SCC: Inaugural race on new road course at California Speedway

Inaugural California Road Race Offers Teams A Place In The History Books

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 21, 2002) -- The newly constructed road course at California Speedway will be christened by the Rolex Sports Car Series on March 23 with the inaugural running of the Grand American 400. The event will give sports car drivers and teams a chance to write their names in the history books as the first to compete for a professional championship on the road course.

California Speedway's new road course will follow a tradition set by other great road courses like Daytona International Speedway by bringing championship sports car racing to the west coast. Forty years ago Daytona International Speedway held its first sports car race - the Daytona Continental. Through the years it has evolved into the most famous sports car race in North America - the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Racing fans, as well as drivers and team owners, look back in awe at the names listed on the results of that inaugural sports car race in Daytona. Legends in the sport such as Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Stirling Moss, Bob Holbert, Fireball Roberts, David Hobbs, Roger Penkse and A.J. Foyt wrote their names in the history books as members of the first field of racers to take to Daytona's road course.

"The entire California Speedway family is excited about the inaugural event on our new road course, and we are pleased to welcome all the competitors from the Rolex Sports Car Series," California Speedway President Bill Miller said. "This new road course event also harkens back to the days of Riverside International Raceway and racing heroes like Roger Penske, Dan Gurney and Parnelli Jones who competed there."

Southern California's deep road racing history will be revived with the new road course, which returns sports car racing to one of the hottest sports car markets in the country. Fans can be a part of history by attending the race at California Speedway.

"The first race only comes once, and there is nothing better than being able to look back and say 'I was there,'" Grand American Road Racing Association President Roger Edmondson commented "California Speedway and Southern California's excitement about sports car racing is a guarantee that this year's Grand American 400 will be the historic first of many races to come as California grows into a major stop on the Rolex Series circuit."

The Rolex Sports Car Series, as well as the Grand-Am Cup Street Stock Series, will travel to California Speedway next month. The Rolex Series will race on the new road course in a 400-mile race on Saturday, March 23, and Grand-Am Cup will run a 250-mile race on the road course prior to the IRL race on Sunday, March 24. Ferrari Challenge will also run two 30-mintue races during the weekend on Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 22. Tickets for the action-packed weekend of racing are available online at www.californiaspeedway.com.

Additional information about the Rolex Sports Car Series is available online at www.grand-am.com.

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