Lime Rock: Michael Shank Racing preview

Michael Shank Racing Heads to Lime Rock Park

LAKEVILLE, Conn (30 May 2010)-Michael Shank Racing will return to GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal championship action this weekend at Lime Rock Park as the series makes a debut appearance with the Daytona Prototypes on the 1.53-mile circuit in Northwest Connecticut. While the team has decades of racing history behind it, that team history had not included a visit to the track until this weekends event.

Tied for third in Rolex Series Team Championship points, John Pew and Oswaldo Negri will look to move the No. 60 Crown Royal XR Ford-Riley combination up in the championship standings with a return run to the podium. Fifth in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and a runner-up finish at Homestead Miami Speedway are the two strongest results for the Crown Royal XR Ford-Riley, and the team hopes to make a big impression in the first visit to the track.

Michael Valiante and Brian Frisselle have been models of consistency with four top-ten finishes, but the year-to-date best result of seventh is far from what the young speedy duo were hoping for ahead of the 2010 season. The newly-announced CAP & Associates sponsorship has the two even hungrier for a strong result on Monday.

The event schedule is a compressed one, with three practice sessions in the morning ahead of the lunchtime qualifying session to set the grid. From there, it's short time to get the cars ready to go for the 2.75-hour race on Memorial Day Monday.

The range of experience on the track varies among the Michael Shank Racing drivers, with Valiante and Frisselle both having experience on the track racing in Skip Barber Formula car competition on the track. Negri has never taken a green flag at the track, as his duties as the official test driver for Formula BMW and Barber Pro Series had him tuning machines rather than racing them.

For Pew, the time since his last visit to the track is the longest, although his are fond memories of the track, haven taken a Skip Barber three day school at the track with his son.

-source: msr