A field of more than 500 of the nation’s best sportsman drag racers has packed the pit area at No Problem Raceway Park in Belle Rose, La., for the opening day of the sixth annual JEGS NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals. The first of three SPORTSnationals events backed by JEGS Mail Order, the No Problem event has long been a favorite of racers across North America.

Information regarding JEGS Mail Order can be found at www.jegs.com

Drayson Racing will start fourth, outside of Row Two, for tomorrow's 58th Running of the 12 Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida. The qualifying effort follows an off-season of intense preparation by the team and positions the No. 8 Drayson Racing Lola Coupé with Judd Power as the highest ranking American Le Mans Series (ALMS) privateer entry. The qualifying lap of one minute, 46.46 seconds by Emanuele Pirro (Rome) places the United Kingdom-based, Le Mans Prototype One (LMP1) operation directly behind the factory programme of Peugeot and alongside the factory effort of Aston Martin Racing. Pirro joins regular Drayson Racing pilots Paul Drayson (London/Gloucestershire, UK) and Jonny Cocker (Guisborough, Yorks, UK) for the opening round of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) at 10:30 (ET).

www.radiolemans.com, Sirius Channel 127 and XM Channel 245.

Quotes

Paul Drayson, Owner/Driver:
"The team did a fantastic job getting the car all ready to go. I am really pleased with the fourth place on the grid which puts us ahead of all the other cars we'll be racing for the championship through the rest of the year. We're in a good position to make a good start to the race and our 2010 campaign."

Jonny Cocker, Driver:
"It's been a really good week in terms of building up. We've been trying different things but as Sebring always does the track changes quite a lot and quite often throughout each day. We have gone back to our base setting which works really nicely. We had a really solid qualifying with Emanuele in the car. P4 on the grid is obviously a good position to start from but can mean anything. It's all going to be a little different once we start the race. Our race pace has shown strong all week and we have confidence in the Michelin tyres. Solid strategy, good driver changes, run our own race and we'll worry about the result at the end of the race. We have a good chance at a good overall result. Everyone just needs to pull together like they have been all week and we'll be good."

Emanuele Pirro, Driver:
"The main positive thing is that the car is as good as it was in the morning. No sign of any problems. I can't say that I have been using the Michelin tyres real well. We have to get some experience using the tyres and building the pressures and the grip in a proper way. I think there was something more in the car to come but the time makes me very happy. Second row is the best we could expect. I went out at the end again to learn a little more about these tyres for the race tomorrow. We are here to complete a 12 hour race and not set a pole position."

Dale White, Team Manager:
"We knew the two factory efforts would be very difficult here at Sebring. However, to be the quickest of the privateers and of the ALMS regulars is really gratifying. Because we knew about where we would be in qualifying we have really focused on the race setup. We are right where we want to be for the race with the car. After a long winter it is good to be going racing."

To visit the official web site of Drayson Racing, please go to
www.draysonracing.com.

To see up-to-the-minute notes on Drayson Racing, please follow "DraysonRacing" on Twitter.

Paul Menard, driver of the No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion, is a career-best ninth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings after four races. Menard spoke about his fast start in the Bristol Motor Speedway infield media center before practice started on Friday afternoon

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT RUNNING THE WHOLE NATIONWIDE SCHEDULE WITH ALL THE TRAVEL?

“When we run both series at the same track, like this weekend, it gets pretty hectic. When it’s a Cup off weekend and a Nationwide race, or like at Atlanta when it was a Nationwide off weekend and a Cup race, that’s pretty laid back as far as you can just focus on one thing. Our last off weekend for the year was last week. We’re every weekend until November, which is what we love doing. We love racing every weekend. I’ll probably miss out on a few things, but I’ll still have Sunday afternoons off when we run the Nationwide car.”

HAVE YOU GUYS CHANGED YOUR FOCUS ON WHAT YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH WEEK TO WEEK?

“No. Last year we had the same goal of starting off running conservatively, but trying to finish in the top 20. The first three races we had good shots of doing that, and we got in two accidents and broke a transmission so that put us in a big hole. This year, we’ve kind of had the same focus and just haven’t had anything go wrong. We’re a lot better off in points and we’ll just try to keep that ball rolling.”

HOW DO YOU LIKE DOING THESE MEDIA SESSIONS AND CAN YOU STAY IN THE TOP 12 ALL YEAR?

“I can definitely get used to it. It’s only four races in, so a lot can happen obviously, but we’ve had fast cars. We’ve come out of the box pretty strong and we’re working on a lot of things to make the cars even better and improve throughout the year, so the spoiler coming into play is gonna be a big unknown. We don’t know if it’s gonna help our program or hurt our program based on the package that we have, but we’ll probably find out at Texas and just go from there. It’s cool to be in the top 10, but, like I said, it’s early in the year and we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO COME OUT OF THE MEETING WITH BRAD AND CARL TOMORROW?

“Don’t wreck each other. I don’t have a dog in that fight. They got mad at each other and they took it out on each other and it hasn’t affected anybody else. Hopefully, Brad doesn’t retaliate against Carl this weekend and take 10 cars out with them. Last weekend, it was between them and hopefully it doesn’t make it between 10 other people this week.”

HOW MUCH MORE CLOSELY WILL GUYS BE WATCHED THIS WEEKEND?

“No more than normal. Bristol is a short track. It’s hard racing and you always get mad at somebody at some point. It’s just a fact of short track racing, so you’ve just got to control your emotions. If you get mad, you’re gonna hit somebody, but hopefully you won’t tear up many cars in the process.”

THIS IS YOUR THIRD TEAM IN THREE YEARS. WHEN DO YOU GET COMFORTABLE AS FAR AS THE ADJUSTMENTS YOU GO THROUGH?

“The second team in four years because Yates and RPM are kind of the same deal, but you build relationships as you go. At DEI, I was there for four years between the Busch/Nationwide Series and Cup, and you build a lot of relationships. It’s the same deal here. There are a lot of familiar faces from Yates Racing last year, and a lot of new faces with RPM. We’re just kind of mixing it all together and right now I’m very comfortable with everyone around me, and I’m just gonna keep building those relationships.”

HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT DYING YOUR HAIR BLACK AND BLUE LIKE SCOTT SPEED VIA TWITTER?

“That’s not my style. I’m not even on Twitter. It’s something we’ve talked about because social networking is getting pretty big, but I’m a pretty private guy and I like to keep my stuff to myself.”

SO NO SOCIAL NETWORKING?

“We talked about it a few months ago and haven’t talked about it since, so I might have made my point clear (laughing).”

DOES BEING IN THE TOP 12 CHANGE HOW YOU RACE?

“No, not really. Bristol is pretty straight forward. You come in and hopefully you don’t pit under green, and when you come in you’re probably gonna take four tires. You’ve got to be aware of who is around you and who you’re racing, and when people get mad at each other, stay out of their way. When we go to a place like Texas, you can probably do a little bit more strategy-wise to try and gain some track position. You can do that here, too, but four tires mean a lot here. At Texas, you get a big aero-push going if you get back in traffic, so you need to get a little more track position there. It’s not gonna affect our outlook on the race.”

