Grand-Am

John Maddox - Ford interview 2008-08-05

This Week in Ford Racing Brian Frisselle and Mark Wilkins, co-drivers of the No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford-Riley Daytona Prototype, won last weekend's Grand-Am Rolex Series race in Montreal, Quebec, with an engine built and supported by Roush ...

Published: Aug 6, 2008, 12:49 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

This Week in Ford Racing

Brian Frisselle and Mark Wilkins, co-drivers of the No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford-Riley Daytona Prototype, won last weekend's Grand-Am Rolex Series race in Montreal, Quebec, with an engine built and supported by Roush Yates Engines. John Maddox, manager of Cammer engine programs at Roush Yates Engines, talks about the victory.

JOHN MADDOX - manager, Cammer engine programs at Roush Yates Engines - IT HAS GOT TO FEEL GREAT TO GET A WIN AFTER ALL OF THE CLOSE CALLS THIS SEASON. "We're really excited that we had a win. We felt like we had one in hand the week before and had an unusual engine failure, which is quite unusual for us, and we felt like we let the team down. Then we go to this race and the team did a good job and we did a good job. They engineered the car very well and there was great strategy and very good driving skills. They did such a good job, and Mark did such a good job getting to the finish line in front of the other two cars, that it was just unbelievable. We're really excited for our team. We like doing well for Ford, but we really like doing well for our teams and we like it when our teams do well."

THE FUEL MILEAGE WAS OBVIOUSLY A HUGE FACTOR IN THIS RACE AS SEVERAL CARS DROPPED OFF ON THE FINAL LAP. "We've always had good economy with our engines. We have economy strategies and hard-run strategies. The team just takes those and applies them in their need. We set it up and they use it how they deem it necessary. They did a perfect job of managing the fuel consumption through the hour and twenty minute stint that the car had to run."

THIS TEAM HAS RACED NEAR THE FRONT A LOT OF THIS YEAR BUT THERE ALWAYS SEEMED TO BE SOME BAD LUCK. DID YOU EVER WONDER IF A WIN WOULD COME THIS SEASON? "Never did I ever question it. We go to the races to win. We have five cars capable of winning. I felt like it was only a matter of time. We should have done it earlier, but you can't control some things in racing."

Mark Wilkins was behind the wheel of the No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford- Riley Daytona Prototype when he came from third place down the backstretch to grab victory in the closest finish in Grand-Am Rolex Series history last weekend in Montreal. This weekend the Rolex Series heads to Watkins Glen, where Wilkins and his teammate, Brian Frisselle, are hoping for back-to- back wins.

-credit: ford racing

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Watkins Glen Int'l news 2008-08-05

Next article SCC: Iowa: Subaru Road Racing Team preview

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal

IndyCar

Indy IndyCar 11 h

Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal

Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

13 h

Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix

Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello

IMSA

IMSA IMSA 13 h

Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello

Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

13 h

Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts