SCC: SpeedSource announces seven car 2002 campaign

SpeedSource, the most successful team in the 2001 Grand-Am Cup season, has announced a seven car effort in three different classes in the 2002 Grand-Am Cup season.

Grand Sports I (GSI): In Grand Sports I, SpeedSource will field two Porsches in an effort to claim the Driver's and Team Championship as well as help Porsche steal away the Manufacturer's Championship away from Chevrolet.

Selby Wellman (Cary, NC) is coming off of two straight wins in the GSI class, and will share the #70 redhat / Workscape / Champion Porsche / Fiske 2002 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup with the 2001 Grand Sports II Champion, Sylvain Tremblay (Coral Spring, FL). "I am extremely excited about the upcoming 2002 Grand-Am Cup season for two reasons," said Selby Wellman. "First I am fortunate to once again be a member of the Speedsource team, which proved last year that it is the best organization in the Grand-Am Cup series. Secondly, after a very successful first season under Grand-Am, the Cup series has attracted a lot more teams this year, resulting in a lot stiffer competition. This will make all of us better, and the racing will be a whole lot more fun for everyone.

"I'm really excited about this opportunity," said Tremblay. "We won seven races in the Grand Sports II class last season, but now we are going to have a chance to win overall. I enjoyed getting to drive with Dave (Haskell) last season, but Selby developed a lot as a driver last year, which was his first year of professional driving, and I am excited to have him as a co-driver in our redhat / Workscape Porsche."

The second GSI Porsche, the #66 Mears Motor Coach / Champion Porsche / Fikse 2001 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup will be driven by Paul Mears Jr. (Orlando, FL) and David Haskell (Plantation, FL).

"Last year was fairytale year for the (David) Shep and Mears part of the SpeedSource team," said Paul Mears in reference to the Porsche that he shared with David Shep in GSII last season. "We were the only team that scored points in every race and it resulted in a second and third place overall finish for us. It shows what two average drivers can do with great team support if they keep their heads on right. Of course, we had a lot of luck but more importantly we never broke and we didn't crash.

"David won the last race at Daytona last year with this car, so we know both the car and David are capable of winning. Due to the success of Grand-Am Cup, this year the class should be heavily populated and far more competitive. I'm excited about that. Last year I was mostly a finishing driver. This year I'll be the starter, so I have a new job: keep the car alive so David Haskell will have enough car under him to go for it.

"Last year will be hard to match, but the new car and the greater competition should make it great fun."

Paul Mears Jr. put together five top fives and a win (Trois-Rivieres) to score a second place finish in last year's GSII Championship. Dave Haskell will be finishing for Mears. Haskell scored eight wins last season, including two in GSI and six in GSII.

"GSI is going to be unbelievable, commented Haskell. "Many very good teams will be competing in this class. I am excited to be driving with Paul Mears and looking forward to picking up where I left off last year."

Grand Sports II: (GSII): After winning the 2001 Grand-Am Cup GSII Triple Crown Championship (Driver's, Team, and Manufacturer's), SpeedSource returns to the class with a three-car effort.

The #65 2001 Mears Motor Coach / Champion Porsche / Fikse Porsche 911 will be driven by David Shep (Toronto, ON), and a driver yet to be named. In 2001, Shep, who has been a SpeedSource regular for many years, campaigned in the GSII class last year, scoring a second place finish in the streets of Trois-Rivieres.

In addition to his driving duties in the Grand Sports I class, Sylvain Tremblay will drive the #63 Mears Motor Coach / Champion Porsche / Fikse 2001 Porsche 911 in the Grand Sports II class with John Strum (Hanover, IL) as his co-driver.

The Horne family will also return to the Cup series with SpeedSource. The father and son duo of Donis Horne Jr and Sr (Ponte Vedra Beach FL), will campaign the #62 Edge Racing Wheels / Direct Line Distributors 2001 Porsche 911.

Sports Touring I: With four of the races this year being split races, where the GSI and GSII cars will be in a separate race from the Sports Touring cars, SpeedSource will have a chance to make history by winning two races overall in the same weekend. SpeedSource will return to the STI class with two Boxsters.

Scott Schlesinger (Golden Beach, FL) will return to the SpeedSource team after scoring three top fives in the 2001 season. Schlesinger will be paired with Lee P. Stack III (Boca Raton, FL) in the #68 Giantbank.com / Onboard Media / Papa John's Pizza / Champion Porsche / Fikse Wheels 2001 Porsche Boxster.

Stan Winokur (West Palm Beach, FL) will drive the #67 2001 Porsche Boxster, sponsored by the Network for Medical Communication and Research. David Haskell, who won eight races in 2001, will co-drive with Stan Winokur. Haskell, who will also be driving in the GSI class, is very excited about the Boxster's potential.

"We have done a number of tweaks to the Boxsters in the off season and it seemed to pay off for us at the test days," commented Haskell, the 2001 Grand Sports II Crew Chief of the Year. "Keep in mind these are just test days and many teams chose not to test so we probably have a little more work to do."

With seven cars in their stable, SpeedSource will be looking to top their 2001 season that saw them win nine races and score a record breaking 17 podiums.

Support for the SpeedSource team comes from its partners: Mears Motor Coach, Champion Porsche, Fikse Wheels, redhat, and Workscape with additional support coming from Giantbank.com, Edge Racing Wheels, Network for Medical Communication and Research, Direct Line Distributors, Onboard Media, and Papa John's Pizza.

-ss/wn-