Bryan Sellers to Run Watkins Glen Doubleheader
BRYAN SELLERS TO RUN WATKINS GLEN DOUBLEHEADER
Young Gun Adds Magnus Racing Ride In Glen 6 Hour to CTSCC Effort
WATKINS GLEN, NY, June 1, 2011 – Bryan Sellers ** loves to race. Nowhere will that be more evident than in Watkins Glen, NY this weekend with the Grand-Am Road Racing doubleheader at Watkins Glen International. The Braselton, GA-resident will compete in both the Continental Tire 150, Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) Grand Sport (GS)-class race on Friday and the Rolex Series’ headline Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on Saturday. In addition to his regular CTSCC ride in the No.33 Sail on Travel Inc./Vion-Hitachi Data Systems BMW M3 Coupe with Jade Buford (Brentwood, TN) in the CTSCC show, Sellers has been named to co-drive the No.44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry in the June 4, six-hour main event with John Potter (Salt Lake City, UT) and Craig Stanton (Long Beach, CA).
Magnus Racing is not new to Sellers. The sports car racing young gun drove for the Salt Lake City-based Porsche team in the CTSCC race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2010. The combination of Sellers and team owner Potter finished 36th in the GS class after a power steering failure eliminated their Porsche Cayman. This marks the first time Sellers has raced the Rolex Series GT Porsche with the team. This season, the Team Falken Tire factory driver has competed only once prior to “The Glen” in the Rolex Series GT-class having raced to a second-place finish at the prestigious, season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona (FL).
The now familiar green and white No.44 has an excellent chance to add a hallmark victory to the resume of each team driver this weekend. The 911 GT3 Cup entry – a race version of the venerable 911 – has performed well on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn, “Six Hour” course in upstate New York. The race’s length – the second longest on the Grand-Am schedule behind only the Rolex 24-hour at Daytona International Raceway – and the track’s high-speed, technical layout levels the playing field against the purebred, tube-frame construction of other cars in the GT class. The strong driver lineup, which includes recent Rolex GT Champion Stanton, gives Sellers one of his best opportunities to hoist the Six Hour trophy in the race. The clock will start at 1 PM (ET), Saturday.
The former open wheel racing champion has competed all season in the Sports Car Challenge Series with the Kinetic Motorsports-prepared BMW M3. Leading into the June 3, 6 PM (ET) start of the two hour, 30-minute Watkins Glen race for the CTSCC cars, Sellers has scored a season-best finish of sixth at Virginia International Raceway (VIR).
CTSCC testing opens on Wednesday afternoon at Watkins Glen with practice and qualifying coming on Thursday. The Rolex Series will start its practice on Friday with qualifying later that day.
The Six Hours of the Glen with air on SPEED Channel beginning at 4:30 PM (ET) on June 4. The CTSCC event will be tape-delayed airing at 5 PM (ET) on June 12 on SPEED. Live timing and scoring of each race can be found at www.Grand-Am.com. Race notes can be found on Twitter at @CT_Challenge for the CTSCC event while the Rolex Series notes are available by following @RolexSeries.
Quotes
Bryan Sellers:
About joining Magnus Racing: “I am very excited to return with Magnus Racing for the Six Hours of The Glen. I have always wanted to win at Watkins Glen and Magnus offers that opportunity this weekend. Anytime you drive with a great team like Magnus you have the chance to sit on the podium and I intend to do everything I can to help them get there. They have proven over and over again that they are an incredible team and have everything needed to win races! When I received the call asking if I could drive with them for the Six Hour it was an easy decision. John and Craig are a great duo and I am proud to be joining them.”
About the challenge of being asked to be the third driver on a winning program: “It is a challenge being called in as a third guy. Being under pressure to step into a big event and perform, that’s what I love most about racing! Guys like John and Craig make the transition in much easier though. The whole team is very inviting which makes it a great place to drive.”
About regaining momentum in the CTSCC: “The best and worst thing about motorsports is your last race is forgotten as soon as you move onto the next one. With Watkins Glen so close it does give us an immediate opportunity to redeem ourselves from a tough weekend at Lime Rock. I am really looking forward to having the opportunity to do so in the No.33 BMW.”
John Potter, Owner/Driver, Magnus Racing
About Bryan Sellers joining Magnus Racing: “Bryan has driven with Magnus Racing once before and definitely showed us why he is one of the best Porsche drivers in North America. I'm very excited to have him join Craig and myself for the six hour at Watkins Glen - it's a strong driver lineup that I know can contend for victory."
For more on Bryan Sellers, please visit him on the web at www.BryanSellersRacing.com. Follow Bryan on Twitter (www.Twitter.com/BryanSellers) and Facebook.
Learn more about the teams:
Team Falken Tire, ALMS GT Class: www.FalkenTire.com.
Kinetic Motorsports, CTSCC GS Class: www.KSSMotorsports.com.
Magnus Racing, Rolex Series, GT Class: www.MagnusRacing.com.
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