HOW WOULD YOU RATE THE DIFFICULTY OF PIT ROAD HERE?

“It’s confusing, for sure. If you do pit under green, you’re reminded for five laps before to make sure you pit off turn four or whatever. It’s confusing because both ends kind of look the same. Under caution, you just kind of have to reset and know where you’re coming down and know where the speed lines are. It’s real easy to speed through turns three and four on the apron under caution because it’s such a big, wide area you can really cut the corner and be caught for speeding, but it’s what we do every week.”

WAS THERE ONE TIME IN YOUR CAREER WHEN A VETERAN DID SOMETHING TO YOU AS FAR AS GETTING IN AN ACCIDENT? DID THEY TALK TO YOU LATER AND DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING FROM IT?

“Every week somebody gets mad at somebody. Whether you see people running into each other under caution, or just side swipe each other going down the backstretch, something happens. It’s not as dramatic as what happened in Atlanta. I’ve had run-ins with veterans and talked to them the next week and it’s all been good, and I’ve had run-ins with non-veterans and talked to them the next week and it’s all been good. You try not to put yourself in that position, but anger rises and it’s part of the sport.”

IS THERE ONE OR TWO INCIDENTS THAT STAND OUT?

“There are a few that stand out, but it’s between us.”

Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Budweiser Ford Fusion, has moved from 33rd to 17th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings the last two races. Kahne spoke about a variety of issues before practice.

KASEY KAHNE – No. 9 Budweiser Ford Fusion
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO COME OUT OF THE MEETING WITH CARL AND BRAD TOMORROW? HOW WILL THEY RACE EACH OTHER?

“I think they’ll race each other fine. I think Carl showed he didn’t like the way Brad has raced him in the past, and I think they’re probably good to go now.”

DO YOU THINK NASCAR WILL WATCH ALL OF YOU GUYS ANY CLOSER AS A RESULT?

“I don’t think so. I think the neat spot NASCAR is in, and they actually do look at it seems like, is individuals and how they actually race each other and how they race other people. In that situation, you can look at the two guys and what’s gone on in the past, and maybe what one of the guys has done to other cars, and that’s just kind of the way it is. I think they made the right call there, and I think they look at other people the way they need to look at them.”

HAVE YOU HAD A PROBLEM WITH BRAD?

“Me and Brad have raced really good. I race him good and he races me good. We had one incident one time and we were both mad at the All-Star race and were bouncing off each other, but that was really the only time. I think me and Brad are good to go – before his wreck and after his wreck – I don’t think it changes our racing any way.”

DID YOU TALK ABOUT THE INCIDENT FROM ATLANTA WITH CARL OR BRAD?

“I haven’t talked to Brad or Carl. I just kind of watched and watched their remarks.”

DID YOU TALK WITH BRAD AFTER YOUR INCIDENT IN THE ALL-STAR RACE?

“No, we took care of it during the race and we were done when it was over.”

DOES THIS TRACK TEST YOUR PATIENCE MORE THAN ANY OTHER?

“It can. I think this track tomorrow is a big part of the race and how well you practice and how well your car can race around other cars because you’re always in traffic here. You’re always trying to pass, whether it be lapped cars or pass for position it’s hectic and there’s a lot going on, so it can definitely get to you quickly.”

DO YOU HAVE A STORY WHERE YOU MAY HAVE MADE A MISTAKE AND A VETERAN TALKED TO YOU ABOUT IT?

“When I came in, I kind of took a different approach and just tried to race my way in and show the respect for some of the older guys. I remember Jeff Gordon, I was under him at Martinsville one time and was probably at his left-rear tire, and he just pointed left like he was coming when we got to turn three. I saw his finger out of the car and I was like, ‘I guess he’s turning left. I better slow down (laughing).’ That was in ’04. Jeff hasn’t pointed left since (laughing), but it worked at that point in time with me. Everybody has different approaches and that was the one I took. I feel I learned from Bill Elliott and Tony Stewart, who taught me a lot when I first got here, so I think it worked out alright for me.”

DO YOU BELIEVE IT’S TRUE THAT THE DRIVERS REALLY DO POLICE SITUATIONS ON THE TRACK?

“I think it’s pretty true. I’m just trying to race guys the way I want to be raced, and if I feel somebody is racing me different than I race them, then the next time they catch me or the next time we’re racing, then maybe I race them differently. But more times than not, I’m able to race people the way I want to be raced and it works out for me. When you do have those incidents and you take care of them on the track – I’ve never taken care of anything off the track. I think you just take care of it on the track and that’s basically the way to do it. What does it matter if you take care of something off the track? It doesn’t do anything. If you got crashed and lost 100 points, and you go take care of the other guy after the race, if Carl goes and takes care of Brad after the race, what does that do? It does nothing. All we care about it points.”

ARE YOU GOING TO MISS THE WING?

“I’m looking forward to the spoiler. I think it should be pretty good. I think the wing has changed NASCAR racing a little bit, and the spoiler will change it again a little bit. That’s the way it’s gonna be and we really won’t know until we get 43 cars on the track and we’re at Texas or something like that – Phoenix maybe. So we won’t really know exactly until we get to some of those tracks, but I think the spoiler will be good. Everybody is gonna have to change their driving a little bit because the side-by-side stuff is definitely gonna be different.”

HOW DID THE WING CHANGE THINGS?

“I think it’s just more of when your car gets sideways, when it gets loose, the way it helps recover. When you’re racing cars side-by-side, and you’re on the inside of a car, the way your car handles there and right now I think everybody in here knows how that is. When we change it, it’ll be a little different and it’ll just take some time to get in those positions and feel out what that spoiler is actually doing to the back of the car.”


SOME GUYS SAY THE SPOILER LOOKS BETTER. DO YOU AGREE?

“I think it definitely looks better. That spoiler is pretty easy, it’s pretty normal and flat and just kind of a normal piece, but as far as a stock car goes, I think that’s kind of what a stock car is – a spoiler. If you want to race an Indy Car, then you’ve got a wing, or a Sprint Car and then you’ve got a wing.”

YOUR INTRO SONG IS BULLS ON PARADE. IS THAT BECAUSE YOU LIKE RAGE?

“It’s because I like Rage and I like the beat of that song. We’re just gonna use the beat in that one. It kind of gets you pumped up and I feel like Bristol is one of those tracks where it’s not a bad thing if you’re pumped up.”

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 U.S. Census Ford Fusion, has registered four straight top-10 finishes to start the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and comes into this weekend’s race ranked third in the point standings. He spoke with the media on Friday afternoon before practice.

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 U.S. Census Ford Fusion
“I love this place. It’s a lot of fun. We run extremely well here and have been really lucky so far, hopefully that continues and we can get good track position, stay up front and qualify well. It’s overall been a great track for us and I really enjoy coming here. It’s a lot of excitement and a lot of fun – a lot of racing – and I’m looking forward to Sunday.”

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO COME OUT OF THE CARL AND BRAD MEETING TOMORROW?

“I think maybe a little clearing of the air and a little understanding between the two drivers that maybe they need to give each other a little bit more room and anticipate a little bit more on what’s gonna happen when they tangle next time, probably. I doubt whether that’s gonna happen, obviously, but they’ve got little issues and they’ll get it ironed out, I think.”

