KINETIC MOTORSPORTS ADDS TO DRIVER LINEUP FOR BARBER
July 17,2008
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Continuing to build upon its success, Kinetic Motorsports is adding several drivers to this weekend's KONI Challenge Series Grand Sport (GS) lineup for Barber. Andy Lally, Derek Whitis, and Tom Long will be joining Kinetic for the first time, while Todd Lamb, Nic Jonsson, and Russell Smith are returning drivers.
Three-time Grand Am Rolex Series Champion Lally will be co-driving with Lamb in the No. 87 Maxwell Paper Products/Kinetic-Sunbelt BMW M3. Lally is doing double duty for the weekend, as he is also running in the GT class with TRG, who fields Lally's Craftsman Truck ride. Lamb and Lally competed against each another in karting years ago, but this will be their first time as co-drivers.
Derek Whitis and Tom Long, no strangers to KONI Challenge competition, will be joining Kinetic for the first time in the No. 80 Gail O'Doski/Freedom Autosport/Kinetic BMW M3. Whitis, of Tallahassee, Fla., is owner of Freedom Autosport, which runs Kinetic-Sunbelt powered Mazda MX-5's in ST. Whitis most recently qualified second at Watkins Glen in ST and will see his first start in GS at Barber. Long, from Raleigh, N.C., has a best finish of third in GS at VIR, two podium finishes with Freedom Autosport this season in ST, and also runs in the Rolex Series.
Nic Jonsson and Russell Smith, the co-owners of Kinetic, will share the team's third entry in GS this weekend driving the No. 79 Maxwell Paper Products/Kinetic-Sunbelt BMW M3. Smith normally runs in ST but will be making his second start in GS this season, his first being at Lime Rock. Jonsson is also doing double duty again this weekend, running a Daytona Prototype with Krohn Racing in the Rolex series.
Todd Lamb: "Andy and I raced nationals together in karting when we were first starting our racing careers. He was fast even back then and given the completely different paths we took in life it's pretty amazing we're driving together at Barber. I'm looking forward to my second race with Kinetic - with our success at Watkins Glen we've proven we can run up front, so now it's just a matter of nailing the setup at Barber."
Andy Lally: "I'm really happy to be able to run with Todd this weekend. It is also exciting to finally get to work with the Kinetic team. My house in Georgia is only eight miles from their shop - Nic and I have been talking about someday racing together since the shop opened. I can't wait to see what Barber feels like in a BMW. I won the race last year in GS and have Rolex wins there in '04 and '06 so I always look forward to this event."
Derek Whitis: "Kinetic is clearly one of the fastest teams and Tom Long one of the fastest drivers - so it should be a great introduction to GS for me."
The KONI Challenge race will take place Saturday, July 19th at 2:15 p.m. The race will be televised on SPEED on July 26 at 2 p.m.
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