January
30
ROLEX 24 at Daytons - POST RACE QA
The No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette Daytona
Prototype (DP) led the way for Chevrolet
bringing home a fifth-place finish in the 50th
running of the Rolex 24 Hour at Daytona. In
Grand Touring (GT), the No. 57 Stevenson
Motorsports Camaro GT.R was the top finisher for
Chevrolet crossing the line in fourth place in
class and 14th overall. The No. 90
Spirit of Daytona Racing Corvette DP finished
eighth, with the No. 9 Action Express Racing
Corvette DP crossing the finish line in ninth
place. The No. 88 Autohaus Motorsports Camaro
GT.R made a hard charge at the end to grab the
ninth finishing position in the GT class and 20th
overall.
DARREN LAW, CO-DRIVER WITH DAVID DONOHUE AND
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS
RACING CORVETTE DP, FINISHED 5TH IN
CLASS AND OVERALL: ON THE RACE:
“You know what, that was probably one of the
toughest 24 Hour I have done. We had a lot of
adversity. We had some engine issues prior to
the race; we had to miss qualifying. The first
probably eight hours of the race, we had an
electrical misfire, which really cut the motor
back and we struggled. But, the guys worked
really hard – Action Express, Chevrolet,
Corvette – they all did a great job. I’m proud
of the car. I’m proud of the team. You know, I
mean, we didn’t get the win, that was what we
really wanted. But the other thing I am very
proud of is that we were the very first
Chevrolet out of all the group out there. A
top-five is a good start to the season and we
are happy to finish it.”
DID YOU SEE A LOT OF PROMISE FOR THE FUTURE WITH
THE NEW CORVETTE DP? “Yes,
for sure. There is so much potential in this
car. We literally got this car delivered to us
the first of December so we barely had any time
on it. For us to be in the top-five and run as
well as we did; we see a lot of potential.”
YOUR ORGANIZATION HAD TO MAKE HUGE CHANGES TO GO
INTO THIS SEASON: “Yes.
I would say we’ve got the most adversity out of
all the Corvette teams because we shifted
chassis, engines and bodywork. Most the guys are
just switching over bodywork. We still have a
lot to learn, but we are competitive with
everybody so we are happy with that.”
JOHN EDWARDS, CO-DRIVER WITH ROBIN LIDDELL AND
RONNIE BREMER, NO. 57 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS
CAMARO GT.R, FINISHED 4TH IN CLASS
AND 14TH OVERALL:
A FOURTH-PLACE FINISH
IS A VERY GOOD WAY TO START THE SEASON, ISN’T
IT?
“Yeah, absolutely, especially with the endurance championship
that’s going on later in the year. We got some
good points for that, but it’s always hard to go
through a 24-hour race, be chasing down a
podium, but not quite get it. We knew this race
we weren’t going to out-race the Porsches, but
we tried to out-strategize them a little bit. We
cut our fuel close, didn’t have to splash at the
end, but in the end we still couldn’t get around
or catch up to any of the top three Porsches.”
FOR THE MOST PART, IT SEEMED LIKE A PRETTY
CONSISTENT RUN FOR THE TEAM THIS WEEKEND. WAS
THAT THE CASE?
“It was for the most part, but we actually had an incident shortly
after sunrise when I was going around a lapped
car in turn one. I drafted by him on the banking
and left him room into one, but he must’ve
missed a downshift and spun. I saw him spinning
and tried to go out wide and not get hit, but
he was accelerating across the wrong way of the
track for me to avoid him. So, we did get hit
and lost a lap from that, but we got our lap
back later on.”
THE RACE SEEMED TO BE PRETTY INTENSE FROM START
TO FINISH:
“There’s always a different mindset in the
middle of the night at Daytona or at the start
of the first day than there is at the end, so
the last stint that I drove was basically like a
sprint race, as I was trying to pull away from
the Ferrari behind me and catch up to the
Porsche in front of me. So that intensity the
same as a sprint race. But there is a different
mindset to driving and you’re just trying to log
laps and stay on the lead lap: You don’t take as
many chances in traffic and you’re nicer to the
car. We were saving fuel on a lot of stints. But
the intensity of hitting your marks and staying
focused is always at its peak.”
CAN YOU CARRY ANY MOMENTUM FROM THE RACE TO THE
NEXT?
“Well, the 24 is a very different race because
it is 24 hours and the rest of them are less
than three, so I think it’s important to have
momentum and keep that going, but a lot of it
depends on the tracks, depends on how we can get
the car set up at certain tracks and how it’ll
suit our car at different places. This track at
Daytona is obviously, you know, a Porsche track,
it always has been, kind of their place with the
high banks and the extra horsepower they have on
the straightaways. So a lot of tracks that are a
tighter will suit us a little better. I think
the street course in Detroit is going to suit us
better, which is great because that’s where
Pratt and Miller and Chevrolet is based. So, I
think we’ll do well at certain places, but we
always struggle to keep up at the high banks at
Daytona.”

