Michael Shank Racing has announced that it has signed two drivers for the next three events in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series. Burt Frisselle of Kihei, Hawaii, and Oswaldo Negri, of Miami, Fla. will share driving duties in the No. 6 Lexus-powered Doran JE4 beginning with the Grand Prix of Miami, a 250-mile sprint event whichwill take place on February 28 as part of the Toyota INDY 300 weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Team owner Michael Shank is looking forward to the upcoming races to showthat his teams strong finish in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, where the team madea late-race charge to finish fourth in class, was just the beginning to astrong first season in the Rolex Series.
"My priority was to find two guys that are used to the sprint-type formatwhere every lap is driven as hard as possible," said Shank. "The way thatthe rules are set up, the competition is so close that you have to bring thebest package to every race, and we feel that these guys will help us do justthat. For example, even though the race at Mont-Tremblant in May is asix-hour event, we are still going to have to be running flat out every lap,and these guys can deliver in those conditions."
The pairing is a strong combination of talent and experience. Negri haslogged hundreds of miles in the Daytona Prototype class doing developmentwork last season. He was the Pan-American Indy Lights Champion in 1998 andhas also raced in for JMB Racing, an official Ferrari team. In addition tohis racing activities, Negri has also worked with the Barber Dodge ProSeries for the past five seasons as the development test driver and drivercoach.
Frisselle spent the 2003 season contesting his rookie campaign in the BarberDodge Pro Series, where he showed impressive speed against a deeply talentedfield after winning a Barber-Champ Car Scholarship to compete. Frisselle hada strong season, scoring second in the rookie standings and sixth in theoverall championship standings.
Tickets to the Grand Prix of Miami are currently on sale and can bepurchased online at homesteadmiamispeedway.com or by calling305-230-RACE.
For additional information on the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series andthe Grand Prix of Miami, visit .grandamerican.com.
