Grand-Am

Daytona III: Dyson Racing preview

Dyson Racing not wrapped up about scenarios. DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (Nov. 7, 2002) - Driver Chris Dyson and Dyson Racing need some help during this weekend's Dark Dog Grand American Finale in order to capture the driver and team championships in ...

Published: Nov 8, 2002, 6:06 PM

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Dyson Racing not wrapped up about scenarios.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (Nov. 7, 2002) - Driver Chris Dyson and Dyson Racing need some help during this weekend's Dark Dog Grand American Finale in order to capture the driver and team championships in the SportsRacing Prototype class of the Rolex Sports Car Series.

Dyson, driver of the No. 16 Dyson Racing Ford-powered Riley &Scott, trails leader Didier Theys in the driver championship standings. Theys, who won the Rolex 24 At Daytona at the start of the season with the No. 27 Doran Lista Judd-powered Dallara, must finish in at least fourth place in order to hold onto the championship should Dyson take the victory in Sunday's three-hour race that starts at 1 p.m.

Should Dyson prove victorious and Theys finish in fifth place, the two drivers will be tied with 318 points each. The championship would be decided by a tiebreaker in which Dyson would get the nod for having the most victories in the season. Dyson would have five wins to Theys' four in 2002.

In the team championship standings in SportsRacing Prototype, the race is even closer. The Doran Lista No. 27 car holds a narrow five-point lead over the Dyson Racing Team's No. 16 car. If Dyson's No. 16 Ford scores a victory in the Dark Dog Grand American Finale, Doran Lista must finish in second place in order to secure the team championship. A third-place finish by the team would result in a tie, where Dyson Racing would be awarded the championship in a tiebreaker.

But Dyson Racing and its rookie driver aren't getting wrapped up in all those scenarios. They're just concentrating on what they control and that's a victory in Sunday's race.

"We're primarily focused on winning as we always are," Dyson said. "Given the field, it's possible. It's remote, but it's possible. We're just going to keep fighting. Come out on top and let the cards fall where they may."

Said Theys: "We have to think about the championship, but of course we'll try to win the race. We need to make sure we're not doing anything crazy. We don't have a strategy. We approach the race just like any other race. During the race, we'll see what kind of strategy we have to adapt."

Dyson Racing, winners of the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 1997 and 1999, was among the teams participating in the open testing on Thursday. The fastest in the morning Rolex Sports Car Series session was Robinson Racing and drivers Jack Baldwin and George Robinson with a speed of 125.035 mph. The No. 27 Doran Lista Judd Dallara with drivers Fredy Lienhard Jr. and Theys topped the charts in the afternoon session with a speed of 124.644.

"So far, we're pretty good," Theys said. "We learned quite a bit here. This is the fourth time this year we've come to Daytona. We had January (testing days), February and the race in July and of course we have a good base setup and we're just trying to improve on what we have. I think it's working pretty well. We still have some speed in the car. We're just fine tuning the car for the weekend."

Tickets for the Dark Dog Grand American Finale are available at the gate or by calling the Speedway ticket office at (386) 253-7223.

-dis-

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