SRT Motorsports Weekend Preview - Sept. 19 

September 18, 2013 , AUSTIN, Texas -  SRT Motorsports looks for its second GT Class win of the season as the American Le Mans Series heads to the picturesque Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Texas for round eight of the 10-race championship.

The driver lineup for Saturday’s race: Kuno Wittmer and Jonathan Bomarito in the No. 93 Pennzoil Ultra SRT Viper GTS-R; Marc Goossens and Dominik Farnbacher in the No. 91 Rush SRT Viper GTS-R.

Located outside Austin, COTA is the newest permanent road-racing venue in the United States. The 20-turn, 3.4-mile Circuit road course has played host to the Formula One United States Grand Prix along with Moto GP and V8 Supercars.

The International Sports Car Weekend is a combined event with ALMS (Saturday) and FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) (Sunday). The green flag for Saturday’s ALMS race is 4:45 p.m. (EDT) with tape-delayed coverage on ESPN at 1:00 p.m. (EDT) on Sunday.

This weekend’s race marks the first ALMS visit to COTA. SRT Motorsports held a private test last month with Competition Coupe and ACR-X Vipers to help drivers familiarize themselves with the very fast and undulating race track.

“The SRT Viper seems to do well at most of the tracks and we think COTA won’t be different,” said Gary Johnson, SRT Motorsports Racing Manager. “The track has a fairly low-grip surface. Luckily the schedule had us testing there for five and a half hours earlier this week, more than usual.”

SRT (89 points) currently sits third in the ALMS point standings, eight markers behind second-place BMW (97 points). Corvette is the leader in the GT Class with 128 points.

“Going into Baltimore (last race) we were third in points, five points away from the leaders,” said Goossens. “Obviously we’ve lost ground. I think COTA, VIR and Atlanta might be better tracks for us, tracks that suits the (SRT Viper) GTS-R better. It’s very important for the entire team that both cars are up there in the standings. We still think we can do well in this championship, we can still finish on top by the time we come to Atlanta but we can’t let go of any points. Everything needs to be spot-on. We have to come away from Austin with the maximum points and hopefully the 93 car can take away points from the competition too.”

Global Rallycross
Travis Pastrana and Bryce Menzies will be behind the wheel of the Dodge Darts this weekend as Global Rallycross heads to The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway for a Sunday afternoon tilt.

A completely new racing environment will welcome GRC drivers this year. The 2012 event was held on the frontstretch of the 1.5-mile of Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway will greet competitors with a mix of dirt and pavement along with traditional obstacles and jumps associated with GRC events.

Pastrana finished ninth last year at Charlotte.

“The team has been working on the cars quite a bit looking to make some further improvements,” Johnson said. “The drivers are really anxious to get behind the wheel again and give the fans a good show.”

Menzies says there’s momentum in the camp. “I feel we have some momentum going into Charlotte,” said Menzies, who will make his first GRC start since Summer X Games in Los Angeles last month. “The team has been working hard to make the cars better. They took them up to Dodge headquarters (Auburn Hills, Mich.) recently and worked with the engineers looking for ways to improve performance. They came up with several changes – cut out some weight, made the car a little more aerodynamic and stuff like that. Travis and I are really looking forward to getting back in the car and checking out the improvements

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The Race: American Le Mans Series
The Place: Circuit of Americas (COTA)
The Date: Saturday, Sept. 21 at 4:45 p.m. (EDT)
TV: Sunday, Sept. 22 – ESPN – 1:00 p.m. (EDT) tape-delay

The Race: Global Rallycross Series
The Place: The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway
The Date: Sunday, Sept. 22
TV: Sunday, Sept. 22 – ABC – 4:30 p.m. (EDT)