Homestead: Synergy Racing preview

Synergy Racing, Drivers Familiar with Grand Prix of Miami Success

ALTON, Va. (March 1, 2005) -- Synergy Racing heads southward to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend with a three-car effort entered in Saturday's Grand Prix of Miami. Brothers Burt and Brian Frisselle will pilot the Rx.com No. 8 BMW Doran JE4 in the Daytona Prototype class, while Mae Van Wijk, David Murry and Craig Stanton team up in the GT class in the autobysite.com/pipeservicestt.com No. 81 Porsche and No. 80 Porsche.

Synergy Racing, Burt Frisselle Draw Upon Past Grand Prix Luck The Grand Prix proved lucky for Synergy Racing (then G&W Motorsports), as well as driver Burt Frisselle, last season. Synergy Racing debuted its Rx.com No. 8 BMW Doran JE-4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway last year and went on to score a second-place finish overall in the 250-mile race, the team's best finish of the season. Coming in just behind the Rx.com Daytona Prototype was Burt Frisselle piloting the Michael Shank Racing Doran to a third-place finish in his Daytona Prototype debut.

Now, Synergy Racing and Burt Frisselle will look to combine their Grand Prix luck and pick up their first-ever Daytona Prototype victory. This year Burt, 23, pilots the Rx.com BMW Doran with his younger brother Brian, 21. The brothers competed in their first race together last month in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, running competitively in the historic endurance race before gearbox failure resulted in the car's retirement in the 22nd hour and a 17th-place finish in class.

No Place Like Home for Frisselle Brothers Brothers Burt and Brian Frisselle will have a 'home track' advantage this weekend, competing close to their Aventura, Fla. home. Burt Frisselle moved to South Florida a few years ago to take advantage of wintertime racing opportunities the area offers, such as the winter karting seasons. He enjoyed living in South Florida so much he convinced his younger brother Brian to join him a year later.

Stanton, Murry Hope to Repeat Last Year's Miami Win Craig Stanton and David Murry were a potent combination last season, competing together in three series and scoring numerous victories. The first of those wins came at the Grand Prix of Miami, where Stanton and Murry piloted a Porsche GT3 Cup to the Super Grand Sport (SGS) class win with a one-lap lead.

This weekend the duo will reunite and look to repeat their winning performance, this year competing in Synergy Racing's No. 80 Porsche GT3 Cup in the GT class (which was merged with the SGS class this season).

"This will be the fifth time over the years that David and I have teamed together," Stanton remarked. "We just keep getting stronger as teammates and the results show it. I'm looking forward to continuing on with that."

Van Wijk Holds Her Own Among the Guys With her Rolex Sports Car Series rookie season under her belt, Mae Van Wijk proves she can hold her own in the competitive GT field. Van Wijk, who celebrated her 22nd birthday last week, is the youngest female driver in the Rolex Series and only female competing in the GT class at this weekend's Grand Prix of Miami.

"I am really encouraged by Mae's progress from last year," noted Van Wijk's co-driver David Murry. "She went seven seconds per lap faster than she did last year at Daytona. I feel she is making leaps and bounds forward."

Van Wijk's career-best finish is fourth in class. She hopes to top that this weekend and finally score a spot on the GT podium.

Murry to Pull Double Duty David Murry will prove he is an iron man this weekend during the Grand Prix of Miami, starting the race in the No. 80 Porsche and finishing it up in the autobysite.com/pipeservicestt.com No. 81 Porsche. It will be the first time Murry has pulled double duty in two cars in the same race, but the iron man role is one he plans to play for the remainder of the season.

"I have never done this before," Murry admits. "I'm really looking forward to it. It really puts a challenge out there for us."

Murry will hand over control of the No. 80 Porsche to Craig Stanton midway through the race, and then relieve teammate Mae Van Wijk at the wheel of the autobysite.com/pipeservicestt.com No. 81 Porsche.

SPEED Channel to Broadcast Grand Prix Live Synergy Racing can be seen competing in the Grand Prix of Miami live on SPEED Channel this Saturday, March 5 at 3 p.m. ET. Synergy Racing's performance throughout the event weekend can also be followed on the Internet with live timing and scoring available at grandamerican.com.

About Synergy Racing
Team owners Cole Scrogham and Danny and Steve Marshall introduced Synergy Racing in December 2004. Based at Virginia International Raceway, Synergy Racing is an evolution of G&W Motorsports, which had catered to Porsche racing since 1996 and became the most successful team in the Rolex Sports Car Series with four championships, 15 class wins and more than 50 podium finishes. The team underwent a major transformation that included a name and logo change, as well as a complete restructuring into a customer-based championship racing business, which concentrates on the needs of the customer rather than the desires of the team. For more information on Synergy Racing, visit synergyracing.com.

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