Frisselle Racing Sets Sights on Rolex 24 At Daytona
Wednesday's Boggy Creek Visit Kicks off Big Weekend at Daytona
(Daytona Beach, FL) 24 January 2012 – When you've got a long way to go, it is good to have some familiar company with you.
This year's Rolex 24 At Daytona, which marks the 50th Anniversary of the huge GRAND-AM season opener, will see two very familiar faces team up as Burt and Brian Frisselle return to Doran Racing to kick off the 2012 season at Daytona International Speedway. The two young racers will share driving duties with Jim Lowe and IndyCar star Paul Tracy in the No. 77 Combos/Circle K Ford-Dallara.
The Frisselles will look to pick up where they left off last year, as they last joined forces as co-drivers in the 2011 GRAND-AM season-finale at Mid-Ohio, netting fourth on the starting grid with the No. 77 Doran Racing Ford.
The 2012 Rolex 24 marks the brothers' fourth time sharing the driving duties in the twice-around-the-clock classic. They will look to improve on their best combined finish of fifth, when they co-drove with Mark Wilkins and David Empringham in the No. 61 AIM Autosport Daytona Prototype in 2007.
In addition to being fully familiar with one another and having similar driving styles, the Frisselle brothers will also look to combine the experience and natural talent of co-drivers Lowe and Tracy to take the No. 77 Combos/Circle K machine to the front.
"It's great to be back at Daytona with Doran Racing," said Brian. "We had some tough luck with the No. 77 last year so hopefully we can have a little bit better luck in this race. This is an exciting driver line up to be a part of. I'm thrilled to be teaming up with Burt again and to have Jim (Lowe) and Paul (Tracy) on board as well. It's going to be such a huge event and I can't wait to get out there and see what we can do this year."
The driving roster for the No. 77 Combos/Circle K entry indeed boasts speed and experience. Lowe has contested six Rolex 24 events, including making a run to the GT Class podium in the 2007 race with a third place finish. Tracy will look to balance his trademark speed and aggression with the patience needed to bring the car home some 24 hours later. The Canadian star has experience doing just that, with four Rolex 24 race starts to his credit and best finish of 10th with Michael Shank Racing in 2007.
The 2012 Rolex 24 grid will be a large one, with over 45 GT entries expected to join the fray of 14 DP entries. With so much traffic expected, patience and clean laps will play a key role to having the car to compete when the race heats up in the final stages.
"It's incredible to be a part of the 50th running of this event and it's extra special to be sharing the experience with my brother," added Burt. "We had a successful test a few weeks back and the Doran guys have been working really hard to give us the best car possible, so we're excited to get going this weekend. I think, with the new third generation DP car and having all this GT traffic, this could be the most unpredictable race yet. You never know what is going to happen in these 24 hour races--anything can happen. But having this driver line-up and racing for a guy like Kevin Doran, who has won the race before, calling the shots could be huge for us."
Last year's Rolex 24 saw Burt compete for Action Express Racing and finish ninth while Brian's Doran Racing entry faced an unfortunate setback when contact took the No. 77 out of contention. Brian's personal best Rolex 24 result came in 2009 when he finished fourth while driving for SunTrust Racing.
Burt has two fifth place finishes to his credit-sharing one with Brian in 2007 and then matching that effort again with AIM Autosport in the 2010 event.
The 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona kicks off with practice and qualifying on Thursday, January 26. The Rolex 24 At Daytona starts at 3:30 PM (ET) on Saturday, January 28. SPEED will carry live coverage of the event with SPEED channel broadcasting the opening and closing seven hours of the race.
In addition, overnight coverage will be streamed live on
www.speedtv.com. Live timing and scoring can also be found at
www.grand-am.com.
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Press Notes:
About AIM Autosport
Established in 1995, AIM Autosport operates multi-car teams competing in the Formula BMWUSA Championship and the Star Mazda Series. The company has a mandate to identify, train and manage emerging motorsport talent. AIM has provided many young drivers with a solid foundation on which to build a career in professional racing. The success of the AIM driver development programs has been achieved through the dedication of our employees and the ongoing support of our commercial and technical partners.
Away from the track, AIM Autosport serves the needs of the racing community with a purpose-built preparation shop situated in the Toronto suburb of Woodbridge, Ontario.
Chassis brings resume of success to AIM Autosport:
AIM Autosport's Riley chassis was purchased from Chip Ganassi Racing and comes to the team with an impressive legacy of success, having won the Rolex Sports Car Series Championship in 2004.
AIM Autosport Alumni:
AIM has a long history of bringing drivers up through the ranks, and the alumni list reads like a who's who in the sport: www.aimautosport.com/drivers/Alumni/Alumni.htm
Performance-Oriented:
Performance Drink, the "Official Performance Drink" of Grand Am has signed on as an associate partner for the 2007 season, and will be utilizing the relationship to develop and demonstrate the high-performance capabilities of the drink. The drivers in the Rolex 24 At Daytona will be participating in a unique program that will closely monitor their bodies' performances throughout the enduro. More details to follow.
For additional information
www.aimautosport.com
www.michaelshankracing.com