HOW CLOSELY WILL NASCAR WATCH EVERYBODY ON SUNDAY?

“From the looks of it, I don’t think they’re gonna be looking at us any differently.”

WITH THE ADDED SAFER BARRIER TAKING UP MORE OF THE TRACK, WILL THE GUYS WHO RUN NATIONWIDE HAVE ANY SORT OF ADVANTAGE?

“Maybe a tiny bit, but I don’t think it’s gonna be that big of a deal. We’ve got all day today and two practice sessions tomorrow, so by then we’re gonna be pretty comfortable with the narrower race track. I think where it would possibly be a slight advantage is if the Nationwide practice was first today and getting a chance to see it before Cup practice started, but I think we’re gonna adapt pretty quick.”

HAVE YOU MAILED YOURS BACK YET (CENSUS FORM)?

“Yes, I did. I did it today before I came.”

AS A TEAMMATE TO CARL DO WE SOMETIMES HAVE THE WRONG IMPRESSION OF HIM? IS HE MORE INTIMIDATING THAN WE SEE OR MORE CALCULATING, OR WAS IT MORE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES?

“I really don’t know. Carl lives in Missouri, and I’m not saying that’s bad, but unlike me spending a little time because we’re teammates behind the scenes, I’m not going to Missouri anytime soon and I don’t think he’s coming to Mooresville anytime soon. It’s not by choice, just by different areas of where we live. Like for instance, David Ragan lives over on the other side of town and we don’t really see each other. We see each other at the shop sometimes, but on a personal note I really don’t know Carl a lot more than being in team meetings with him and doing Christmas party functions and all that kind of stuff. He seems fine to me, so I don’t know. I’m not with him all the time, so I don’t know what to say.”

WHAT DOES THE TERM, ‘HAVE AT IT BOYS’ MEAN TO YOU?

“I really feel like they were talking about restrictor-plate racing because that’s the start of the season at the Daytona 500. ‘Have at it. Bump draft. Do whatever you want. Police yourself.’ That’s really what I think they meant by it and then by the way I interpreted it. We’re gonna do what we’re gonna do on local short tracks or at Atlanta or wherever else. We’re gonna race hard and we’re gonna do what we can do. Now, maybe they’ve backed off of it. They’ve never really penalized people before. If you get into a guy and spin him out, they don’t put you a lap down. So, unless it’s intentional payback, they’ve always done that, so I don’t really see anything different than what it’s been – other than restrictor-plate racing. They’re like they’ve washed their hands of the deal. It’s like, ‘You guys are on your own. You police yourself. Bump draft all you want and do all your business and don’t come whining to us.’ That’s the message I got on that, and wait until Talladega. It will be interesting, I promise.”

SHOULD A DRIVER DOWN BY 150 LAPS BE ALLOWED TO RE-ENTER THE RACE?

“That’s been a discussion all along, but the other thing that you have to keep in mind is the sponsor viewership. 3M wants their car on the race track, and if we get in a wreck on Lap 2 and it takes us 40 laps to fix it, and we just put it in the trailer and go home, the Biffle fans, the 3M fans – the 3M corporate – doesn’t get to see their car going around, whether it’s 150 laps down or not. That’s one issue. The other thing that we’ve talked about is cut the points off at 30 or 35 so you don’t go back to the garage and do this mad thrash and get a car on the track with bearer bond flying off of it and metal is falling off of it. It’s unsafe. It’s leaking whatever. It’s too slow and can’t get up to minimum speed. The theory is don’t give any points for going back out. Cut it off at that level, so you get the same amount of points whether you go on the track or not. We get back out there for the one spot we’re gonna gain on position, so that is a good point and that is a discussion that may go somewhere in the future, but I don’t know.”

DO YOU HAVE ANY RIGHT OF PASSAGE STORY ABOUT A VETERAN TALKING TO A NEWCOMER. DO YOU HAVE ONE?

“Sterling Marlin came over to me one time after the race and was all mad and said, ‘The car is only 16-feel long. All you’ve got to do is get out of the throttle for that much time and let a guy in line.’ I was racing like you race a late model car – you race every lap because the race is only 30 laps long. Well, a Cup race is 500 miles and the moral of the story was, like Mark Martin, if a guy shows up in your mirror from a straightaway back, he’s probably faster than you and you’re probably not gonna race him like the devil for the next 450 laps. You’ve got six more pit stops and a long time to give the guy a break and get racing. That’s the best criticism I’ve taken from a veteran guy, and I consider a veteran like Mark Martin or somebody like that. It’s funny they say veteran and Carl and I have been in the sport the same amount of time. I don’t consider myself too much.”

WHAT DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE TRACK THE WAY IT IS NOW FROM A RACING STANDPOINT?

“I like racing on the race track now, but I liked it more before. It was harder to race on before. It was a lot more difficult to get around here before. When they smoothed the corners out and smoothed the transition out, the track got wider and however they did the banking that made it easier. And then a lot of the cars became the same speed than the old Bristol. The old Bristol was a little tougher than this. They’re both fun to drive and both fun to race. This is a little bit more difficult to pass because the cars run the same speed and there is sort of that preferred line, and it’s hard to go around on the top of them and it’s hard to get around on the bottom of them. It’s difficult. By narrowing the walls and doing all those things, you’re not gonna recreate something that had character like that – like Atlanta. Atlanta has a lot of character and that character will be gone when they fix it and repave the whole place. It’s just evolution. That’s what happens.”

HAS LIFE CHANGED SINCE BECOMING A RACE TRACK OWNER?

“It’s gotten a little bit busier. I recently became a partner in a dirt track back close to home in Banks, Oregon – just about 20 minutes outside of Portland – and we’re also putting together a small late model series that races out there – a west coast spec motor series with dirt late models – just to give those guys a little bit to race for – give them a point fund – give them $1,000 to win on Saturday night, which is not a bunch of money but it’s more than what they were getting, and a little bit of structure, so it’s kind of fun to do that. I care about local racing. That’s where I started. That’s where I grew up and where other people have to get their start, and I feel like supporting that more from a fun perspective and kind of giving back to the sport more than anything for me.”

ARE YOU GOING TO MISS THE WING? DOES A SPOILER LOOK MORE LIKE A REAL STOCK CAR?

“I think NASCAR changed it because the fans didn’t like the look or the appearance, more than the driver. I really felt they did double-file restarts because the fans love that action on the restart. They got a lot of criticism like, ‘It doesn’t look like a race car. We want a spoiler back on it.’ NASCAR consulted us on what our opinion was and we thought we were OK with the spoiler and thought the car might be better with the spoiler, so they pursued that and obviously determined to put it back on the car. But I think it was driven from the fans and the popularity. That’s what people want to see. I have to admit, when we tested it at Texas, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Brian Vickers and myself were the first ones with the thing on the car and I think it’s gonna be better racing. I think the car showed signs of a little better corner exit, which is where this car really struggled to get turning and racing each other was that corner exit. We’ll just have to wait and see. I was by myself and felt the difference, so I think it’ll be better overall. We’ll know next week for sure.”

