Craig Stanton Wins Daytona Grand-Am Cup

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., January 30, 2004 � Craig Stanton, of Long Beach, California, won his first career Grand-Am Cup event today in the Daytona 250 from Daytona International Speedway (DIS). Making his season debut with the No. 44 TheRaceSite.com Racing Porsche 996, Stanton started the event driving to the team's first, and only, pit stop of the event. Stanton, an avid athlete, used his physical endurance to stretch his driving stint to a full fuel load before handing over the red, yellow and black Porsche to co-driver Terry Borcheller of Gainesville, Ga. The Daytona 250, the first Grand-Am Cup of the season and the first race of Speedweeks 2004, is a support event for tomorrow's 42nd Annual Rolex 24 at Daytona, twice-around the clock endurance event. Stanton will start the Rolex 24 in the No. 16 SGS class Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of AASCO Motorsports and is listed as a favorite to win the race with co-drivers David Murry (Cumming, Ga.) and Tim Sugden (Leeds, Great Britain) despite starting in the last position. “The Grand-Am Cup race was a great start to what I think will be a good year,” remarked Stanton minutes after stepping off Daytona International Raceway's world famous victory podium. “Like the AASCO team, the Nonnamaker/ TheRaceSite.com team has a lot of passion and focus. They know the race strategy of these events real well. Terry and I complement each other in many areas to come up with, what I feel, is one of the best driver teams in the series. Terry and I have been friends for many, many years and this is the first opportunity that we have had to work together. So it is another goal that has been met on my list.”“This win today with Terry and TheRaceSite.com Porsche is just a great start for personal momentum for the Rolex tomorrow,” continued Stanton. “The AASCO car has been quickest in every session we have run this weekend and at the test, except for two I think. I've never seen a group of talented people come together with such excitement and have such good results as we've had so far in the Rolex 24 Hour weekend. I'm very optimistic for a good run in the race!” Since moving from moto-cross/super-cross to automobiles in 1986, Stanton has positioned himself as one of the premier drivers in sports car racing. A desire to win in all kinds of machines has led to drives in closed and open cockpit sports cars, sedans, NASCAR stock cars, open wheel formula cars and midgets and in off-road competition. He has won three championships and a Driver of the Year award in Sports Renault and is the 1997 Speedvision Cup Rising Star Award winner. Stanton began competing in the top echelon of sports car racing in 1999 with rides in both the ALMS and USRRC. He takes his fitness training very seriously with the goal of being the fittest race driver in the world and has competed in 27 triathlons in his career.For more on Craig Stanton please visit www.craigstanton.com. For more on TheRaceSite.com Racing team, please visit www.theracesiteracing.com. For more on AASCO Motorsports' Rolex Series effort, please visit www.aascomotorsports.com .###