TAVARES, Fla. -   In the 1977 box office hit "Star Wars," Obi-Wan Kenobi told his Jedi protégé Luke Skywalker to use "the force." Much like Skywalker, Alex Job and the Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team have also been in search of some force - well, downforce that is.
 
Crawford Composites has spent the past month developing a new front splitter for the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Porsche-powered Crawford. Unlike the original front splitter on the Crawford DP08 bodywork, the new front splitter should provide the No. 23 machine with the necessary downforce it needs to run with the leaders. In fact, the splitter was tested during a coast down test last week and it showed some promising results.  
 
Now armed with some improved downforce, drivers Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand are set to do battle in Thursday's Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway.
 
"It sounds like the coast down test went really well," Hand said. "Greg Fordahl [team engineer] was there and I trust him. He seems to think that they've [Crawford] made some good progress. We are all optimistic that we can turn this thing around at Daytona, which is where we'll start the second part of this season. I think everyone has high hopes for this race."
 
"The numbers that came out of the coast down test were very good," Auberlen said. "So, I am cautiously optimistic at this point. We will know how good we are as soon as we hit the track. Crawford has made a good effort of making a lot of parts for the car and it looks like we might have something for Daytona."    
 
"I am encouraged by the new developments from Crawford," Job said. "It appears that they've made some sizeable progress. The results from the coast down test were very encouraging. The true test will be this Thursday at Daytona. This new front splitter should be the answer that we've been looking for. I am really looking forward to this race."
 
The last time the team was at Daytona for the Rolex 24, driver Joey Hand drove the Alex Job Racing-prepared No. 23 Porsche Crawford to the front for 25 laps before handing it over to co-driver Bill Auberlen, who led the race for an additional 27 laps. Before the race was over, Hand and Auberlen led for 59 laps.   
 
Thursday will a busy day for the drivers in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. The one-day event will see Daytona Prototype and GT drivers practice, qualify and race within 12 hours. Practice runs from 10 a.m. (ET) to 12:35 p.m., with two 15 minute breaks. DP qualifying is from 1:45 to 2 p.m. SPEED will air the Brumos Porsche 250 live beginning at 8 p.m. (ET). Live Timing & Scoring is available at www.grand-am.com.