DOES IT LOOK BETTER FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?

“I think it looks better, yeah. It’s more of the old stock car and what we’ve seen forever.”

Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion, is second in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings after posting four straight top-10 finishes to start the season. He spoke about his team’s improved performance just before qualifying for Sunday’s Food City 500.

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion
“I’m looking forward to racing here this weekend. This is one of my favorite tracks, but since they went to this car and reconfigured it we’ve really struggled. We seemed to be better in practice today. We made a lot of changes in race trim that made a big difference on the car, so I’m looking forward to see how we stack up compared to everybody else. I think Atlanta was a really good test because we didn’t perform particularly well there last year, and this will be another one, so I’m looking forward to it.”

DID YOU NOTICE THE SAFER BARRIER EXTENSION IN TURNS TWO AND FOUR?

“You could tell off four it’s narrower. I think as long as we’re spending the money on SAFER barriers when you put all these people in here, we should just put them all the way around every track on the outside and inside. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about it and there wouldn’t be all those weird transitions. I know that they really don’t want to spend the money for them, but that would make the tracks safer anyways. It’s kind of weird because you come off and there’s the SAFER barrier and then it goes away from you and the wall is half-a-car length away from you and then it comes in again. I wish they would just put it all the way around everywhere.”

WILL IT BE AN ISSUE?

“It’s a little narrower off four. You’re gonna hit the wall sooner than you did before. Everybody is kind of in the same groove getting ready to qualify, so we’ll see how it affects things more during the Nationwide race when the groove widens out a little bit.”

YOU’RE SECOND IN POINTS, SO DO YOU GO INTO A DEFENSIVE MODE AT THIS TRACK TO TRY AND KEEP THAT SPOT?

“No. We really approach every race the same. We really try to bring our best stuff and qualify the best we can and race the best we can. We don’t really approach it any different. It used to be you could kind of approach this place a little differently, but it has really changed a lot with this car and since they reconfigured the track. So now you race it more like you race anywhere else. There are a couple of grooves and you want to be there the whole time, whereas before you knew there was gonna be a lot of wrecks and a lot of attrition. As long as you stayed on the lead lap and got your car in position those last couple of pit stops, you were gonna probably have a good day by just staying out of trouble. But it’s not exactly like that anymore because you’ve got to race hard and try to get that track position from the beginning all the way to the end.”

YOU SPENT SOME TIME WITH HEATH CALHOUN, A PARALYMPIAN FROM THIS AREA. HOW WAS YOUR MEETING WITH HIM?

“I got to meet Heath at Daytona. He was part of the Crown Royal ‘Your Name Here’ Contest and he won the contest, so they’re naming the Richmond race after him in May. It was really cool to meet him. I turned on TV the other day and saw they were having a special on him competing out there, so I don’t know how his first runs went, but I think it’s pretty amazing he’s out there competing as well as what he’s done for all of us.”

CAN YOU COMMENT ON THE PROGRESS OF COLIN BRAUN AND RICKY STENHOUSE JR. IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES?

“Not really because I haven’t been over there. I haven’t run any Nationwide races and, as of today, we don’t have a sponsor for any Nationwide races, so, to be honest with you, I’m a little bit away from that program more than I was last year when I was running races and competing and working with those guys. With Drew going back over there and Mike coming out of there, and then Ben going three as well, there’s just been a little bit of a shake up and some different stuff. I’ve been watching them race every week, but I don’t really know if we’re ahead or behind where we were last year.”

WHAT’S BEEN THE BIGGEST CHANGE ON YOUR TEAM SINCE TODD CAME ON BOARD?

“It’s only been four weeks and three races since we moved the team around and changed it up a little bit, so it’s hard for me to say what the biggest difference is, but I think everybody’s attitude, including mine, has been a little bit better. It’s probably put a little spark in the thing. Everybody is working real hard and getting along, but, like I said, it’s only week four. But it’s been going well so far. Everybody has really been pulling on the same end of the rope.”

HAVE YOU LEARNED ANYTHING ON HOW TO APPROACH A SEASON AFTER WATCHING WHAT JIMMIE JOHNSON HAS DONE THE LAST FOUR YEARS?

“I’m probably the wrong guy to ask because I didn’t even make the chase last year. There are 43 cars out there and they’re the best and the ones you have to beat. You have to finish in front of them every week to beat them. It’s really an easy formula, but nobody has been able to do that. They’re good all year round. I don’t think there is any strategy from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. They won two out of the first four, and at the end of the year they’re winning races in the chase, too. So it’s not like they just ride around all year and then go beat everybody in the chase. They’re the car to beat, in my mind, every week.”

Photos by: JEAN MICHEL LE MEUR / DPPI

After spending the past week pounding round the demanding circuit at Sebring, Team Peugeot Total has succeeded in qualifying its two 908 HDi FAPs on the front row for this weekend’s 12-hour clash.

Peugeot nominated Spain’s Marc Gené (Peugeot N°07) and Frenchman Nicolas Minassian (N°08) to qualify its two cars, and the two drivers used the three laps that were allotted to them to put their cars in first and second places on Saturday’s grid, with times of 1m 45.214s and 1m 45.841s respectively. The drivers named to start Saturday’s 12 Hours of Sebring – the world’s longest race after the Le Mans 24 Hours – are Austria’s Alexander Wurz in the N°07 car (followed by Briton Anthony Davidson, then Marc Gené) and Frenchman Sébastien Bourdais in the N°08 908 HDi FAP (followed by Portugal’s Pedro Lamy and France’s Nicolas Minassian). The field will be flagged away at 10:30am local time (3:30pm CET).

Le Mans: the main objective…

For the third year running, Team Peugeot Total has chosen to begin its preparations for the Le Mans 24 Hours in Florida. This time round, the two Peugeot 908 HDi FAPs having been lapping at Sebring since Saturday March 13 and will remain at the circuit until Tuesday March 23. Bruno FAMIN: "We have a busy programme, and we are doing everything we can to follow it to the letter, despite being hampered by a number of sessions that turned out to be relatively unproductive because of red flag incidents. Our two priorities have essentially been 2010-specification soft- and medium-compound tyres Michelin has brought to Florida. Today’s objective was to get the two cars onto the front row for Saturday’s start without taking any undue risks, because the track is quite dirty as a result of the high number of accidents we saw during the support race which preceded qualifying. It came as no surprise to hear the drivers complain of a lack of grip. We also didn’t want to put in too many laps because we wanted to spare our tyres for the start. Our objective here is to continue preparing for Le Mans, and we have had a few problems since last Saturday, including a fuel leak, an accident and, more importantly, a body change, but nothing we haven’t encountered before or that was insurmountable."

Quotes: Olivier Quesnel and Marc Gené…

Olivier QUESNEL:
"We are above all here to prepare for Le Mans. Sebring is a genuine endurance race which can be very hard on the cars, so it’s an event we couldn’t afford to miss! The team is in a confident mood and as professional as ever. There is no internal fighting, and I have every confidence that our drivers will put in an intelligent race and provide us with plenty of information which we will be valuable for the rest of our programme."

