Steele Racing To Partner with Rocketsports Racing

LANSING, Mich. -- Steele Racing Enterprises, Inc., based in Fairfax, Virginia will partner with Rocketsports Racing for the 2000 BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am Series race season. The announcement was made today by Rocketsports team owner/driver Paul Gentilozzi and Robert Steele, Steele Racing president and chief executive officer.

Rocketsports will prepare and campaign an entry for Steele Racing for the entire Trans-Am season to be driven by Jeff Altenburg, 1999 SCCA Club Racing T1 Class National Champion. Altenburg has collected 120 career wins and 14 championships including four SCCA Solo national titles, six SCCA Pro Solo championships, and two PPG Neon Challenge championships with a record-setting six consecutive wins.

"I've always had a strong entrepreneurial spirit and this move provides the opportunity to apply both the business and engineering discipline in a motorsports setting," said Steele, whose background includes more than 20 years experience in the information technology and telecommunications arena in a systems engineering capacity. "We expect to grow into a 30-50 million dollar revenue-based technology company in the next three years. Motorsports is a natural fit since some of our first product offerings will include interactive multimedia products to be sold back to the racing community." "At Steele Racing, we want the best and the brightest," Steele commented.

"That includes Barry Klayton, our vice-president and chief financial officer and Jeff Altenburg."

When evaluating potential teams, Rocketsports was the only one on Steele's list. "It's all about optimization," explained Steele, a lifelong racing enthusiast. "You want to minimize your effort while maximizing your output. So it made sense to start at the top and 'outsource' our team relationship. I saw Rocketsports as the premier team with the best equipment and engineering to deliver the success we desire, including the prospects of a championship, right from day one. It was the only viable way to enter the racing community as an owner."

"We're delighted to welcome the Steele Racing organization to the Rocketsports stable," said two-time Trans-Am champion Paul Gentilozzi. "We appreciate their tenacity and commitment to the sport and look forward to helping them achieve a winning season." "Although new to Trans-Am competition, Jeff brings a wealth of motorsports experience with him," continued Gentilozzi, who scored six wins and four poles last season. "He has the foundation, that necessary smoothness and precision, to be successful in the series." Altenburg is delighted to be associated with the championship team. "This is a tremendous opportunity given me by Steele Racing to race with Rocketsports. It's like a dream come true," said Altenburg, who will compete for "Rookie of the Year" honors. "It'll be a whole new experience; all the parameters will be higher than what I've done before, such as tire and brake management." "The benefits of being associated with Paul and Rocketsports are huge," revealed Altenburg, who expects to be a top-five contender. "The competitiveness, the engineering excellence, base-line set-ups, great equipment supported by a talented crew, having Paul as a driving coach…all things we wouldn't have obtained in our first year, probably not in our first five years, if we tried to do this on our own." "Sure, it puts some pressure on me to perform, but I'd rather have that situation than the frustration of problem equipment. I'm more looking forward to it than I am intimidated by it," concluded Altenburg. "I'm pleased to be able to help Jeff step up to the next level of competition," said Steele. "I've seen him race and I have absolute confidence in his abilities. He will be a formidable competitor." Steele Racing and Altenburg will make their Trans-Am series debut at Sebring International Raceway on March 17th as part of the prestigious 12 Hours of Sebring weekend.