SCC: Doug Smith joins Hyper Sport for VIR

Doug Smith to Race Hyper Sport Mustang at VIR

ALTON, Vir., April 20, 2005 - Successful formula and sports car driver Doug Smith has been named to race the No. 55 Hyper Sport Engineering Ford Mustang GT in this weekend's 200-mile Grand-Am Cup event at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). The Plantation, Fla.-resident will be making his Series debut at the most hotly contested and largest field in Grand-Am Cup history. Doug joins a list of 91 entries for the production car-based organization. 50 of those entries are in the premier Grand Sport (GS) class in which the Panoz Racing School instructor will compete. Doug will co-drive with Hyper Sport team principal and lead driver Joe Foster (Lawrenceville, Ga.) with support of Hawaiian Gold Coffee.

After several seasons competing in a variety of open-wheel formula car series and in the GTP class of the Historic SportsCar Series (HSR), the 3.27-mile facility in Alton, Vir. is not new to Doug. He raced here last season in the intensely competitive Formula Ford Zetec Cooper Tire Championship finishing fifth. He briefly tested the Hyper Sport Mustang GT at a recent test at VIR with several other drivers. Doug's performance in that test won him the seat for this weekend's 62 lap or two hour and 45-minute race.

Also debuting this weekend in the Grand-Am Cup Series is Hawaiian Gold Coffee. Hawaiian Gold Coffee, with roasting facilities in Jupiter, Fla., acquires its premier coffee beans from the Kona Gold Coffee Plantation in Kona, Hawaii. The plantation is the largest in Kona encompassing 791 acres. Exotic wildlife and lush rain forest vegetation flourish in the plantations carefully planned natural habitats. With an understanding of the importance of the environment, the plantation has set aside hundreds of acres to conserve the ecological and historical heritage of this extraordinary paradise. This seductive mixture produces a vibrant taste world renowned as a varietal favorite and is available at premier coffee retailers nationwide.

"I'm really excited to be back in the Grand American paddock," said Doug. "This is an awesome opportunity to drive in the top class of the Grand-Am Cup Series, with a top-notch team like Hyper Sport. Also, I am excited to welcome Hawaiian Gold Coffee to Grand American Road Racing. Together, we are looking forward to having a good race and getting a podium finish here at VIR."

-dha