Marc GENE:
"This is my first visit to Sebring. Olivier Quesnel and Bruno Famin decided some time ago that it would be Nicolas and I who would drive our respective cars in qualifying. That meant I was able to use this week’s different test and practice sessions to prepare for this afternoon’s run. Nicolas Minassian talked me through the track, down to its slightest bump, and there are quite a few dangerous corners. If the Formula 1 drivers came here, they would be in for a big surprise! We have covered some excellent groundwork since the beginning of the week, but now it’s time to turn our attention to the race which promises to be very difficult. The Aston Martins benefit from good straight-line speed and I think they could be a real threat."

Lap times:

1, PEUGEOT 908 HDi FAP N°07: M. Gené (1m 45.214s)

2, PEUGEOT 908 HDi FAP N°08: N. Minassian (1m 45.841s)

3, ASTON MARTIN N°007: S. Mucke (1m 46.079s)

4, LOLA N°8: E. Pirro (1m 46.460s)

5, HONDA N°1: M. Franchitti (1m 47.684s) Etc.

The 2010 12 Hours of Sebring starts on Saturday, March 20 at 10:30am local time (3:30pm CET)

Broadcast live on Motors TV and Speed TV

Goossens behind the wheel, team focused on race setup

After a week of preparing for the season opener of the 2010 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron season, the JaguarRSR team had a successful qualifying run this afternoon in preparation for Saturday's 58th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida.

The #75 JaguarRSR XKR GT will start 31st on the provisional grid, 12th in GT2 class.

Driver seat time has been kind of like playing musical chairs to the glorious roar of the JaguarRSR XKR GT. Between the three assigned drivers this weekend, Gentilozzi, Goossens and Ryan Dalziel, each had adequate time to get comfortable with not only the car, but the car on track in preparation for the 12-hour endurance event. The race lineup will see Gentilozzi take the green flag, followed by Dalziel and Goossens in respective stints.

"I think that we have done a great job," added Dalziel. "It has been a testing week for everybody on the team and the guys have worked a lot of late hours. I am proud to be a part of a program that has so many dedicated people. We have made huge gains on the #75 JaguarRSR XKR GT. It might not look that way to the outside, but within the JaguarRSR team we know we are moving forward in so many ways. We are happy with the progress we are making and we are looking for a safe, reliable race."

The green flag will fall at 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, March 20 with live coverage on SPEED starting at 10 a.m. ET. Live coverage also will be available on American Le Mans Radio, as well as Sirius Channel 127 and XM Channel 245. Live Timing and Scoring, starting line-up and more is available on Racehub at www.americanlemans.com. Follow the team on our Facebook page: RSR Jaguar.

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion (Qualified 7th)
“I’m really pleased with the time, but I’m not really pleased with the lap. I didn’t do a very good job. I probably overdrove it going for the pole. We tried to tighten it up some and went too far. I was way too tight and just couldn’t get the speed out of it that I wanted. I’m real happy with the lap time, but I wish I would have driven a little better. I wish I could do it again.”

“There’s not a big difference right now with just one car on the track, but when you restart the race in about 10th spot, and you’ve got everyone crowding you up, I think you’re gonna wish you had that extra three or four feet. With just one car on the track here for qualifying it’s not that bad, but it should be fun for the race.”

DID YOU HAVE TO ADJUST YOUR LINE AT ALL?

“I really haven’t had to adjust my line much, but even in that qualifying lap I just ran out of room and I barely touched the right rear. If I would have had six more inches, I would have been fine.”

HOW WAS YOUR LAP?

“The lap was average, just like we were in practice. The car was the same as it was in practice and we just didn’t make it any better. I’m not too happy with our lap. I wish it could have been better, but, hopefully, we’ll have something we can go race with on Sunday.”

DAVID GILLILAND – No. 38 Taco Bell Ford Fusion (Qualified 16th)
DO YOU FEEL LIKE THIS TEAM IS RIDING A LITTLE WAVE?

“Yeah, I do feel that way and I’m proud of it. The guys have worked really hard. Randy and all the guys, and Ford stepped up and helped us with some seven-post time. We learned a lot there that we were able to apply this weekend, so I’m excited. Hopefully, that will put us in the upper half of the field and we’ll go from there. Randy Seals and all the guys have done a great job.”

DOES THIS PLACE SORT OF EVEN THE PLAYING FIELD IN THAT IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT AERODYNAMICS?

“Yeah, for sure. We qualified good here and ran good here in both races last year, so we’ve carried a little bit of that momentum, but the biggest thing is we ran good at Atlanta last race and that’s aero and everything else. It’s just a good tribute to our team and the race cars we put on the track. Each week, we’re focused on just getting better. We don’t have a set thing of saying, ‘Hey, we want to be a top 10 team.’ Our realistic goal is to get better each and every week and that’s what we’re gonna do.”

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Scotts Ford Fusion (Qualified 8th)
HOW WAS YOUR LAP?

“Our Scotts Ford Fusion is pretty good. It’s just good to be at the race track. I didn’t need a week off with all the drama, but it’s just tough. It’s amazing. I guess the racing is the thing I love most about this sport, and I’m pretty excited about the race this weekend. That’s a pretty good lap for us. I think it might hold up for a top 10 and it should be a good starting spot.”

WHEN THESE KIND OF ISSUES HAPPEN DOES IT PLAY WITH YOUR HEAD?

“You have to be mentally tough. I think a football player said it best – ‘Last week is last week. You have to just go do your job and go do the best you can.’ That’s the definition of being mentally tough. I could have used a race last weekend, but it is nice to be back here at the race track and I’m glad our car seems to be fast.”

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO COME OUT OF THE MEETING TOMORROW WITH BRAD?

“I don’t know. We’ll just go to the meeting and we’ll take care of it. I really think that we’ll come out of it better. In the end, hopefully, this is something that six months from now we can look back and go, ‘Man, I’m glad that’s over with,’ and everybody will maybe understand one another better. That would be the best thing.”

HOW CLOSELY DO YOU THINK NASCAR WILL BE PAYING ATTENTION TO YOU TWO ON SUNDAY?

“Probably pretty close.”

WHAT’S IT GOING TO BE LIKE RACING UNDER THE MICROSCOPE?

“It’s just part of racing. Stuff goes on all the time, so, for me, it’s no different than any other week. I just go race as hard as I can. I’ve got a lot bigger things to worry about. We need to run better. That’s my mission everytime I’m here at the race track and that doesn’t change. We’ve got to do a better job. We’ve got to get back in the top 12 and we’ve got to go win those championships that we know we can.”

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion (continued)

DO YOU FEEL THIS MOMENTUM IS BUILDING WEEK TO WEEK FROM A PERFORMANCE STANDPOINT?

“I hope so, but it’s only been four weeks of the season. It’s been good so far, and hopefully we can keep it up.”

PAUL MENARD – No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion (Qualified 12th)

“We picked up quite a bit from practice. We were really tight on the gas in practice and Slugger waved his magic wand and made it turn, so I’m really happy with it.”

YOU MUST HAVE SOME MAGIC INSIDE THE CAR AS WELL.

