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Created on Saturday, 17 August 2013 10:40

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• Jordan Taylor holds off Scott Pruett for an hour to win third race of the year.

• Continental gives team's confidence to double stint at Kansas Speedway.

Kansas City, KS - August 17, 2013.  Similar to the “Wizard of Oz”, the GRAND-AM Series saw heart, courage and smarts during Saturday's double-header at Kansas Speedway.  The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series saw numerous team's double stint on tires with both class wins coming down to the final lap.  While in Rolex Series action, Jordan Taylor left it all on the track as Scott Pruett rode in his hip pocket for the final hour.  And no one will forget the heart of the No. 60 Michael Shank team who rebuilt their Ford in seven hours on Friday after an incident during practice destroyed the car.  And through it all, the Continental tires brought consistency and a worry-free race for all five classes in GRAND-AM's debut at the 2.37-mile speedway road course.

Rolex Series It was a dramatic turn of events that led to Saturday night's Daytona Prototype (DP) podium.  Following a penalty early in the race, Pruett battled back from 11th place in the No. 01 TELMEX BMW to give rookie, Taylor, a run for his money.  In the No. 10 Velocity WW Corvette, Taylor had a trunk full of Pruett for the final hour but some fresh Continental tire's late in the race gave Taylor the confidence he needed to hold off Pruett for the win.  During the final pit stop, a variety of tire strategies were used including the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford who only took right side tires.  It was a move that suited driver Ozz Negri whose team, including co-driver John Pew, bounced back from a catastrophic Friday to finish third.

“The Continental tires were great,” said Negri.  “I was doing my fastest lap at the end of the race with only right side tires.  (The tires) held on very good and our car was good.  We worked a little bit on the car on old tires and it was fantastic!”

Ferrari's dominated Friday's Grand Touring (GT) qualifying session with Alex Tagliani taking top honors over the No. 63 and No. 69 Ferrari's.  Late in the race Tagliani's co-pilot, Jeff Segal, came down pit road for the final time in the lead, but left with part of the fuel hose in the car forcing a penalty and relinquishing the lead to fellow Ferrari driver, Alessandro Balszan.  Balzan and his teammate, Leh Keen held on for the win marking the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 team's first win in the Rolex Series.

The duo of Tristan Nunez and Joel Miller combined for their fourth win of 2013 in the No. 00 Visit Florida Racing/Speedsource Mazda 6 in GX competition.  Completing 109 laps, Nunez and Miller put the Continental tire's to the test but once again, Continental's performance got the team to the finish line.

“They (the tires) were awesome,” said Nunez in victory lane.  “I was running on the set that I qualified on and still was pretty neutral throughout the whole race, for my whole stint.  No complaints about the tires.  I'm just very happy with the tires.  We double stinted tires at the end of the race and came out with a win, I think it was like four laps ahead so I think that proves something.”

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series In Grand Sport (GS) competition a multi-car accident in turn 1 forced a late-race caution with 17 minutes remaining in the 2.5-hour race.  John Edwards, in the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GS.R, held off Matt Plumb, in the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche 997, to win by a mere .425 seconds.  While the combination of Kansas Speedway and the Continental tires were a bit of an unknown, drivers praised the performance of the tire once again.

“The tires were our saving grace,” said Plumb.  “I don't know what everybody else did but I only got one set and I ran them my entire, what was almost probably 1 _ or 2 stints, and they never went away.  We worked with the tire over the course of the test day to really get the balance right on old tires.  And I've got to say they were just as good after 40 some laps as it was on stickers.  That's why we were there in the end.”

The Street Tuner (ST) class saw a bit of drama in the final restart.  Following a penalty for, “manipulating the final restart”, Michael Valiante would fall from first to 11th leaving the duo of Taylor Hacquard and Derek Jones to take their first win of the season in the No. 32 i-Moto/Cybernation Mazda Speed 3.  The competitive ST battle featured 15 lead changes among seven drivers and four cars. Valiante and co-driver, Chad Gilsinger led a race-high 66 laps, while Hacquard was credited with leading only the final lap.

The GRAND-AM Series travels to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the 10 race weekend of the 2013 season on September 8.  Fans can catch live coverage on Fox Sports 1 and MRN.  Check local listings for times.

Go into the garage with us @continentaltire.

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