Burton Racing Prepared to Deliver in Daytona

Daytona Beach, Fla. (23 January 2014) – As the 2013 IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Champion, Burton Racing is looking forward to a strong start to defending that title in 2014 in the season-opening BMW Performance 200 at Daytona International Speedway this Friday, January 24.

2013 IMSA Driver champions Terry Borcheller and Mike LaMarra will again be pairing up in the No. 23 BMW Automotive Chemicals/Excelda Manufacturing BMW 128i, with Connor Bloum and Greg Strolzoff set to co-drive the No. 22 Gold Eagle/STA-BIL BMW 128i for Burton Racing.

While the ST Class is expected to once again be extremely competitive, a pair of successful pre-season tests in Atlanta and Daytona has the team optimistic about getting the season off on the right foot in Friday’s 2 hour, thirty-minute race.

#23 Burton Racing BMW 128i: Terry Borcheller, Mike LaMarra

Photo by: Trevor Horn

“The Atlanta test was a great opportunity to get the drivers kind of settled in the car and we were able to make some real progress at Daytona,” said Team Manager, Keith Burton after the Roar Test days. “Now we are just thinking about taking care of the equipment and getting ready for the race rather than just raw speed."

Quickly adapting to a new car and the new team environment at Burton Racing, both Bloum and Strelzoff left the tests with excitement and confidence.

“The team has been really welcoming to both me and Connor (Bloum), my teammate,” said Strelzoff. “We really appreciate the attention we are getting from the team. The mechanics and engineers have been great and have been really helping us get introduced to the new car and we have made a lot of progress really quickly.”

While the Daytona opener is an important race, the team is also focused on the 12-race run to the championship that will require solid results throughout the season.

“If we can take each race during the season and match or improve upon what we did last season I think we will be great," said LaMarra of their strategy for the upcoming race and subsequent season.

Friday’s season opener, which has once again seen BMW step up to sponsor the big race, will open the racing weekend as IMSA is set to stage the 52nd running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Saturday and Sunday.

“It is great that BMW is a partner with Daytona Speedway and it certainly would be a great way for us to start the year with a big result here,” said team owner Keith Burton. “For us, winning at another big track like we did in Indianapolis last year would be exciting. But I’ll admit that we know that every race offers the same amount of points so we aren’t approaching this race any differently than we do any other. We’ve put a lot of work in through the off-season to continually improve what we are capable of, and everyone is eager to get down to Daytona and show that.”

With a strong team, strategy and sponsor, Burton Racing is ready to go racing in the 2014 IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, starting this Friday at Daytona International Speedway.

Burton Racing