“I’m typically pretty bad at qualifying here, especially when we run the Nationwide car because they’re so different on a short track. I’m just real happy with that.”

Alex Job Racing (AJR) will take the start of tomorrow's American Le Mans Series (ALMS) Presented by Tequila Patron Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring race from the first, second and third positions on the GTC grid. Having been absent from ALMS competition since 2006, Alex Job Racing has returned the series in a big way taking the top three starting positions in their Porsches.

Keen and teammates Butch Leitzinger and Juan Gonzalez were able to get up to speed very quickly since arriving on Monday. The team had the No. 81 Mission Foods entry toward the top or at the top of the GTC class time sheet nearly every session. The pole time was a natural for Keen, who is the Porsche Club track record holder in a GT3 car at Sebring.

"It was a great lap," Keen said. "We wanted to go out fast and get our two fast laps in and we did. I nailed all of the brake zones and drove my line and it came together for me. Greg (Fordahl) our engineer put a great set-up on the car. It was really a one lap wonder. I got everything out of the car early and was able to get the pole. I have never done the 12-hour before, I did Petit Le Mans a couple of years ago. The car is going to have more of a race set-up on it. We look at this race more like a 24 hour, just cut in half. I am driving with Butch Leitzinger who has a lot of races here under his belt. I have been able to help Butch with the nuances of driving the Porsche. He is a pro and he got right on pace quickly. Juan is very solid behind the wheel and we are looking to have a very good race tomorrow."

Kelly in the No. 80 Car Amigo entry showed consistent speed all week. Running with Luis Diaz and Ricardo Gonzalez, the Minnesota resident will start the race next to his teammate on the front row of the GTC grid.

"I had to make a couple passes during qualifying, that may have held me up a few tenths," Kelly said. "You never how many laps in qualifying you will get and never know how the tires will hold up. The car felt great, the track conditions were really good. The slight loses I had were three or four tenths at best. Every time I have gotten in the car this week the AJR guys have made it better. I am ready to go with Luis and Ricardo tomorrow."

Kaupudija in the No. 23 Battery Tender/Tequila Patron car showed huge improvement in the qualifying session. The Chicago resident bettered his fastest practice time by nearly two seconds and will start the 12-hour third in GTC. Kapudija is partnered with Bill Sweedler and Jan-Dirk Lueders.

"I improved a lot in qualifying, which I am really excited about," Kapudija said. "I picked up a couple of seconds. I knew I had it in me and that the car would perform. Pat Kelly and I went out together and he drafted by me into Turn One. That was OK because that gave me someone to chase and I think really helped my qualifying effort. We are really happy with a third place start and the team is one-two-three."

Team owner Alex Job has his three cars leading the GTC class to the green.

"It was a great qualifying session for us," Job said. "It is nice to come back to the series and make a little statement with all three of our entries at the front of the GTC grid. It is a testament to our crew and the drivers as well as the work we have put in over the past month. The only problem we've had all week is when the No. 23 had an incident in Turn 17 on Wednesday. The guys were able to get the car back together and didn't miss a beat. Other than that the drivers have all gotten up to speed very quickly and have provided great feedback so we could make the cars faster. We have a nice mix of endurance experience and speed, which is what you want here at Sebring."

The race will be televised in two segments live on the SPEED Channel starting at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 20 and running until 12:00 p.m. SPEED will rejoin the action live at 2:00 p.m. and broadcast through post race interviews signing off at 11:00 p.m. Live coverage also will be available on American Le Mans Radio, as well as Sirius Channel 127 and XM Channel 245. Live Timing and Scoring, track schedule, entry list and much more is available at www.americanlemans.com.

Alex Job Racing is one of the most successful teams in ALMS history with 37 wins. This record is supported by 45 pole positions and 75 podium finishes. The team has won three championships (GT in 2002, 2003 and 2004) complimented by their two GT class wins at Le Mans. The team also boasts six Sebring 12 hour wins.

The ALMS GTC category is specific to one of the most popular factory produced racing cars in the world, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Developed for Porsche's one-make series around the world, the new version of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is based on the road-going 911 GT3 RS. The power unit featured in the new 911 GT3 Cup is largely identical to the production engine of the 911 GT3 RS with the same output of 450 bhp and the same maximum engine speed of 8,500 rpm.

Mission Foods (81)
Based in Irving, Texas, Mission Foods was established in 1949. Mission Foods is one of the world's largest tortilla, flatbread and corn flour producers and is engaged primarily in the production, marketing, distribution and sale of tortillas, chips, wraps, flat breads corn and wheat flour. For more information reference www.missionfoods.com.

Battery Tender (23)
In 1999, Deltran introduced the Battery Tender Plus into the marketplace. The main reason was that many more AGM style lead acid batteries were being used in a variety of power sports engine start applications. Each and every Deltran Battery Tender Battery Charger® regardless of its size is programmed with a microprocessor that will correctly charge a battery then automatically switch to a maintenance/float mode. Refer to www.batterytender.com for more information.

Patrón (23)
Simply Perfect in every way, Patrón tequila is an ultra-premium luxury white spirit that's delicious on the rocks, and mixes flawlessly into most any cocktail. From the highest-quality Weber Blue agave plants grown in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico, to the centuries-old distillation process, to the signed, handcrafted glass bottles, Patrón is produced with unparalleled attention to detail. Imported and marketed by The Patrón Spirits Company, brands in the portfolio consist of Gran Patrón Burdeos, Gran Patrón Platinum, Patrón Silver, Patrón Reposado, Patrón Añejo, Patrón XO Cafe (tequila and coffee liqueur), and Patrón Citrónge (extra-fine orange liqueur), as well as Pyrat Caribbean rums, and Ultimat ultra-premium vodka. For more information, please visit www.patronspirits.com.

Car Amigo (80)
Car Amigo is a motorsport restoration and preparation business specializing in restoring racing, muscle and historic cars. This Dallas, Texas based company offers complete rebuilds and custom fabrication as well as consignment and sales of history's finest automobiles, www.caramigo.com.

IDN Business Consulting (80)
IDN Business Consulting was born with the mission of designing and implementing fiscal strategies that allow companies a better development and resource management. IDN is made up of a professional, highly capable crew, where innovation, pro-activity and service quality is the base of our competitive ideology. At IDN Business Consulting the legal, fiscal safety and tranquility of our clients is guaranteed. This is based upon the objective of searching the development of innovative solutions that bring measurable and real business results. This has made IDN a market leader in Mexico. IDN has an extensive portfolio of solutions that bring solid savings and benefits to your company. IDN is the only fiscal law firm in Mexico that brings to you, wherever you are, whatever you do, these exclusive benefits.

Cooper Gay (80)
Cooper Gay is one of the world's largest privately owned Insurance and Reinsurance Broking Groups, headquartered in the City of London. Cooper Gay operates for clients in four broad segments: corporate organizations, retail brokers, professional reinsurance buyers and captive insurance companies. The Cooper Gay network extends from the Americas to Asia, Europe and Australasia. Offering a wealth of broking talent and customer support in our chosen business sectors, this translates into specialist insurance and reinsurance solutions in every risk area.

