KINGS OF THE BEACH: No. 54 Kodak-Bell Motorsports Pontiac Doran co-driversTerry Borcheller and Forest Barber have owned Daytona International Speedwaysince the 2003 Paul Revere 250 to the tune of three straight trips toGatorade Victory Lane. Included in the run were overall triumphs in the PaulRevere 250 last July, the Grand American Champions Weekend in November andthe prestigious Rolex 24 At Daytona when they were joined by hired gunsChristian Fittipaldi and Andy Pilgrim. It is already the longest streak ofconsecutive wins at one venue in Rolex Series history.
TRADIN' PAINT: GT points leader Boris Said is moving from the No. 21Prototype Technology Group BMW M3 to the similar No. 22 machine and willteam with regular No. 22 driver Joey Hand for the Paul Revere 250. Said'sformer co-driver, Bill Auberlen, remains in the No. 21, which he will nowshare with Justin Marks, who is moving from the No. 22 machine.
EXPLOSIVE GROWTH: With 18 Daytona Prototypes entered in the Paul Revere 250presented by Brumos Porsche, the top category of the Rolex Sports Car Serieshas seen impressive growth in the year since the 2003 Paul Revere 250. Lastyear, there were just five Daytona Prototypes in the field, making thisyear's 18-car field a 360 percent increase in just 12 months time.
LOOKING FOR REVENGE: After coming within 20 minutes of winning the Rolex 24At Daytona in February, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup star Tony Stewart is returning toRolex Series competition at the Paul Revere 250. The 2002 NEXTEL Cupchampion will again be teamed with sports car ace Andy Wallace in the No. 20CITGO-Howard-Boss Motorsports Pontiac Crawford as he looks for his firstRolex Sports Car Series win.
CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE: In Daytona Prototype competition, No. 01 CompUSA ChipGanassi Racing Lexus Riley teammates Scott Pruett and Max Papis hold a14-point advantage over No. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley co-drivers MaxAngelelli and Wayne Taylor (151-137). Angelelli and Taylor moved behindPruett and Papis in the points table thanks to a second-place run in theSahlen's Six Hours of The Glen on June 20. The top eight drivers in theDaytona Prototype standings are within 19 points of the lead. In GTcompetition, Said leads his teammate and former co-driver, Auberlen, whodrives the No. 21 Prototype Technology Group BMW M3. In Super Grand Sport(SGS), No. 38 TPC Racing Porsche GT3 Cup co-drivers Andy Lally and MarcBunting parlayed their first victory of the season at Watkins Glen into theSGS points lead. They are six points ahead of former SGS co-points leadersRandy Pobst and Michael Levitas (159-153), who co-drive the No. 36 TPCRacing Porsche GT3 Cup.
STREAKING: Although they no longer share the same car, Said and Auberlenare both looking to extend their GT winning streak to five straight races atthe Paul Revere 250. Pruett and Papis saw their consecutive pole-winningstreak end at four races at Watkins Glen, but they are in the midst ofanother streak as they head to Daytona looking for their third consecutiverace victory.
GOING CAMPING: Rolex Series drivers and team owners will head to Camp BoggyCreek, Thursday July 1st prior to that evening's Paul Revere 250 presentedby Brumos Porsche for an up close and personal look at the impressivefacility that is part of Paul Newman's international Hole in the Wall Camps.The camp, located on 232 acres in Eustis, Fla., allows children whose liveshave been a series of medical procedures and hospital stays to enjoytraditional camp activities as just a "kid." No child or family pays toattend the weeklong summer sessions or the special family weekend programs.Camp Boggy Creek is solely supported by contributions and donations fromindividuals, corporations and foundations. Camp Boggy Creek is a designatedrecipient charity of Grand American and the purpose of the visit is tointroduce the facility and its various programs to Rolex Series competitors.Drivers planning to attend include Max Papis--who will be serving lunch tothe campers at 12:30 p.m. to fulfill his penalty for a door-banging incidentwith Jan Magnussen at Homestead in February--Hurley Haywood, TerryBorcheller, Didier Theys, Jay and Joe Policastro and many more.
MOONLIGHTING: With no Rolex Series action last weekend, Pruett and Saidtook the opportunity to get some NASCAR NEXTEL Cup seat time and acquittedthemselves well in the Dodge/Save Mart 300 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma,Calif. Driving the No. 39 Target Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing with FelixSabates, Pruett appeared to be the only driver to challenge race leader andeventual race winner Jeff Gordon before finishing third behind Gordon andhis Ganassi teammate, Jamie McMurray, a NEXTEL Cup regular. Said, meanwhile,charged from 19th on the starting grid to finish sixth in the No. 36 CentrixFinancial Chevrolet for MB2 Motorsports. Both drivers also plan to competein the NEXTEL Cup event at Watkins Glen International in August in additionto the Rolex Series theglen.com 200 on the weekend of August 12-14.
REACHING OUT: As part of the Grand American Road Racing AssociationHispanic initiative, Venezuelan Rolex Series star Milka Duno, who drives theNo. 2 CITGO Howard-Boss Motorsports Pontiac Crawford, participated in amedia tour in Orlando on Tuesday. Duno visited Telemundo TV40,Univision-WVEN-TV Channel 26, the El Nuevo Dia newspaper, the OrlandoSentinel and WKMG Channel 6, which is Orlando's CBS affiliate.
G&W MOTORSPORTS TURNS 100: The Paul Revere 250 will be the 100th RolexSeries entry for G&W Motorsports. G&W fields the No. 81 Rx.com/G&WMotorsports BMW Doran for co-drivers Cort Wagner, Brent Martini and KellyCollins, the No. 80 BMW Picchio in Daytona Prototype competition and the No.86 G&W Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup shared by Mae Van Wijk and ArmandoTrentini. G&W is the only team to have competed in every Rolex Series raceto date, and as such, is the first team to reach 100 entries in the series.
