig Stanton, Porsche GT3 Cup
66 TRG Ted Ballou, Andy Lally, Porsche GT3 Cup
67 TRG Tim George Jr, Spencer Pumpelly, Porsche GT3 Cup
68 TRG Bryan Sellers, RJ Valentine, Porsche GT3 Cup
69 SpeedSource Emil Assentato, Jeff Segal, Mazda RX-8
70 SpeedSource Nick Ham, Sylvain Tremblay, Mazda RX-8
71 Synergy Racing Carey Grant, Kevin Grant, Milton Grant, Porsche GT3 Cup
72 Autohaus Motorsports Lawson Aschenbach, Terry Borcheller, Tim Lewis Jr, Pontiac GXP.R
74 GTS Racing with Mitchum Motorsports Anthony Lazzaro, Zach Schiff, Derek Skea, Porsche GT3 Cup
86 Farnbacher Loles Racing Leh Keen, Eric Lux, Porsche GT3 Cup
87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Bryce Miller, Dirk Werner, Porsche GT3 Cup
88 Farnbacher Loles Racing Steve Johnson, Dave Lacey, Porsche GT3 Cup