A year may have already gone by since Muscle Milk Pickett Racing's last visit to Road America, but last season's trip to the Elkhart Lake track is still fresh in the minds of everyone on the team.
The 2011 edition of the American Le Mans Series round at Road America was a nail-biter to the finish that saw Pickett Racing come away with a win that was the closest finish in the history of the ALMS, with Klaus Graf crossing the finish line 0.112 seconds ahead of Guy Smith.
The win, from pole, was the first for the Muscle Milk squad at Road America, after finishing second and third the two previous years.
This season, Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr are returning to defend their title on the 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course hot off a five race winning streak, which is the longest consecutive overall race win streak for a driver pairing.
The team's latest victory marked Luhr's 40th career win. The German is now only missing two to join Olivier Beretta atop the all-time ALMS Most Wins chart. Additionally, with his pole at Mid-Ohio, he also climbed to second on the most ALMS career Fast Qualifier list.
With four rounds to go this season, Muscle Milk Pickett Racing heads to Road America with a 16 point lead over Dyson Racing in the ALMS Championship.
The team will be on track with its Muscle Milk HPD ARX-03a on Thursday for a test session before taking part in practice and qualifying on Friday, August 17. The team will also be participating in the Tour de Road America, which takes place on Friday evening.
The Road America Road Race Showcase goes green on Saturday, August 18 at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on ESPN3.com. The race will be broadcast on tape delay on ESPN2 on Sunday, August 19 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. ET.
Mid-Ohio Rewind
GoPro HD: Muscle Milk Pickett Racing Mid Ohio American Le Mans 2012
Muscle Milk Quotes
Klaus Graf, #6 Muscle Milk HPD ARX-03a"Winning five races in a row is very special for Muscle Milk Pickett Racing and we certainly want to keep the streak alive."Four hours around Road America will add more pressure to our usual task and it will be important to stay mistake free on track and in the pits for the four hours. Last year the race finish was the closest in ALMS history and we came out at the better end, so hopefully we can repeat that this year. This track always produces very close racing, so we should expect nothing less from this year's race. "Although our main competitor has a slight straight line speed advantage, I expect our Muscle Milk HPD ARX-03a to perform extremely well. However there will be a lot of work ahead of us to trim the car perfectly."
Lucas Luhr, #6 Muscle Milk HPD ARX-03a
"Winning five in a row is very special and we would like nothing more than to keep it going. That said, the pressure is on, but that is nothing new in racing! "The Road America track is very nice and fast. It's going to be tough for us because the Dyson car is very fast in a straight line, so that will be an added challenge, but one that I know everyone at Muscle Milk Pickett Racing is ready to face. It's not because we have won all these races so far this year that we can sit back and relax. We have to stay very focused."We had the closest finish there last year and I think it is going to be very hard again this year but we are well prepared and willing to take our sixth race win."
Race Facts:Road America Road Race ShowcaseRoad America, 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course, Elkhart Lake, WIAugust 16 - 18, 2012
American Le Mans Series: Round #7 of 10Race Duration: 4 hoursALMS TV Broadcast:Race: ESPN2 and Rogers SportsnetTape delayed, Sunday, August 19, 2012 from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm ETALMS live online coverage:United States: ESPN3.com International: www.americanlemans.comQualifying - Friday, August 17, 2012: 4:40 pm - 5:55 pm ET Race - Saturday, August 18, 2012: 3:15 pm - 7:45 pm ETLive International Broadcast:MotorsTV - Live on Saturday, August 18Fox Sports Middle East - Live on Saturday, August 18Fox Latin American Networks - Live on Saturday, August 18
Schedule (All times local):Thursday, August 16, 2012:Test Session: 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm (GT/GTC)Test Session: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm (All Classes)Test Session: 4:30 pm - 5:00 pm (P1/P2/PC)
Friday, August 17, 2012:Practice 1: 10:25 am - 11:25 am (All Classes)Practice 2: 2:25 pm - 3:25 pm (All Classes)Qualifying: 3:35 pm - 3:50 pm (GTC)Qualifying: 3:55 pm - 4:10 pm (GT)Qualifying: 4:15 pm - 4:30 pm (PC)Qualifying: 4:35 pm - 4:50 pm (P1/P2)
Saturday, August 18, 2012:Warm up: 9:30 am - 10:00 am (All Classes)Autograph Session: 11:15 am - 12:15 pmALMS Race: 2:30 pm (4 hours)
