Sweedler and Bell look forward Lime Rock Park in their Ferrari

TAVARES, Fla. (July 2, 2013) - Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler are ready to return to action this weekend behind the wheel of the Team West/Alex Job Racing/Boardwalk Ferrari at the American Le Mans Series Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, July 5-6.

#23 Team West/AJR/Boardwalk Ferrari Ferrari F458 Italia: Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell

Photo by: Jeff Davidson

Bell (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) has had a very busy six weeks off. He competed in the Indy 500 and drove a Ford Fiesta in the X Games in Munich, Germany. He also tested the Team West/AJR Ferrari with teammate Sweedler (Westport, Conn.) at Road Atlanta where the focus was on the next generation of Yokohama tires.

"I've had a very busy Le Mans break," Bell said. "In addition to running the Indy 500, and my NBC television duties with Indy Car, I also ran my first Global Rallycross event in Munich at the X Games, what a great experience!"

"I have great memories of Lime Rock Park," he continued. "I got my first pro win there in 1999 in the Barber Dodge Pro Series. I thought it was like winning Monaco at the time. I had worked so hard to get to that point, that the win was very gratifying. Lime Rock is like a go kart track. It is very tight and a lot of fun. We will focus the setup of the Boardwalk Ferrari 458 GT on the fast downhill West Bend turn. West Bend is the most critical turn on the circuit as it leads to the only real straightaway and into a great passing zone down in Turn One. I hope we will take another step closer to the competition. We have been working hard on the development of car and the tires with Yokohama. I am really proud of our small, but fierce team. We are having fun and getting closer to the front. I am very happy to see progress. Laguna was incredible for us and we want more."

Sweedler considers Lime Rock Park his home track.

"I'm really excited to be racing in my backyard again," Sweedler said. "I think I'm the only ALMS participant who lives in Connecticut, and it is always nice to be racing in front of the home crowd. Racing at Lime Rock is like being in an MMA cage fight! The team has put a lot of work into the Ferrari since Laguna and I am ready to take it around that tight Lime Rock Bull Ring. The testing miles we put in at Road Atlanta really focused on the handling of the Ferrari on the Yokohama tires. We were able to run maximum laps, adjusting on the car for the tires without the pressure of a race weekend. I am hoping to see a marked gain in performance at Lime Rock this weekend."

Eduardo Espindola, team co-owner, keeps pushing the team forward.

"After our great fourth place finish at Laguna Seca it just makes you want more," Espindola said. "We have completed a lot of work on the car that needed to be done as we received it so late before Sebring. We are not quite caught up yet, but we have made a lot of improvements to the Ferrari for Lime Rock."

Alex Job, team co-owner, has had the team very busy over the last month.

"Together with Yokohama we did a lot of laps at Road Atlanta," Job said. "We didn't have an off season with the Ferrari, only receiving it days before Sebring. At Road Atlanta we really put it through its paces, trying several different shock and spring combinations as well as some very small aero work. It will be interesting to see how the Ferrari stacks up at Lime Rock this weekend."

The American Le Mans Series Northeast Grand Prix will be televised on July 6 at 3:00 pm EDT on ESPN 2, Live Streaming can be viewed on July 6 starting at 2:45 pm EDT on ESPN 3, with live qualifying streaming on ESPN 3 starting at 4:25 p.m. on July 5.

Alex Job Racing