Backstretch Motorsports

Stevenson Motorsports Makes Strides at Homestead Test

Florida has proven to be a reliable place for the Stevenson Motorsports Team as two days of successful testing for the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 at the Homestead Miami Speedway came to a close last week. The team followed up a solid finish at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, at the end of January, with quality time spent getting more familiar with their 2008 No. 57 Pontiac GXP-R, sponsored by the BryanMark Financial Group.

“The test was good for the team to start learning how changes affect the car since at Daytona we only worked on reliability,” said Team Manager Mike Johnson.

And that work paid off at Daytona as the brand new Pontiac made it all the way around the clock - despite being hit by an overzealous Daytona Prototype driver and being forced to pit for repairs in the waning hours of the race.

At the Homestead test days, Johnson feels the team further demonstrated their commitment to progress when they were able to set very competitive lap times.

“We ended up running a 1:20.050 in the last session on new tires which is probably good for top five overall, but the Rolex Winning Mazda was not there, and the Porsches didn’t seem to show their true potential,” Johnson said. “I think we have a lot still to learn about the car, but once again it ran flawlessly for both days.”

Andrew Davis will co-drive the No. 57 Pontiac GXP-R with Robin Liddell for the full season. Davis came away with an enhanced appreciation for what the car can do, and what the team has done.

“It was great to have two days of testing at Homestead to prepare for the upcoming Miami Grand Prix,” Davis said. “We were able to make a lot of progress over the course of the test, working to maximize the performance of our Pontiac GXP-R. Since the completion of Daytona, the Stevenson Motorsports crew has been working hard on the continued development of the car. It’s really a continuous evolution with the new car, and we were able to successfully complete our test plan.”

Johnson was also pleased with the performance of the Pirelli tires, something he considers to be a key factor in achieving success at the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami.

“Tires will definitely be a key factor for the race at the end of the month as new tires seem to count for quite a bit of track time,” Johnson said. “I think the team that puts the power down best will have the best advantage.”

And Davis expects he and Liddell will put down the power of the Pontiac come race day.

“I was very happy with the performance of the Pontiac GXP.R at Homestead Miami Speedway,” Davis said. “The weather conditions were fairly warm, so we were able to work on finding grip on a less than optimal track service. I would suspect that the weather conditions will be similar upon our return. And although this circuit does not play into all the strong points of the car, we will be much more competitive in terms of lap times as compared to Daytona.”

The GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami will take place on March 29 at the Homestead Miami Speedway.

The GT class of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 includes cars carrying such vaunted automotive names as Porsche, Ferrari, Mazda and the Ford Mustang Cobra.

Stevenson Motorsports operates out of a new facility located in Jacksonville, N.C.

Fans of the Stevenson Team are invited to visit the team’s website at www.stevensonmotorsports.com.

Racers Edge Motorsports ; A New Edge

Racers Edge Motorsports has added one of the most important pieces to its puzzle - the addition of a fulltime driver in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16.

Team owner Jon Mirachi said Tuesday the team has signed Craig Stone through the remainder of the 2008 season. Stone was one of four drivers to take part in the team’s Rolex 24 At Daytona effort.

“We are really excited to have signed Craig for the season,” Mirachi said. “Not only is he a tremendous driver who can help us win races, his motivation and personality are a great fit for our team. Craig, his dad and I originally met in December, we hit it off immediately and I think we all knew right from the start that together we could achieve great results on the track and have a lot of fun, too.”

The signing is only one of the recent highlights for the team. Mirachi said last week’s test for the GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway gave the team new grounds for which to value its new Mazda RX-8. Previously, the team had only been able to test and compete at Daytona.

“We were extremely pleased to be able to participate in the Homestead test,” Mirachi said. “Up to now, we had only been able to run our car at Daytona, which is such a big and fast racetrack, so it was great to get to a different venue and see how the car would respond at a smaller, tighter track. We learned a lot about the set up and we’re looking forward to putting it all to use at the race event!”

The team is still working on finalizing a deal for the second seat for the GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami and beyond.

Alegra Motorsports to Run Second Car at Homestead

Carlos de Quesada’s Alegra Motorsports team will run two cars at this month’s GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 team owner said Monday.

Joining the team’s No. 22 Gatorade/TodayMD.com Porsche GT3 is the twin No. 29 machine, with the same sponsors listed. Driving the car are Scooter Gabel, one of the team’s lead test drivers and one of de Quesada’s teammates on the 2007 Rolex 24 At Daytona GT-winning effort, and Houston, Texas native Roberto Garcia, a veteran of open-wheel and vintage car racing.

de Quesada said the car plans to run select races throughout the remainder of the 2008 season. The car also competed in the Rolex 24 in January and participated in last week’s test at the 2.3-mile, 11-turn stadium road course at Homestead with 38 other Rolex Series cars.

de Quesada and 2005 Rolex GT champion Craig Stanton will drive the No. 22 machine at Homestead.