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| Homestead Preview Notes: Nastasi Takes GS Lead to Homestead |
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On the heels of his victory in the 2007 Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series season-opening Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway, car owner/driver Tom Nastasi will lead a field of 45 Grand Sport (GS) class race cars to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend for Sunday's Miami GS 400k.
Nastasi co-drove the No. 5 USG Sheetrock/Ramset Tools Ford Mustang GT to the Daytona victory with 2005 GS champion David Empringham, but with Empringham not scheduled to compete this weekend, Nastasi effectively holds sole possession of first place in the GS driver standings. Nastasi also earned a Rolex Series GT class victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2004 and is slated to share the No. 5 machinewhich is prepared by Florida-based Blackforest Motorsportswith Ian James. He is also entered in the team's No. 4 USG Sheetrock/Ramset Tools Mustang GT alongside Canadian female racer Valerie Limoges. A third Blackforest Mustang, the No. 6 USG Sheetrock/Ramset Tools machine, will be shared by Chris Brannon and Stan Wilson.
Nastasi and Empringham held off a hard-charging No. 55 Supercuts/Hyper Sport Ford Mustang GT in the hands of Joe Foster and Scott Maxwell to take the Daytona win, and Foster and Maxwell head to South Florida looking for a bit of revenge this weekend. Maxwell and Foster lead a three-car entry for Hyper Sport, with Romeo Kapudija entered in the No. 54 Supercuts Mustang with an as-yet-unnamed co-driver and Charles Espenlaub will share the No. 156 Supercuts Mustang with Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey, who will make his first KONI Challenge Series appearance of the season. Dempsey missed the season-opener with the impeding birth of twin sons.
Bill Auberlenwho recorded his first Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve Daytona Prototype victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway last month with co-driver Matthew Alhadeffreturns in search of another South Florida victory, this time in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 he is sharing with Chris Gleason. Auberlen and Gleason finished third in the Daytona opener, and are joined on the two-car Turner team by 2006 Street Tuner (ST) class champions Will Turner and Don Salama. Turner and Salama will share the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M3.
Miami's Jeff Segal and Winter Park, Fla. resident Jep Thornton head down to Homestead following a fifth-place finish in Daytona and will share the No. 09 Fresh From Florida/Automatic Racing BMW M3. The Orlando-based team will bring a total of four cars to Homestead-Miami Speedway, and each car will carry at least one driver who makes his home in the Sunshine State. In addition to Segal and Thornton, Orlando's Jon Miller will share the No. 90 BMW M3 with Owen Trinkler of Nashville, Tenn., Sebring's Peter Argetsinger is in the No. 91 M3 with Tim George Jr. of Greenwich, Conn. and Winter Park's David Russell will co-drive the No. 99 Fresh >From Florida/Automatic Racing BMW M3 with Raleigh, N.C. resident Tom Long.
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