Daytona II: AIM Autosport preview

AIM Autosport ready to face the heat at Daytona
Heat, humidity and tight schedule add to race-day pressure

Daytona, Florida (2010.07.01) AIM Autosport's Pacific Mobile/Biosign No. 61 Ford Riley Daytona Prototype race team has arrived at Daytona International Speedway optimistic of a strong result in Saturday's Brumos Porsche 250. The race, scheduled to begin at 11:15am, will be a 2½-hour contest on a 3.56-mile circuit comprising Daytona's famous oval and road course.

AIM has provided some exciting finishes lately, charging from 8th after the final pit stop to finish third--and nearly taking second--at Mid-Ohio and taking 4th at Watkins Glen, missing a podium finish by less than half a second.

AIM has been quick at this event in the past, finishing 5th in 2009 and claiming pole position in 2008. The team knows it will face a huge challenge, not only because of the tough competition, but also because of the schedule and location.

"The biggest challenges of the Brumos 250 are the tight schedule and the heat," said team principal and chief engineer, Ian Willis. "We are fortunate enough to race on the same day as 1 Cup and are the only series that does. Unfortunately this means we race mid-day, in Florida, in July! Heat and humidity are both high and it is tough on the drivers and crew alike. It also means that we are on track in back to back sessions with no time to return to the garage, so we really have to be efficient with our track time and have a car that is quick right off the trailer."

"Daytona has traditionally been a strong track for us." said Mark, "And I feel we should be competitive. If we do everything just a little bit better I feel we will be right up front. I'm also looking forward to racing on a NASCAR weekend as they tend to draw great crowds!"

"I'm just super-excited," said Burt. "There's such great history at Daytona. It's a challenging track and we get close to 200 mph running very little downforce. What's most exciting is that Mark and I are just 7 points behind the leaders in the Driver Championship. We have every intention of closing that gap on Saturday."

The Brumos 250 marks the 100th race for Daytona Prototypes. AIM Autosport, which competes in its 34th race this weekend, is honored to be included in Grand Am's top-ten moments for it's win in Montreal, 2008: the closest in Daytona Prototype history.

-source: aim autosport