Corvette Texas preview

FT. WORTH, Texas., (Feb. 28, 2001) - In 2000, Team Corvette entered a single car in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) still seeking that illusive first win. In 2001, the team returns to Texas not only as defending champions of the event but also with the momentum of having captured the overall win in the Rolex 24 at Daytona on Feb.4.

Team Corvette fielded two cars in the prestigious Rolex 24 at Daytona. The #2 Millennium Yellow Corvette C5-R, with drivers Ron Fellows, Chris Kneifel, Frank Freon and Johnny O'Connell, won the race completing 723 laps of the 3.56 mile road course.

The second Millennium Yellow, the #3 C5-R, with drivers Andy Pilgrim, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelly Collins, finished fourth overall and second in class to give Team Corvette a one-two finish in GTS class.

In 2000, team drivers Andy Pilgrim and Ron Fellows combined to cover 116 laps at to take the GTS class win at TMS despite triple-digit temperatures. It was the first victory for Team Corvette..

For the 2001 TMS race, Team Corvette will field two Pratt & Miller-prepared C5-Rs in the two and three-quarter-hour event on the eight-turn 2.324 mile road course. The #3 GM Goodwrench Service Plus will be driven by Fellows and Johnny O'Connell. The # 4 sister C5-R will be handled by Pilgrim and Kelly Collins. Corvette is production based

The Corvette racing program continues Chevrolet's tradition of racing production-based vehicles and racing to "improve the breed." The engineers working on the Corvette C5-R program work closely with their production car counterparts to ensure that racecar "learnings" impact present and future Corvettes

In addition to Daytona and Texas, the 2001 Team Corvette schedule calls for a two-car effort at five additional ALMS events including the Sebring 12 hour and the French classic Le Mans 24 hour race.

-GM Racing