Rolex Sports Car Series/The Place: Road America

The Race: VISITFLORIDA.com Sports Car 250/The Track: 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course/The Date/Time: Saturday, 5 p.m. ET/The Race Length: 2 hours, 45 minutes/TV: SPEED, LIVE, Saturday, 5 p.m. ET/Radio: MRN Radio, LIVE/MRN Affiliate: 980 AM - WCUB

American Le Mans Series Presented By Tequila Patrn/The Place: Road AmericaThe Race: Orion Energy Systems 245/The Track: 4.048-mile, 14-turn road courseThe Date/Time: Sunday, 3 p.m. ETThe Race Length: 2 hours, 45 minutes/TV: Race: ABC, LIVE Sunday, 3 p.m. ET

Continental Tire Sports Car ChallengeThe Race: Road America 200/The Date,Time: Saturday, 1:30 p.m. ETThe Race Length: 2 hours, 30 minutesTV: TBD

 Starworks Takes Turn Atop Competitive DP Standings

 Tied for the points lead entering the Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis, Alex Popow and Ryan Dalziel combined to win the eventtaking the Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype (DP) points lead in the process.

The drivers of the No. 2 Starworks Motorsport with Alex Popow BMW/Riley lead Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty by 10 points (229-219), entering Saturdays VISITFLORIDA.com Sports Car 250 at Road America. Gurney and Fogarty won earlier this season in the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Corvette DP, and finished third at Indy.

Staying on top of the DP standings has been difficult in 2013.

Wayne Taylor Racing drivers Max Angelelli and Jordan Taylor entered Indianapolis tied for the lead, but failed to finish in the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette DP and are now third in the standings with 210 points, 19 behind the leaders. Also encountering problems were Action Express drivers Christian Fittipaldi (207) and Joao Barbosa (205), who now co-drive the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP.

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas won two races early in the season in their quest of a fourth consecutive title, but incidents at Detroit Belle Isle and Mid-Ohio dropped them in the standings. The pair finished second at Indianapolis in the No. 01 Telcel/TELMEX BMW/Riley and now stand sixth in the standings with 204 points, 25 behind the leaders.

Making History: Mazda Diesel Continues Steak, Wins At Indy

The diesel-powered Mazda 6 has hit its stride at just the right time in the 2013 Rolex Series.

The car became the first diesel-powered car to win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when Sylvain Tremblay and Tom Long drove the No. 70 MAZDASPEED/Castrol machine to the GX class victory in the Brickyard Grand Prix.

Currently making history in the new Rolex Series GX class in 2013, the diesel-powered Mazda6 will transition to the GT Daytona (GTD) class for next years United SportsCar Racing season.

Were excited that the car will be included in GT Daytona next year, Tremblay said. Our car is getting more and more competitive at each event, and hopefully, we can close the gap with the other GT cars over the last four races.

SpeedSource is on quite a roll, riding a streak of five consecutive GX victories for the SKYACTIV-D clean diesel powerplant.

Its been a year of firsts for Mazda and SpeedSource, fielding the first diesel to race in both the Rolex 24 and GRAND-AM Road Racing in January. The new car won for the first time at Road Atlanta at Aprilwith Joel Miller and Andrew Carbonell winning in the teams No. 00 VISITFLORIDA.com entry.

That began a streak of five consecutive victories for the new Mazdas. Entering Saturdays race at Road America, Miller trails Jim Norman by 13 points in the GX standings (265-252), with Tremblay and Long another two points back.

Consistent Finishes Put Potter, Lally Atop GT Standings For Magnus Racing

Robin Liddell and John Edwards have won half of the eight races, but Andy Lally and John Potter lead the Rolex Series production-based GT class on the basis of consistency in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Flex-Box Porsche GT3.

Entering Saturdays VISITFLORIDA.com Sports Car 250, Lally and Potter have finished sixth or better in every event. The pair have a streak of three straight podium finishes, taking second at Mid-Ohio and third at Watkins Glen and Indianapolis, and lead the championship by four points (229-225).

Edwards and Liddell followed up their victories at Barber Motorsports Park, Road Atlanta, Detroit and Watkins Glen International by finishing second at the Brickyard Grand Prix in the No. 57 Stevenson Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro. However, three finishes of 10th or worse have them running second in the points.