CORVETTE DP
January
26
MECUM AUCTIONS TO AUCTION OFF REGISTRY “C5
SHOW” CORVETTE TONIGHT!
Members – Tonight around 8:30 pm EST at the
Mecum Auction in Kissimmee, the current owner of
the 2001 Registry “C5 SHOW” Corvette (Lot T276)
will auction it off to the highest bidder.
Director Jake will be present for the auction
and may speak about the history and the
significance of the Registry “C5 SHOW” Corvette.
http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?CFGRIDKEY=FL0112-120619

Director Jake Drennon with C5 Registry Show Car
Many of you will
remember that this
Registry “C5 SHOW” Corvette has been shown all
around the USA and Western Europe. It has been
paraded on various tracks including
Daytona International Speedway
and Le Mans, France.
This Z51 optioned Millennium Yellow
(black interior) 6-Speed Coupe has been around
the world and back!
The Registry's “C5
SHOW” Corvette was present at the 2001 24 Hours
of Daytona when the C5-Rs (the Chevrolet factory
race Corvettes) made history by winning at
Daytona. It was signed under the hood by the
drivers of C5-R #2 Ron Fellows, Chris Kneifel ,
Franck Freon and Johnny O’Connell and also by
the drivers of the C5-R #3 Andy Pilgrim, Dale
Earnhardt Sr, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelly
Collins.
The story of this
Corvette continues as it was shipped to France
where it led the American contention of
Corvettes through the downtown streets of Le
Mans in the famous Parade des Pilotes with
250,000 screaming Frenchmen cheering it on!
After the C5-R's dominated at the 24 Hours of
Le Mans (June 15 - 16, 2001), the Pratt & Miller
victorious race team signed under the hood. It
was also present in March at the 2001 Sebring
Race.
This “C5 SHOW” #3
with its unique graphics package has been to the
National Corvette Museum, Corvettes at Carlisle,
Petite Le Mans at Road Atlanta, and to the NCRS
event in Orlando. It was featured in the
November 2001 issue of Corvette Fever
magazine (page 31) leading a salute to victory
at Le Mans!
Members, Tune in
and watch a piece of Corvette history happen
right before your eyes tonight between 8:00-9:00
pm EST on the Velocity Channel. The “C5 SHOW” is
Lot T276.
http://velocity.discovery.com/tv-schedules/daily.html

January
24
UPDATE…ROLEX 24 CORVETTE CORRAL
Members
–
GREAT NEWS !!!
The Corvette Corral at the Rolex 24 is filling
up fast and Chevrolet is very excited! This
good news has led to the Corvette Brand Team
sending Art Spong, Group Manager of Brand
Quality Performance Cars/Corvette, from Detroit
to be at the Corral to answer any of your
Corvette concerns. Art is very knowledgeable
about the 5th and 6th
generation Corvette, and we at the Official
C5/C6 Registry are excited to have him present!
So if you ever wanted to know something about
your Corvette that you didn’t know, make sure
you stop by and ASK ART!
For those of you who have been thinking
about going to the race, you need to quit
thinking and start dialing! This is
going to be a fantastic historical event! This
is a great opportunity for all of us to support
the Corvette Daytona Prototype as it makes its
debut in the 50th Anniversary of the
GRAND-AM Road Racing Series Rolex 24. You better
pick up the phone and call TJ Wagner now at the
Daytona International Speedway for your tickets!
T.J. Wagner
Daytona International Speedway
Corporate Sales Account Executive
Phone: (386) 681-5529
E-Mail:
twagner@daytonainternationalspeedway.com

January
24
Veteran Corvette
Specialist Will Compete In 50th Anniversary Of
The Rolex 24
Longtime friend of
the C5-C6 Registry, Driver Jeff Nowicki
announced today he'll be joining Michael
Baughman Racing to race this year’s GRAND AM
Rolex Series' 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At
Daytona. The team will field the #46 Katech
powered Corvette C6 in the highly competitive GT
division. Action gets underway with a 10:00am
practices session Thursday, January 26 with GT
qualifying scheduled for 4:15pm the same day.
The 50th Rolex 24 at Daytona will take the green
flag at 3:30pm Saturday, January 28.
This will be
TeamMBR's sixth Rolex 24 at Daytona. Managed by
Michael Baughman who brings 30 years of
motorsports experience, both as an owner and
driver. He has competed in GRAND AM since the
Series' inception.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL PRESS
RELEASE

January
12
Corvette Marks 60 Years of Performance with 427
Convertible
