Following a strong showing in testing for the Rolex 24 at Daytona earlier this month, AASCOMotorsports announced today its final driver line-up for the event.
AASCO will field two Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series Porsche 911GT3 Cup entries, Nos. 16 and 17, for eight drivers. Today, Dennis Aase,team owner, released the line-up for the No. 16 Super Grand Sport (SGS)class Porsche with lead driver Craig Stanton of Long Beach, Calif.,David Murry of Cumming, Ga. and Tim Sugden of Leeds, England. The No. 17will be driven by a squad of Californians: Gary Becker, of Encino, DerekClark of Los Angeles, Pat Flanagan of Laguna Hills, Joe Kunz of LagunaBeach and Mark Webber of Hidden Hills. Manny Martinez has been namedchief mechanic for the No. 16 Porsche while Jim Moore will hold thatrole for the No. 17. Harry Haggard will act as engineer for both cars.Data acquisition for each will come from Joe Hullett while race strategywill be called by Mike Evans. The 42nd Annual Rolex 24 at Daytona willtake the green flag at 1 pm (EST) on January 31st. This running marks Stanton's seventh Rolex 24, Murry's 11th, Clark'sthird and Sugden's second. It will be the maiden Rolex 24 for theremaining AASCO Porsche drivers. Sugden, new to the team and many inAmerica, is an accomplished sports car racer, winning the 1997 and '98British Touring Car championships and finishing as vice-champion in '99.He has raced at Le Mans twice and is a former British National Kartingchampion. Dennis Aase, team owner/team manager: "We had a possibility of threeother drivers to join Craig and David for Daytona. Personalities areimportant to me; drivers working well together. Tim's record was prettyimpressive and we have a number of guys on our team that have workedwith him before and said he was excellent to work with. I have never metTim but all the references have been excellent and say he's a real teamplayer. Those things set Tim apart and made him our choice."Craig Stanton: "I think we have one of the best driver line-ups in theSGS field. David and I both know how to drive endurance events. We cansave the car and be efficient with it. I've never met Tim but Iunderstand he is a very good driver. We should benefit from another prolike him. The Porsche has been very good in testing and Dennis has puttogether a great program. It all starts here."David Murry: "I'm very pleased with the driver line-up for the Rolex 24.Craig and I are working real well together and I feel confident that Timwill step right into the picture perfectly. This is a long race andAASCO has done a great job of preparing the Porsche for the long haul. Ithink the combination of team, drivers and Porsche will be a greatpackage for the Rolex 24." Tim Sugden: "I am really excited about coming back to take part in theRolex 24 again. I am especially excited because I think we have anexcellent chance to do well. The car was quick in testing and myteammates have such experienced backgrounds. I can't wait to get back toDaytona and race the AASCO Porsche and see if we can't walk away with anew Rolex watch."
