Triple duty for Edwards at Road America with GRAND-AM and ALMS

Elkhart Lake, WI. (Aug. 6). August 9-11, Road America will host the first joint weekend for both GRAND-AM Road Racing series and the American Le Mans Series. Twenty-two year old American racer John Edwards will compete in all three sports car races, where his teams currently sit second in each respective championship.

Racing the full season with Stevenson Motorsports in GRAND-AM, Edwards and co-driver Matt Bell currently sit 33 points away from the lead in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS Team Championship standings. Racing the Camaro GS.R, the team kicked off the season at Daytona with a sixth place finish, followed by podium finishes at Barber Motorsports Park and Mid-Ohio. In Round 4 at Road Atlanta, the team earned their first GS class win of the season, giving them a strong boost in the point standings. Road Atlanta was a double-win weekend for Edwards also racing in the Rolex event, being only one of four drivers to win two GRAND-AM races in the same day.

The GT efforts in the Rolex Sports Car Series got off to a rocky start for Edwards, co-driver Robin Liddell, and the Stevenson crew. In the 24 Hours of Daytona, mechanical issues forced the team to retire with only two and a half hours remaining. The following event at Circuit of the Americas, the GT.R Camaro finished 15th, a victim of contact while running in the top four. By round three, the team's hard work began to pay off. Liddell and Edwards won four of the six following races and a second place finish at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway brought the team up to second in the GT championship standings, just four points away from the championship title.

In February, Edwards joined BMW Team RLL part time in the American Le Mans Series, filling in for Joey Hand, who also held DTM commitments for BMW Motorsport. With Hand, Edwards and Dirk Mueller splitting seat time at the 12 Hours of Sebring, the team debuted the new BMW Z4 GTE in the GT class. The trio finished seventh and Hand and Müller went on to earn the 56 BMW Z4's first podium finish at the Grand Prix of Long Beach in Round 2. Edwards rejoined the team at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, as the team earned a third place finish, advancing further up the championship standings. At Round 4 at Lime Rock Park, the Z4 GTE led every session and clinched the 56 car's first 2013 win, a second 2013 win for the team. The race also marked the first ALMS pole position for Edwards. The team currently sits second in the GT championship standings, while Müller leads the GT driver championship by five points.

"I've done double duty plenty of times before, but triple duty is going to keep me going nonstop all weekend," said Edwards. "Fortunately the schedule is better than anticipated and separates GRAND-AM and ALMS pretty well, which allows those of us running all the races to focus on one at a time." Edwards will be one of two drivers who will be racing in all three events, and to date, a driver has yet to win two GRAND-AM and one ALMS event in the same weekend.

John Edwards Racing