Rainmaker Group (80)
The Rainmaker Group of independent companies has an international reach focused on providing integral measurement, preventive, and risk management solutions. "Integrity is Power". Through this philosophy we lead our clients in the understanding and management of their risk needs. Areas of expertise include - risk transfer mechanisms, actuary analysis, design of prevention plans, and management of international risk transfer programs.

For more information about AJR, visit www.alexjobracing.com, or visit our fan page on Facebook by searching Alex Job Racing Fan Page. Further inquiries, please contact Kyle Chura at chura@aol.com or (248) 821-0468.

Tommy Johnson, Jr. scored two wins Friday evening at Yas Drag Centre behind the wheel of his Yas Marina Circuit Top Fuel dragster during the Inaugural Yas Drag Festival. Teammate Rod Fuller notched one win light during the three match races in Abu Dhabi. Johnson also posted the quickest elapsed time of the day at 3.899-seconds.

Johnson set both ends of the Yas Drag Centre track records at 3.899 seconds and 499.17 mph. On Saturday, Johnson and Fuller look to clock runs in the 3.8-second range and surpass the magical 500-kph mark. “We made three great side-by-side runs in a country that has never seen Top Fuel racing,” Fuller said. “The crowd response was overwhelming. Now, our goal is to go out and break the 500-kph mark on Saturday. It would be so cool if both Tommy (Johnson) and I could put a 500-kph speed on the board on the same run.”

The Yas Drag Festival continues on Saturday with the two Yas Marina Circuit Top Fuel dragsters scheduled to make runs at 6:30, 8:30 and 10 p.m.

Run 1
Johnson, Jr. (.065) 3.917 ET, 499.17 KPH def. Fuller (.063) 3.988 ET, 486.78 KPH

Run 2
Fuller (.083) 3.908 ET, 497.48 KPH def. Johnson, Jr. (.060) 3.938 ET, 488.27 KPH

Run 3
Johnson, Jr. (.083) 3.899 ET, 496.72 KPH def. Fuller (.099) 4.177 ET, 488.17 KPH

The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR racers take up the 12 hour race in Sebring from good starting positions. During qualifying for the long distance classic in Florida, which kicks off the 2010 American Le Mans season on Saturday, Porsche works driver Joerg Bergmeister posted the second quickest time. The title defender shares driving duties in the 911 GT3 RSR fielded by Flying Lizard Motorsports with his factory pilot teammates Patrick Long (USA) and Marc Lieb (Germany). “My lap was very good, but I couldn’t have done any more today,” he said. “Second place on the grid for a twelve hour race is an excellent starting position.”

In the LMP2 Prototype class, Klaus Graf (Germany) achieved the second quickest time with the Porsche RS Spyder run by the American customer team Cytosport. His teammates are Sascha Maassen (Germany) and Greg Pickett (USA).

The Sebring 12 Hours, where Porsche is the most successful manufacturer with 18 overall and 63 class victories by now, takes off on Saturday at 10.30 hours local time (15.30 hrs CET).

Result Qualifying GT2 class

1. Dirk Müller (D), BMW E92 M3, 2:00.782 minutes
2. Jörg Bergmeister (D), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 0.368 seconds
3. Wolf Henzler (D), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 0.419
4. Jaime Melo (BR), Ferrari 430 GT, + 0.454
5. Jan Magnussen (DK), Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, + 0.576
6. Oliver Gavin (GB), Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, + 0.846

Facts and Figures

This is the American Le Mans Series

The American Le Mans Series was created in 1999 for sports prototypes and GT vehicles. The regulations correspond to those of the Le Mans 24 hour race. Nine races in the USA and Canada make up this year’s calendar. Traditional highlights are the Sebring 12 hour race and the 1,000 mile “Petit Le Mans” at Road Atlanta.

Sports prototypes and standard sports cars make up the starter field:

For the season-opener at Sebring, these are divided into five classes:
LMP1 class: Sports prototypes with up to 750 hp and a minimum weight of 900 kilograms (petrol engines) or 930 kilograms (diesel engines).
LMP2 class: Sports prototypes with around 440 hp and an 825 kilogram minimum weight (e.g. Porsche RS Spyder).
GT2 class: Slightly modified standard sports cars with 440 to 460 hp and a minimum weight of 1,125 – 1,325 kilograms (e.g. Porsche 911 GT3 RSR).
LMPC class: This newly-created class is a prototype brand trophy series for the ORECA FLM 09.
GTC class: Replacing the ALMS Challenge, this class is for various model years of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

All race cars start together but are classified separately. Points are awarded only for placings in each class. From 2006 to 2008, Porsche won the championship titles in the LMP2 class for Drivers (Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas) as well as for Chassis and Engine Manufacturer and for Teams (Penske Racing) with the RS Spyder. In the GT2 class, Porsche’s most recent title was won in 2009 with Joerg Bergmeister/Patrick Long clinching the drivers’ title, Flying Lizard Motorsports taking the team title and Porsche claiming manufacturer honours with the 911 GT3 RSR.

Motorcycle racing legend Jeff Ward will bring his considerable amount of racing and career experience to AMA Pro Racing as rider liaison and advisor. Ward has nine AMA Pro Racing Championships in Motocross, Supercross and Supermoto. He also has a number of other significant motorcycle wins and achievements as well as an impressive auto racing resume that includes a Ganassi Indy Car win, Rookie of the Year at the 1997 Indianapolis 500 and a second place finish in that iconic event in 1999. Jeff is also in the Motorcycle Hall of Fame and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.

Yours,
Tom Kristensen

Reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi continued his domination of the pre-season testing programme in Qatar today, finishing the opening day of the final test 0.3 seconds ahead of Casey Stoner. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo made a welcome return from injury to finish the day a creditable seventh and with Ben Spies third and Colin Edwards fourth, it was four Yamahas in the top seven.

Lorenzo missed the last test after breaking his hand and he was unsure how much strength he would have today, but the 23-year-old Spaniard was happy to find himself in better shape than expected and he steadily improved all night. He found the hard braking areas the most difficult but he was able to ride well enough to continue with his interrupted testing regime, and he is hopeful of further improvement tomorrow.

Valentino Rossi - Position: 1st Time: 1'55.402 Laps: 64
"I am so happy today because this isn't one of our best tracks and to come here and be fastest shows what a great job Yamaha has done with this new M1. To start with the track was quite slippery but anyway we were still fast, and as the track started to improve I felt better and better. We are quite competitive and this gives me a good feeling, and I was happy to make this quick lap right at the end. We still have to decide the right tyre and the best setting for it, and we will keep working on the electronics but the most important thing is that we're faster than last year! Tomorrow we will continue with our work and try to finalise everything before the race."

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 7th Time: 1'56.838 Laps: 45
"It's really good to be back on my bike and actually when I went out on track the first time today my hand felt better than I had expected. The pain has decreased a lot in the last few days and I've been doing a lot of physio to make sure I'm in the best possible shape for this test. I was able to do quite a lot of laps today and my time is not so bad in the end, it's definitely interesting and important to be here and see our level after missing the last test. Dainese have made me a bigger glove and I have some protection on the hand; changing direction is okay, it's just the hard braking areas where I have some problems. I need more practice but I think we have made a good start."