Scuderia Corsa Ferrari driver Alessandro Balzanwho now co-drives with two-time GT champion Leh Keen in the No. 63 Ferrari 458 Italiais third in the points with 219, followed by AIM Autosport Team FXDD Ferrari drivers Emil Assentato and Anthony Lazzaro, 215.

Paul Dalla Lanaa two-time winner for Turner Motorsport this season co-driving with Bill Auberlenis fifth in the standings (204 points).

Corporate Corner

 The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and Continental Tire have reached a multi-year partnership agreement that will make Continental Tire the exclusive tire supplier in three classes during next years inaugural United SportsCar Racing season.

Starting with next Januarys Rolex 24 At Daytonathe season-opening United SportsCar Racing eventContinentals exclusivity will extend to the new series Prototype (P), Prototype Challenge (PC) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes. The GT Le Mans (GTLM) category will be open to multiple tire manufacturers.  Continental Tire also will return as title sponsor and exclusive tire supplier of the IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC), a developmental series currently sanctioned by GRAND-AM Road Racing.

Close Finishes An Elkhart Lake Tradition

At 4.048 miles, Road America is the longest circuit hosting the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrn. The Elkhart Lake, Wis., track also has a long history of producing exciting finishesincluding the two closest overall margins of victory.

Last year, Guy Smith won the Orion Energy Systems 245 by .083 seconds over Klaus Graf -- the closest finish in ALMS history. It continued a streak of eight fantastic finishes at Road America.

Smith and Graf reversed the finish of the 2011 race. Graf took the checkered flag by a .112 marginan ALMS record at the time, and still the second-closest ALMS finish to date.

Since Frank Biela won the 2005 event by 3.239 seconds, all of the ALMS finishes at Road America have been under 2.5 secondsincluding four of less than one second. Biela won by .0400 seconds in 2005; Scott Sharp won by .461 seconds in 2009.

Eight Drivers Set For Double Duty In Historic Weekend

Eight drivers will race in both the ALMS and GRAND-AM this weekend at Road Americawith three of them also competing in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.

Triple duty drivers are Bill Auberlen, John Edwards and Spencer Pumpelly, joining Leh Keen, Patrick Long, Andy Lally, Maxime Martin and Tristan Nunez in seeing action both Saturday and Sunday.

Pumpelly, Auberlen and Edwards will drive for the same teams in the GRAND-AM Rolex Series and CTSCC, but will be with different teams in the ALMS.      Pumpelly drives the No. 45 Venezuela/eSilicon Porsche 911 GT3 Cup with Nelson Canache Jr. for Flying Lizard Motorsports in the ALMS. He competes for BGB Motorsports with co-driver Jim Norman in GRAND-AM. Auberlen will drive Turner Motorsport BMW M3s with Paul Dalla Lana in both the Rolex Series and CTSCC, and joins Martin in a BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE in the ALMS. Martin will also drive a Turner Motorsport BMW in the Rolex Series, joining car owner Will Turner.

Edwards was a winner with BMW Team RLL at Lime Rock, co-driving with GT points leader Dirk Mller. He also has been competitive in both the Rolex Series and CTSCC, winning the North American Endurance Championship presented by VISITFLORIDA.com co-driving with Robin Liddell.

Keen competes in the Team West/Boardwalk Ferrari F458 for Alex Job Racing in the ALMS, and recently rejoined the Rolex Series in a Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 with Alessandro Balzan.

Long runs a pair of Porsches, joining Tom Kimber-Smith with CORE autosport in the ALMS and Patrick Lindsey with Park Place Racing in the Rolex Series.

Nunez probably has the biggest adjustment of the group, going back and forth from a prototype to a GX car. The 17-year-old Floridian drives with Charlie Shears in the Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA FLM09 in the ALMS Prototype Challenge presented by Continental Tire, and with SpeedSource in a diesel-powered Mazda 6 in GX.

Make It A Dozen: Level 5s Tucker An 11-Time Winner At Road America

How do you find victory circle at Road America

Ask Scott Tucker. Hes won 11 races at the circuitin nine different divisionsand will be looking to make it an even dozen when he shares the No. 551 Siemens/Alpina Watches/Ohiya Casino Resort HPD-ARX03b with Marino Franchitti and the similar No. 552 entry with Ryan Briscoe in Sundays Orion Energy Systems 245.

