PR - SHEEHAN STEP UP TO GRAND-AM CUP AUDI DEBUT

[GarySheehan]

SHEEHAN STEPS UP TO GRAND-AM CUP AUDI DEBUT



Martinez, CA: U.S. Touring Car Championship driver Gary Sheehan will be making his Grand-Am Cup debut appearance in the Mont-Tremblant 250 race at Le Circuit de Mont-Tremblant on May 22nd, 2004. Sheehan will be driving an Audi S4 Quattro prepared by Istook-Aines Motorsports in the GS class, on a racetrack he knows exceptionally well. While this will be Sheehan’s first competitive start in an Audi, he has vast experience racing all-wheel-drive cars, including multiple race wins in the U.S. Touring Car Championship during the 2000-2003 seasons.

The Grand-Am Cup is the premier production car-based endurance racing series in North America. The field is made up of two classes: Sport Touring (ST) and Grand Sport (GS). GS is the more powerful class of the two and is filled with ultra-performance cars such as the BMW M3, Cadillac CTS-V, Nissan 350Z, Ford Mustang Cobra, Porsche 996 and Acura NSX.

The all-wheel-drive, twin-turbo Audi S4 has consistently been a front running car in the series and will be a great match for Sheehan: Gary has been competing and winning in a Subaru Impreza WRX in the U.S. Touring Car Championship over the past three years with great success, most recently finishing second in championship points in 2003. The two cars have similar AWD drive trains, use turbocharged engines, and are set-up with Stoptech brakes. Gary is looking forward to putting his experience to good use in his first Grand-Am Cup appearance.



“I am very excited and can’t wait to get in the car for this race!” Sheehan said. “The Istook/Aines Motorsports Audi S4 is a very fast, well-prepared car and I will be in the company of a great team and among some very fast drivers. This is a great opportunity for me and I’m looking to put everything I’ve got into this effort.”

Although this will be Sheehan’s first race in Grand-Am Cup, it will not be his first time at Le Circuit de Mont-Tremblant. This is the track where Sheehan began his racing career by attending his first professional racing school back in 1992.

“I have great memories of this track because this is where it all started for me,” Sheehan reminisced. “I had never driven a race car before attending the Jim Russell School at Mont-Tremblant. I was hooked immediately and racing has been my focus ever since. It’s fitting that my first race in Grand-Am Cup is at this track and it’s definitely a motivating factor for me.”

The 95-lap race is scheduled to start at 2:00pm eastern time. Spectators will be treated to a full day of Grand-Am cup and Rolex Series practice and qualifying prior to the race start. The race will be broadcast by Speed Channel on Sunday, May 30th at 12:00pm. For more information regarding the race schedule and Grand-Am, visit the Grand American Road Racing website at www.grand-am.com

[sperry]

Yes! That looks like a terrific series, and those Audis are great cars! Good luck Gary!

[dknv]

It's gonna be awesome watching you this season in an Audi - Good Luck, Gary!!

[Dean]

Congratulations on the new ride... Audis are good cars. If they were just a little more reliable, they would be great.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

I've heard that Grand Am is owned or supported in some way by NASCAR... hopefully their promotion skills will trickle down and road racing will take off in this country like circle track has.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by AtomicLabMonkey

I've heard that Grand Am is owned or supported in some way by NASCAR... hopefully their promotion skills will trickle down and road racing will take off in this country like circle track has.

Are you sure that's Grand Am? I thought NASCAR was involved in the Daytona Prototypes?

Either way, I think Road Racing is on the verge of becoming the next big thing(tm) in US motorsports. People are tired of the NASCAR circus, F1's turning back into a parade w/ a Ferrari at the front (although BAR's looking pretty sweet!), and Rally still doesn't come stateside. Plus, these series are all super cool because they race at awesome tracks like Seca, Mid-Ohio, Sears Point, Road Atlanta, etc, etc, etc, the cars are very recognizeable by the average fan with many makes/models (even moreso than NASCAR), and the racing is very close and exciting!

Series like Grand Am, Trans Am (if the SCCA ever promotes them again), Daytona Prototypes, ALMS, and Speed World Challenge are going to get really big IMO. And I'm all for that happening!