Ben Spies and Colin Edwards light up Qatar night test

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo Ben Spies and Colin Edwards produced dazzling performances under the Losail International Circuit floodlights in Qatar tonight.

Spies was in sparkling form to post a best time of 1.55.954 that secured him a stunning third place on the timesheets. Earlier on a balmy night in Doha, Spies had topped the timesheets for a brief period in the six-hour session that ran from 6pm to midnight.

What made the reigning World Superbike champion's performance even more remarkable was he'd never ridden under the floodlights at the Losail International Circuit before. Yet Spies finished just over 0.2s behind circuit specialist and triple Qatar race winner C asey Stoner with Valentino Rossi once again quickest on his factory Yamaha YZR-M1 machine.

The 25-year-old was forced to finish early after a crash at the second corner in the final hour while using a hard compound Bridgestone front tyre. But he declared himself delighted with progress in his 44-lap stint.

Fellow Texan Colin Edwards was equally impressive in fourth position after he posted a best time of 1.57.541 in a 59-lap stint. Edwards continued to fine-tune the race-set-up of his YZR-M1 machine, working on Yamaha's new swingarm and Bridgestone's new hard compound front tyre.

Ben Spies - Position: 3rd Time: 1'55.954 Laps: 44
“I know this track from last year but riding under the floodlights is definitely a bit different and nothing I've experienced before. The perception of speed is much faster with it being at night but I'm having a lot of fun. It's really well lit up but there are a couple of darker spots on the track that you have to get used to but I've not done too bad in adjusting to the lights. I know the track but any track I go to on a MotoGP bike makes it definitely different because of the lines you take. Some of the lines I'd take on the superbike just don't work but I felt like it was coming together good and following a couple of people it felt like I was doing more of the right things than I was in Malaysia. Obviously it is great for me to be high up the timesheets but I'm still taking baby steps to improve and not getting carried away. The crash was nothing too serious. I was running the hard front and I wasn't getting a good feeling from it. We changed the pressure to try and help for my second run but I just lost the front at the second corner. But to be third is fantastic for my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. They have been giving me great support.”

Colin Edwards - Position: 4th Time: 1'56.541 Laps: 59
“It was a good night. It didn't start off too great and it took me a while to get into the groove. We played around with the set-up using some of the new parts I'd liked in Sepang and also running some of last year's pieces to get some good information. The lap time was about the same so around this track the new parts aren't making the difference like they did in Malaysia. I did a long run on the hard front and I like it. I did race distance on it and it felt really good. I ended up doing 27-laps on it, which is five more than race distance, and it still felt really good. I'm getting the feedback I need at full lean angle and it holds the turn much better."

Test Times
1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'55.402
2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'55.717
3. Ben Spies (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1'55.954
4. Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1'56.540
5. Randy de Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'56.588
6. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda Team 1'56.811
7. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'56.838
8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'56.855
9. Mika Kallio (FIN) Pramac Green Team 1'56.923
10. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1'57.047
11. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'57.099
12. Marco Melandri (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'57.605
13. Hector Barbera (SPA) Aspar Team 1'57.822
14. Hiroshi Aoyama (JAP) Interwetten-Honda MotoGP 1'57.888
15. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'57.891
16. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Pramac Green Team 1'57.898
17. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'57.960

Losail: Record Lap
C. Stoner (Ducati) 2008, 1'55.153

Losail: Best Lap
J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2008, 1'53.927

www.yamaha-racing.com

Citizens Business Bank Announced as Title Sponsor
"Legends of Riverside II" – March 26-28, 2010

Riverside International Automotive Museum President and co-founder Douglas Magnon has announced the addition of a presenting sponsor’s name to the title of this year's Legends of Riverside Film Festival and Gala.

Just some of the recognized Legends of Riverside: Dan Gurney • Scooter Patrick • Davey Jordan • Bob Bondurant • John Morton • Elliot Forbes-Robinson • George Keck • Pete Lovely • Oscar Kovaleski • Paul Reinhart • Lothar Motschenbacher • Dave Friedman • Bruce Kessler • Peter Bryant • Dave Wolin • Joe Playan • Jim Jeffords • Chuck Jones• Bill Pollack • Eric Haga •Chic Vandagriff • Jim Dittemore • Joe Leonard Ralph Ormsbee • Tony Adamowicz • Pete Lyons • Doug Hooper • Andy Porterfield • Skeeter McKitterick • Bob Schilling • Linda Vaughn • Jennifer Revson • Tony Settember • Art Evans • Brock Yates • Dick Guldstrand . George Follmer • Howden Ganley • Stuart Forbes- Robinson •Toly Arutunoff • Jerry Grant • Bill Krause • Tom Meehan • Jerry Entin • Tim Considine . Peter Brock • Brett Lunger

Started in 1974 out of a single office in Chino, Citizens Business Bank is a top-rated financial institution with over $6.7 billion in assets. The Bank concentrates on delivering the finest in financial products and services through relationship banking commitments with businesses and professionals in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, Orange County and the Central Valley regions of California.

"Doug Magnon is a valued partner of CBB. He has assembled an all-star group to participate in this celebration. We are proud to be a part of the special event," said Chris Meyers, President and Chief Executive Officer.

The Legends event premiered last year at the Riverside Museum to great "reviews" from all of the attendees and featured great stars of motoracing, great motoracing-themed films, great food, and great guests who had the time of their lives reminiscing about some of the best (and least) -known moments both on and off the raceway, as told by the people who lived them.

Part party, part reunion and all up-close-and-personal, the Museum only makes a very limited number of tickets available for this event each year. "We designed and built this event specifically for the deep-rooted Riverside fan.

Our fan base is international, the Raceway meant so much to so many,” Magnon explained, "Many of our attendees watched races at Riverside but, interestingly enough, almost an equal number never had the chance to go there before it closed in 1988. At our event, there’s really no way to tell the difference, everyone's a total fan of the place and the people, and everyone is drawn to their stories."

This year the great Carroll Shelby will be honored at a Saturday night gala that will also feature a number of the people who worked with this true racing legend on cars like the Cobra and who helped to finally put the Ford Motor Company into the winner’s circle at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

As mentioned above tickets for this charity event are limited. A maximum of 250 will be printed for this event, when they are gone, the event is sold-out.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TICKETS: www.legendsofriverside.com

Upgraded ADVAN® ENV-R2™ orange oil-infused tires set track records in successful debut in Patrón GT3 Challenge by Yokohama

Photo by: Richard Prince

Months and months of testing paid off for Yokohama Tire Corporation as its second generation orange oil-infused eco race tires, the ADVAN® ENV-R2™, set track records in 2010’s first Patrón GT3 Challenge by Yokohama series race at Sebring International Raceway late Wednesday afternoon.

Agreement makes Yokohama’s eco-friendly orange-oil-infused ADVAN® ENV-R2™ race slicks the “official tire” of the GT3 Challenge through the 2012 season

Photo by Richard Prince.

Chalk up another victory for Yokohama Tire Corporation’s environmentally-sensitive orange oil-infused race tires