When the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series takes to Homestead-Miami Speedway's road course this weekend for the Grand Prix of Miami, race fans will spot several familiar names sponsoring some of the Daytona Prototypes. CompUSA, CITGO and SunTrust are just some of the companies that have signed on with teams for the entire 2004 season.
Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates announced a strong sponsor line-up tocomplement its powerful driver line-up in its pair of Lexus-powered Riley XIDaytona Prototypes this season.
"We're very excited to welcome our sponsors CompUSA, Telmex and GoodGuys,"said team owner Chip Ganassi. "These partners are more than sponsors; theyare race fans, and they are as excited as we are to be introduced to thewonderful world of Daytona Prototypes. The team is coming together well, andwe hope to be competitive and among the top teams in this, our rookieseason, in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series."
Bell Motorsports gave its new sponsor, Kodak Easyshare, a victory in thesponsor's debut race - the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The team will unveil a newlivery featuring Kodak EasyShare on the No. 54 Pontiac Doran JE4 thisweekend in the Grand Prix of Miami.
"We are delighted and honored to have the Kodak EasyShare system as primarysponsor of the Feeds The Need Racing - Bell Motorsports Daytona Prototypeeffort for 2004," said car owner and driver Forest Barber. "Sponsors makecommitments for sound business reasons, and the close racing, large fields,and quality teams are apparently a persuasive combination to a growingnumber of quality sponsors. It is exciting to be part of this class that isgrowing by every measure."
During the Rolex 24 At Daytona, SunTrust announced that it is not onlysponsoring the SunTrust Racing No. 10 Pontiac Riley XI this season, but alsoinked a deal to become the official bank of Grand American.
"Our sponsorship of SunTrust Racing's entry in the Grand American series isan excellent means to introduce SunTrust's private client and corporatebanking services to the individuals and corporations involved in the fastgrowing sport," said Craig Kelly, Executive Vice President of marketing forSunTrust. "This is an opportunity for SunTrust to be on the ground floor ofan exciting racing league that we believe will grow rapidly."
CITGO has partnered with Howard-Boss Motorsports this season in sponsoringthe No. 2 Pontiac Crawford of Venezuelan driver Milka Duno and sports carveteran Andy Wallace.
"The sponsorship of race driver Milka Duno in the Rolex Series will play anintegral role in putting CITGO on the map with the Hispanic community," saidDon Rucks, CITGO brand development manager. "The rapidly changing ethniclandscape in the U.S. provides a perfect opportunity for CITGO to employ ahighly concentrated effort to reach the Hispanic consumer, and thechampionship program we have put together for Milka in the Rolex Series thisseason will be a major tool in that effort."
Some of the other major sponsors that can be seen on Daytona Prototypesinclude Red Bull on the No. 59 Porsche Fabcar of Brumos Racing, Rx.com onthe No. 81 BMW Doran JE4 of G&W Motorsports, Lista on the No. 27 Lexus DoranJE4 of Doran-Lista Racing, and Mears Motorcoach and Workscape onSpeedSource's No. 9 and No. 70 Ford Multimatics, respectively.
The Rolex Series will take to Homestead-Miami Speedway's 2.3-mile roadcourse in the opening practice session on Thursday. Qualifying for the GrandPrix of Miami will be held on Friday at 4:30 p.m., and the green flag willfall on the 250-mile race at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Tickets are currently on sale for the Grand Prix of Miami, as well as theentire Toyota INDY 300 weekend, and can be purchased online athomesteadmiamispeedway.com or by calling 305-230-RACE.
