Alex Job Racing to Start on Fourth Row of GTC at Road America

Elkhart Lake, Wis.,  (Aug. 21, 2010), Alex Job Racing's (AJR) Bill Sweedler and Romeo Kapudija will take the green flag from the fourth row on the GTC grid for the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) presented by Tequila Patron Powered by eStart race at Road America tomorrow afternoon.

The team started the weekend Friday on a sour note.  As Kapudija dropped the clutch to exit the team's pit box a left rear half-shaft failed.  The AJR crew set about making a quick change and had the Chicago resident on track in less than 20-minutes.  Soon after a radiator clamp came loose spilling water on the left front wheel and brake.  Getting back to business, Sweedler and Kapuduja worked on the No. 23 Battery Tender/Tequila Patron Porsches set-up through changing track conditions.  Friday witnessed a well run-in track with lots of rubber.  Late that afternoon, a thunder storm blew through the region and washed the rubber away from the track.  What was thought to be a green racing surface today turned out to be the opposite as team's posted times more than a second faster than their best practice times on the weekend.

Kapudija had the controls of the No. 23 Porsche for qualifying.  A red flag period broke the rhythm of the session for Kapudija as well as interrupting what would have been his fast lap.  A time of 2:16.221 will have the team coming to the green from the fourth row in GTC.

"I went to leave pit road and the left half-shaft gave out," Kapudija said.  "The guys did a good job fixing the car, but it cost us valuable track time.  We got on track and then going into Turn Five I had a radiator hose come loose and water splashed all over the front tire and brakes.  I thought it was a Corvette in front of me dropping water.  I had to pull off and get towed in after that to the paddock.  Again the guys did a nice job to get the car back together.  We put a good set-up on the car and I thought we were going to have a good qualifying session, but on my third flyer the red flag came out and I never got to complete the lap.  The car is set-up great for the race.  Bill and I will give our usual consistent drive in the race and we will be good tomorrow."

Sweedler and the team will use the same strategy as they employed at Mid-Ohio which netted them a podium finish.

"There were a couple of incidents with the car and on the track that affected our track time yesterday and today," Sweedler said.  "Romeo and I will focus on the same strategy we had at Mid-Ohio and make a lot of progress in the race.  When we run error free races it works for us.  We will have that same strategy going into the race tomorrow afternoon."

Team owner, Alex Job, is hoping to turn a tough start to the weekend into a strong finish Sunday afternoon.   

"We had a tough start to the weekend with the half-shaft and the radiator hose," Job said.  "Romeo and Bill were able to put that behind us and got right down to work with set-up on the car.  The guys at the front made a marked improvement in their times from practice, almost unbelievable, at more than a second faster than they ran the last two days.  We were able to employ a strong strategy and run a near fault free race at Mid-Ohio.  We will need to do the same tomorrow."   

Round seven of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron Powered by eStar race from Road America will be televised live on the SPEED Channel starting at  3:00 p.m. ET, tomorrow, Sunday, August 22.

AJR 2010 GTC Season

Alex Job Racing is one of the most successful teams in ALMS history with 39 wins.  This record is supported by 46 pole positions and 80 podium finishes.   The team has won three championships (GT in 2002, 2003 and 2004) complimented by their two GT class wins at Le Mans.  The team also boasts seven Sebring 12 hour wins. 

The ALMS GTC category is specific to one of the most popular factory produced racing cars in the world, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.  Developed for Porsche's one-make series around the world, the new version of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is based on the road-going 911 GT3 RS. The power unit featured in the new 911 GT3 Cup is largely identical to the production engine of the 911 GT3 RS with the same output of 450 bhp and the same maximum engine speed of 8,500 rpm.