Back Home Again In� Ohio; Bryan Sellers Returns to Mid-Ohio
Factory Racecar Driver’s Confidence Runs High Returning Home and to CTSCC
LEXINGTON, Ohio, June 4, 2012 – It would take Bryan Sellers less time to drive from the paddock of the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington to his boyhood home in Centerville than it to go from green flag to checkered in Saturday’s EMCO Gears Classic. The two-hour and 30-minute, June 9 race marks the return of the Sellers to both the GRAND-AM-sanctioned Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) and to the classic Ohio facility. The driver, who now lives in Braselton, Ga., had a conflict that kept him from co-driving with Mark Boden (Winnetka, Ill.) in round four of the road-car based series but he retakes the seat of the No. 46 BCKSTGR/Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3 Coupe this weekend. The Falken Tire factory driver will continue in the car with Boden for the remainder of the season.
The 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio road course is Sellers’ original home track. Growing-up outside of Dayton, many of the former open-wheel racing champion’s earliest motorsports experiences were here at Mid-Ohio. Most recently, Sellers won the American Le Mans Series GT class event in 2011 at the track. The EMCO Gears Classic race is his first race weekend back to Mid-Ohio since the victory.
Confidence runs high despite intense competition from the race’s 61-car entry list – 24 cars are in Sellers’ GS class. Generating that self-assurance is Sellers’ 2011 win here and the speed of the BCKSTGR BMW in earlier races this season. A daylong test session at Mid-Ohio with the Chicago-based team in late May proved productive as well.
Sellers missed the most recent CTSCC event with Fall-Line at New Jersey Motorsports Park due to prior racing commitments. However, he led much of the season-opening race in the GS class at Daytona International Speedway with the team. The car also proved quick in practice in the other two events before early race issues sidelined the No. 46 at both circuits. The overall speed and Sellers’ presence in the blue BMW keep the BCKSTGR entry as a constant threat for victories and nowhere has the combination had such high expectations than at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
SPEED will air the EMCO Gears Classic 200 on Saturday, June 17 at noon (EDT). Live timing and scoring of the event can be found at www.Grand-Am.com. Practice and qualifying are scheduled for Friday, June 8. The race will go green at 11 a.m. (ET), June 9.
Quotes
Bryan Sellers:
On the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: “Mid-Ohio has always been one of those tracks that I have loved from the very beginning. It is a great place with great history and it really is one of my all-time favorites. Mid-Ohio, however, is a place that has a few tricks to it and if you can find them it does turn into a large benefit. I hope I have found a few that will benefit the BCKSTGR BMW this weekend.”
On his objectives with Fall-Line for the remainder of the season: “From the very beginning of the season our goal has been to help win the championship for Mark and BCKSTGR. Unfortunately, with some of our bad luck we are out of the chase completely. That has changed our season and our target. We are now in full attack mode. Mark and I are going for wins only because it’s the only thing that matters now. Up until now, we have tried to use the practices to set the car up for the race and now we will go for outright speed and hope for the best.”
On Fall-Line’s recent Mid-Ohio test session: “The Fall-Line BMW is so mature in its development that it is very difficult to learn anything that helps make big jumps everywhere. The Mid-Ohio test was more track specific and trying to be as good there as possible. We were able to learn some things and hopefully they apply when we go back this week.”
On recent successes at Mid-Ohio carrying into this weekend: “It's a very different situation: different car, different team, different competition. However, I would say what gives me confidence for this weekend is Fall-Line’s preparation of our BCKSTGR BMW. They are prepared in all forms to win the race. I really hope we are able to deliver because we have all put in the work!”
For more on Bryan Sellers, please visit him on the web at "> www.BryanSellersRacing.com . Follow Bryan on Twitter ("> www.Twitter.com/BryanSellers ) and LIKE him on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/BryanSellersRacing .
Learn more about Fall-Line Racing, visit www.Fall-LineMotorsports.com .
For more on the Grand-Am Sports Car Challenge go to www.Grand-Am.com .
Visit www.FalkenTire.com for more on Team Falken Tire.
Go R/C racing with Bryan at www.HPIRACING.com.
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