Daytona II: Stevenson Motorsports preview

Stevenson Unleashes Pontiac Power For Best In GT Ranking
Davis And Liddell Rising To The Top In GT

In the GT class of the Grand-Am Rolex Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, one team has been consistently up front finishing on the podium 5 times in the last 6 races. And in the three races since the Rum Bum 250 race at Laguna Seca, the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports -- BryanMark Financial Pontiac GXP.R has collected 94 team and driver championship points, 9 more than any other team during the same period.

Drivers Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell are currently third in the driver's championship standings, just a single point out of second place and 32 points behind the leaders. The Stevenson Team holds the same position, and same point's variance, in the Team Championship standings.

Team Manager Mike Johnson illustrated just how successful the Stevenson Motorsports Team efforts have been of late when he said, "To date, our team has scored more Pontiac manufacturer points this season than any other Pontiac team. And since the second race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, we have been the second highest scoring team in the entire GT class."

Since that second race, where a steering rack failure knocked them out early, the Stevenson entry has collected 178 championship points, just two shy of the GT leaders. Andrew Davis points out what has driven the team to achieve such positive results.

"Our goals going forward are what we started focusing on after the setback at Homestead. That is, we all said the gloves were coming off and we were going for the wins. Since we switched to that focus we have been getting the results. Going forward we still have catching up to do but we intend to keep pressure on anyone who might be driving up front. We sure would like to continue the point's trend from the last few races right into the next five. The keys have been great race strategy and execution of the race plan, some great driving, and keeping our mistakes to a minimum.

"I am really proud of this team. We've worked really well together and our results have been exciting so now we just need to keep the pressure on!"

Johnson feels this team has overcome adversity with distinction.

"I am very proud of everyone on this team. The rules changes implemented by Grand-Am - adding weight and changing the front to rear balance - have made it difficult to find an ideal set-up. However, our team is on such a strong roll right now that we are finding ways to finish up front."

The momentum has indeed been building ever since that Homestead-Miami Speedway setback and Johnson is convinced that the Stevenson team will be sustaining that momentum right through to the last race at Miller Motorsports Park.

"We are proud of the accomplishments we have made this year and we feel we are going to be the team to beat for the rest of the season." Johnson said, "32 points is a lot to make up in just five races, but we are not just going to give anything to the competition. They are going to have to earn the championship!"

Team owner Johnny Stevenson echoed Johnson's sentiments.

"I could not be happier with the way this team has worked together this season to produce such an outstanding record of performance. In every race this group of talented individuals has demonstrated they all have a single vision of where Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell should go after the checkered flag waves. That place is the podium and we have been fortunate to have our team represented there in five of the eight races run to date.

"I am extremely enthusiastic about what we have done as a team and I can't help but feel we will be there in the end!"

The team next heads to the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway on July 3rd, where they will look to build on their recent string of high octane performances. Outside of the Rolex 24 Hours, this will be the first race run in partial darkness as the start time is 8:00 PM.

-credit: www.stevensonmotorsports.com