MILLVILLE, N.J. - The Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team was fastest in both practice sessions today at New Jersey Motorsports Park, in preparation for this weekend's Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Supercar Life 250.
Driving the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Porsche-powered Riley, driver Joey Hand turned the day's fastest lap with a 1:11.520 (113.255 mph) around the 2.250-mile road course. While Hand set the day's fastest overall time, his teammate Bill Auberlen was the fastest in this afternoon's practice session with a 1:12.565 (111.624 mph). Auberlen's time was a bit slower due to the fact that the afternoon practice was a combined session with the GT cars.
"So far so good, especially for being at a track that no one has been on before" Hand said of the team's fast practice times. "This is just a testament to Alex Job Racing and all of the guys. Our engineer Greg Fordahl put a great setup on the car. This is very exciting for us. This is what I knew this team was capable of. Racing is all about momentum and right now, we've got good momentum heading into tomorrow.
"I actually like the track. In terms of driving, it's great. There are a couple of little issues with it. There is an issue with the pit out road. There is an issue with the dust when cars go off. When that happens, you drive into 'Days of Thunder-style' clouds of dirt where you have no idea what's on the other side. It's actually very scary. They had to fix the pit in wall because [Scott] Pruett's car hit it yesterday. Those are three things that need to be changed. But overall, I think these guys did a really good job designing a racetrack that is fun to drive."
"The car was good right from the get go," Auberlen said of today's practice. "We only made a couple of very small changes. Other than that, the car is really good. Joey and the team have done a great job. We're looking good. And now, we've just want to keep it up front.
"Overall, I like track. I think that once they get some of these little things ironed out, I think it will be really nice to drive on. They need to be able to control the dust. They also need to be able to make the pit entrance safe. But, all-in-all, it's a very fun, challenging, and fast track. It kind of reminds me of VIR, with its fast turns."
"It was a great day for us," Team Owner Alex Job said. "We were P1 in both sessions, which backed up what we did yesterday in the test session. Both Bill and Joey have done a tremendous job driving. My engineer Greg Fordahl has done an unbelievable job. For Greg to hit the setup like he did here, it just shows the strength of our engineer.
"We unloaded the car from the trailer like this. In fact, we've only made a couple of small changes to it. It just unloaded this fast. The good thing about coming here is the fact that this is the first time any of us have been here, which is the great equalizer."
Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series practice resumes at 9:15 a.m. (ET), Saturday, Aug. 30, followed by a 15-minute Daytona Prototype qualifying session at 1:50 p.m. (ET). All Rolex Series teams will get one final 30-minute practice session beginning at 8 a.m. (ET), Sunday, Aug. 31. Race fans can watch all of the exciting door-to-door action from round 13 live on SPEED with coverage beginning at 1 p.m. Fans can also watch live timing and scoring at www.grand-am.com. |