The cars are prepared by team manager David Stone at Level 5 in Madison, Wis.

The Level 5 Motorsports owner/driver won in P2 in 2011in addition to finishing third in 2010 and 2012.

He added a trio of IMSA victories in 2012, winning both Prototype Lites races and the GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama.

Tuckers trophy collection also includes five SCCA National Championship Runoffs titles (D Sports Racing, 2012; T1, 2009-10; STO, 2011-12); SCCA Trans-Am TA2, 2011; and Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli, 2009.

"Road America is certainly one of my favorite tracks," Tucker said.  "We have enjoyed a great deal of success there. We always have a lot of support which makes it all the more special."

Tucker enters the event second in the P2 championship standings, trailing teammate Franchitti by three points (92-89).

Perfect Attendance: Corvettes Gavin Has Raced Road America Since 2002

One driver has been at Road America since the ALMS began competing there in 2002. Thats Oliver Gavin, who co-drives the No. 4 Corvette Racing Compuware Corvette C6 ZR1 with Tommy Milner.

It has a lot of what everyone likes in a track, Gavin said. It has that really great combination of elementsand it takes some guts.

Gavin finished second in 2002, his first of seven podiums at the circuit. He won in 2004, 2005 and 2007, in addition to being the fastest qualifier four times.

Hes also raced at a number of distances, ranging from the current two hours, 45 minutes to six hours.

Whatever length of race there suits me perfectly, Gavin said. Id like to do 24 hours there, because its the type of place where you could drive all day and get a huge amount of satisfaction.

Gavin and Milner are currently second in the GT championship, trailing BMW Team RLL driver Dirk Mller by five points (70-65).

Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garciaco-drivers of the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6 ZR1are third with 56 points.

ALMS, Etc.

Four drivers are tied atop the GTC point standings entering Sundays Race. Jeroen Bleekemolen and Cooper MacNeil share the top spot with Nelson Canache Jr. and Spencer Pumpelly. Bleekemolen and MacNeil won at Sebring and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in the No. 22 Alex Job Racing WeatherTech Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Canache and Pumpelly were winners at Lime Rock in the No, 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Venezuela/eSilicon Porsche. Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca winner Henrique Cisnerosdriver of the No. 30 NGT Motorsport MOMO Porscheis third with 68 points.

Bill Auberlen and Jan Magnussen are poised to share the lead in all-time ALMS starts with 112 at Road America. They enter the event tied with Johnny OConnell with 111. Johannes van Overbeek is set to make his 111th start on Sunday.

 Fall-Line Motorsports Seeks Third Straight CTSCC Victory In Home Race

Fall-Line Motorsports is on a roll coming to Road Americathe venue closest to its headquarters in Northbrook, Ill.

The team won the two most recent Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge races at Watkins Glen International and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the only two triumphs in the series for drivers Mark Boden and Bryan Sellers.

Prior to 2013, the team had only one victory in the series, in Watkins Glen in 2010 with Charles Espenlaub and Charles Putman.

The team will roll out three BMWs for Saturdays Road America 200. Boden will be joined by David Donohue in the No. 46; Espenlaub will be joined by 17-year-old Mark Hindman in the No. 48, coming off a fourth-place finish at Indy in his debut; and Al Carter and Hugh Plumb will share the No. 45.

Fall-Line will also race in the Rolex Series GT class of the VISITFLORIDA.com Sports Car 250, with Espenlaub and Putman co-driving the No. 46 Audi R8.

CTSCC Etc.

Mark Boden of Winnetka is one of four competitors in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge who live in Northeast Illinois, just south of Milwaukee and Road America. Other Illinois drivers include Nick Mancuso of Lake Forest; Tonis Kasemets of Mundelein; and Joe Koenig of Glenview. Mancuso and Kasemets drive Aston Martins for Multimatic Motorsports, while Koenig drives a BMW 128i for Burton Racing.

Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb, winners of last years Road America 200, are two-time winners in 2013 behind the wheel of the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche Carrera in GS.  John Edwards and Matt Bell in the No. 9 Stevenson Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro retired with suspension damage at Indianapolis, and trail the Rum Bum duo by 33 points (209-176).

 Jade Buford is riding a streak of three consecutive GS pole positionsand five for the seasonin the No. 55 Multimatic Motorsports Aston Martin.