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Edwards And Collins Ready To Roll At ‘Lime Rock’

May 20, 2008

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DAYTON ABEACH, Fla.– Kelly Collins said after Saturday’s win at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca it isn’t the right time to be talking about the championship, but any time is right to be talking about victories. In next Monday’s Lime Rock Classic 250 at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn., the sixth race on the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 GT schedule, Collins and his No. 07 Banner Racing Banner Engineering Pontiac GXP.R co-driver Paul Edwards will be shooting for their third class win together of the 2008 season.

Collins and Edwards are coming off their second GT win of the season in the RumBum.com 250 at Laguna Seca, when Edwards drove past Sylvain Tremblay after the SpeedSource team owner and co-driver Sylvain Tremblay slipped off the track in the famed Corkscrew turn and got sideways at the bottom of the hill with under two laps remaining. Edwards and Spencer Pumpelly took first and second away from Tremblay, and Edwards pushed the No. 07 to first at the checkered flag. Collins and Edwards also won March’s GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and lead Pumpelly and Tim George Jr. by nine points (154-145) in the driver standings.

Now, Collins and Edwards look for that league-leading third victory at the same 1.53-mile, seven-turn track which the team’s sister No. 06 Banner Racing Banner Engineering Pontiac GXP.R – then driven by Leighton Reese and Tim Lewis Jr. – won a year ago. Lewis has moved to another Pontiac GXP.R., the No. 72 from the Autohaus Motorsports stable.

“The Pontiac has won the race the Lime Rock race last two years, the Banner No. 06 last year and the GTO.R in ’06,” Edwards said. “There are more Pontiacs on the grid this year, so it should be another good weekend. The Banner car has been reliable. The Banner crew has done a great job preparing the cars…from race to race. We should be at least a second-and-a-half faster than last year. This is about average from the other circuits we have run on the new Pirelli tires.
“In the pits the guys have consistently had the fastest stops,” Edwards continued. “This makes us really strong. We will also need the right strategy. We need to keep it clean on the track and in the pits. It will be nice to have a GT-only race. I miss those. Last year we had five. We will make the most it.”
Leading into this race, Reese has been the only constant in the No. 06 this season. He finished a season-best third at Homestead-Miami Speedway with Jan Magnussen. But this weekend at Lime Rock, the Minnesota native will fill the team owner role only as Magnussen and Ron Fellows will try to defend the No. 06Pontiac’s victory.

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