Intersport Racing - Mid-Ohio spotlight

OHIO'S INTERSPORT RACING LEADS AMERICAN LE MANS LMP2 CHAMPIONSHIP Dublin, Ohio (May 19, 2006) -- Ohio's own Intersport Racing and native Buckeye Clint Field, and co-driver Liz Halliday currently lead in points in the highly competitive Le Mans ...

OHIO'S INTERSPORT RACING LEADS AMERICAN LE MANS LMP2 CHAMPIONSHIP

Dublin, Ohio (May 19, 2006) -- Ohio's own Intersport Racing and native Buckeye Clint Field, and co-driver Liz Halliday currently lead in points in the highly competitive Le Mans Prototype 2 category in the American Le Mans Series, competing against arguably the most famous racing team -- Penske Racing -- in the United States. The local privateer team continues to dominate their class over the favored factory Porsche and Mazda teams after an impressive win at last Friday night's Lone Star Grand Prix in Houston.

Field steered the AER-powered Lola B05/40 to win for the 14th time in his career, remaining atop the record books as the all-time winningest driver in LMP2 despite his youth, having won 14 times since he began racing prototypes at age 18 (2002). He passed his father Jon (11) in 2005 as the younger Field became the youngest prototype champion in International Motor Sports Association history.

"(Late in the race) I came down the straight and the car made a wicked noise and I lost power but I knew what the problem was -- a cracked header -- because we had the same problem earlier in the week," Field said. "Then I passed the yellow Porsche Spyder and I thought this is too good to be true! We came in and they safety tied it back together and it held."

Halliday picked up her fifth career Series win, which ties her with Milka Duno for the most victories ever by a female driver in the American Le Mans Series.

"It's fantastic standing alone at the top of the LMP2 point standings and it's exactly where we want to be early in the season," said Halliday. "The Penske drivers, team, and cars are very strong and they are hard to beat with just speed. But endurance racing is also about reliability and great team work and I think that we've shown that so far. It's great to be a part of such a strong, independent team and to know that we can hang in there and win against the toughest competition."

As a team, Intersport Racing has won more LMP2 events than any other competitor in the history of the Series (18), but will likely continue to face a major challenge from Penske Racing, who will seek redemption in their Porsche Spyders at the American Le Mans at Mid-Ohio, May 19-21 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.