SunTrust Racing Takes Corvette Daytona Prototype to Victory Lane at New Jersey Motorsports Park; Win Marks Second Consecutive Win of the Season for Angelelli and Taylor and Third Win for Corvette DP

  • May 13, 2012
  • Pratt Miller

Reading Time: 4 minutes

MILLVILLE, NJ (May 13, 2012) – Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor sent a message to their competitors in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series that they are contenders for the championship by taking the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype (DP) to victory lane today at New Jersey Motorsports Park. The win was the third for the Corvette DP in the first four races of the 2012 season.

It is the second consecutive win for the pair this season, but their first at the at the 2.25-mile, 14-turn road circuit located about an hour south of Philadelphia. The win

“Congratulations to the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Corvette DP team for leading the majority of the race and winning today,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, GRAND-AM. “It was an exciting race from the beginning with a three to four car pack battling for the lead. We had some very strong Corvette DP cars today with the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP in the mix until the on-track contact put them out with less than an hour to go. But, I think the fans got a good show. Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor had a great weekend, winning from the pole, which results in a solid move in the championship points.”

“It was a very hard race,” said Angelelli. “My first stint was so difficult. We finally got a new set of tires for the last stint and the car was just fantastic. Corvette, SunTrust Racing; we won again!”

“It’s fantastic, said Taylor. “I was down on myself after having such a bad qualifying at Barber. Our SunTrust Corvette was so fast here this weekend. It makes it easy on me so I don’t have to push so hard. But it was fantastic.”

Giving the Corvette DP three of the top-five finishing positions were: Darren Law and David Donohue, No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP in fourth, with Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante bringing the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP to the checkered flag in fifth place.

The No. 9 Action Express Racing Corvette DP finished seventh and the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP was scored ninth in-class at the conclusion of today’s race.

In the Grand Touring (GT), Robin Liddell and John Edwards powered the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R to a solid second place finish at the end of the 2.75-hour race.

“The No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R team did an excellent job in the GT class getting a second place finish,“ concluded Lutz. “The Autohaus Motorsports (finished fifth) team had a strong performance as well. I’m very pleased to get the second and fifth place finishes in the GT class, and improve in the points.”

“Well, it was a really hard race for us,” said Liddell. “John (Edwards) did an excellent job this weekend coming back from an injury and qualified the car on the pole. It looked really strong. We decided to try and save fuel and run the two-stop race; seemed to be playing into our hands with no cautions. And I think we all needed to save a bit near the end.”

The No. 31 Marsh Racing Wheelan Corvette finished eighth in-class.

In Saturday’s GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Grand Sport (GS) class, Lawson Aschenbach and Eric Curran, No. 01 CKS Autosport Camaro GS.R, were on the podium with a third place finish.

Other Chevrolet Camaro GS.R finishers were: No. 62 Mitchum Motorsports Camaro GS.R – 7h;

No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GS.R – 12th; No. 00 CKS Autosport Camaro GS.R – 14th and No. 6 Mitchum Motorsports Camaro GS.R – 21st.

Next up for Chevrolet Racing in GRAND-AM competition will be part of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix weekend, June 1-2, 2012.

POST RACE QUOTES:

MAX ANGELELLI, NO. 10 SUNTRUST RACING CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE DP takes his 20th Rolex Series win and Ricky Taylor gets his sixth.

AT HOMESTEAD IT WAS ALL ABOUT KEEPING THE CAR UNDERNEATH YOU IN THE RAIN AND TODAY IT WAS ABOUT SURVIVING ALL THE PUNCHES FROM EVERYBODY ELSE IN THE FIELD. THE EXHAUST PIPES ARE BENT. EVERY PANEL ON THE CAR HAS A MARK ON IT. CONGRATULATIONS ON TWO WINS IN A ROW.

MAX, GREAT RUN TODAY. YOU GUYS TOOK SHOTS FROM EVERYBODY, BUT YOU SURVIVED

ANGELELLI: “Thank you. It was a very hard race. My first stint was so difficult. We finally got a new set of tires for the last stint and the car was just fantastic. Corvette, SunTrust Racing; we won again!”

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RACE IT SEEMED LIKE SCOTT PRUITT AND ALSO ALEX GURNEY WERE TRYING TO PUT A LOT OF PRESSURE ON YOU, ESPECIALLY IN TURN 1 WHEN YOU WERE LEADING. WERE YOU FEELING THAT PRESSURE? AND HOW HARD WERE YOU PUSHING THE CAR MID-WAY THROUGH?

ANGELELLI: “Of course I was feeling the pressure, but I knew why. I was using four tires on one side and I knew where I was gaining and knew where I was losing, so it was just a matter of managing.”

EVERYBODY ON THE TEAM WAS HANGING THEIR HEADS AFTER THAT 14TH PLACE FINISH AT DAYTONA. YOU HAVE WORKED YOUR WAY UP TO SECOND IN POINTS. YOU’VE GOT TO BE PRETTY HAPPY.

TAYLOR: “Oh, it’s unbelievable. I never expected we could have such a good points day with just nine cars here. I’ve got to say Happy Mother’s day to Mom.”

COMING INTO QUALIFYING YOU SAID MAYBE YOU’D LOST A LITTLE BIT OF CONFIDENCE BECAUSE YOU WEREN’T GETTING THE POLES YOU WERE BEFORE. WHAT DID THIS POLE AND THIS WIN DO FOR YOUR CONFIDENCE NOW?

TAYLOR: “It’s fantastic. I was down on myself after having such a bad qualifying at Barber. Our SunTrust Corvette was so fast here this weekend. It makes it easy on me so I don’t have to push so hard. But it was fantastic. Max was unbelievable with all that pressure from behind. It’s so easy to make a mistake in New Jersey. And just everybody; the pit stops were perfect. I lost the lead and they got it right back for us. It was unbelievable.”

RUNNER-UP IN GT, ROBIN LIDDELL, NO. 57 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GT.R

WE DIDN’T HAVE QUITE THE HEAT WE HAD LAST YEAR HERE IN NEW JERSEY, BUT IT WAS A BIG RUN FOR YOU GUYS BRINGING IT HOME IN THE RUNNER-UP SPOT. TALK ABOUT THAT

LIDDELL: “Well, it was a really hard race for us. John (Edwards) did an excellent job this weekend coming back from an injured and qualified the car on the pole. It looked really strong. We decided to try and save fuel and run the two-stop race; seemed to be playing into our hands with no cautions. And I think we all needed to save a bit near the end. But yeah, very, very hard. We were about five laps short on the tires so everybody around us was a wee bit better. But we were just hanging on. I know myself and the No. 42 and the No. 44 were absolutely all over the place just trying to hang on at the end there.”

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