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Long Beach: Woodhouse Performance preview

BRIAN SMITH QUOTES: "From the difficulties we had at Sebring after qualifying and getting punted on the first lap of the race, a top-10 was definitely a good thing. It was one of those things that you need to do when things aren't going so well.

BRIAN SMITH QUOTES:

"From the difficulties we had at Sebring after qualifying and getting punted on the first lap of the race, a top-10 was definitely a good thing. It was one of those things that you need to do when things aren't going so well. At Long Beach, we're definitely hoping to improve upon the ninth place finish. Hopefully, we'll get a little assistance from the SCCA since it was pretty clear at Sebring that the Vipers were outmatched by the Corvettes and Cadillacs."

"At Long Beach the importance is on qualifying since there's not a lot of room to pass on track. Being a street course, typically there's not a lot of tight corners or not a lot of room or opportunity to pass in the corners or exiting the corners, so we'll have to do most of the passing under braking. Street course racing brings limited visibility and less room for error since the streets are lined with concrete walls. Instead of just running off course when you make a mistake, you can severely damage your car on a street course. Also, we've got to be mindful of the impatience of other drivers, and the probable pushing and shoving as a result of the limited room to pass."

FAST FACTS:

* Last year at Long Beach, chassis c47 finished 11th, posting one of its only two finishes outside the top-10.

* Sunday's race will mark Smith's first-career SPEED World Challenge series start at Long Beach.

* Smith will be featured in the June edition of the University of South Carolina Alumni Magazine in an article called "Carolina Gradventurous', which features alumni who do something adventurous for a living. Smith, as a pro-racer and owner of motorsports services company Full-Lock Industries, was a perfect fit for the article. He is a 1989 USC Engineering graduate.

* Woodhouse Performance signed Eibach Springs as an associate sponsor on both Dodge Vipers for the remainder of the 2007 season.

* Erik Messley replaces Jack Broomall as engineer on the No.13 for the remainder of the season.

* As a part of new team marketing programs, Woodhouse Performance will shoot sponsor logo-branded t-shirts into the crowd at each of the events in order to garner exposure for sponsors. In addition, edited in-car video race highlights from the No. 13 Kicker/Woodhouse Performance Viper will be posted to Kicker.com and can be viewed within hours of the race.

JEFF COURTNEY QUOTES:

"I'm looking forward to racing at Long Beach this weekend. Coming off a solid debut at Sebring, we're happy to be headed to California. I've never raced at Long Beach before, so the track time will be important, and the experience I gained in the Touring Car series last year on the street courses at Denver and St. Pete will help in my first start there."

"It will be important to qualify well since it is so difficult to pass on a street course. Our No.1 goal during the race will be to keep our nose clean, since a mistake on a street course is more costly than on a typical road course, because of the concrete barriers around the track. Again, qualifying is key, and that is something the No. 99 team is improving on and wants to continue to improve upon throughout the season. We're looking for another good solid finish at Long Beach this weekend."

FAST FACTS:

* Courtney finished 11th after starting 19th in his debut with Woodhouse Performance at Sebring.

* This will be Courtney's first career SPEED World Challenge series start at Long Beach.

* Eddie Martin will replace Marvin Zach as Crew Chief on the No. 99 for the remainder of the season.

* Woodhouse Performance signed Eibach Springs as an associate sponsor on both Dodge Vipers for the remainder of the 2007 season.

* As a part of new team marketing programs, Woodhouse Performance will shoot sponsor logo-branded t-shirts into the crowd at each of the events in order to garner exposure for sponsors. In addition, edited in-car video race highlights from the No. 99 Kenda/ProMPI Dodge Viper will be posted to Courtney's sponsor websites and can be viewed within hours of the race.

* Courtney and the Woodhouse Performance team have participated in two tests in preparation for the 2007 season. One at Texas Motorsports Ranch in early February and another at Carolina Motorsports Park in early March.

-credit: wp

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