O’CONNELL & SPEAKMAN 9TH AT INFINEON, BEGINS TESTING FOR ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA IN 2007

Source: O'CONNELL RACING
Date: 09/10/2006

With the conclusion of the Rolex Series after the 9 Hours at Miller Motorsports Park, OCR has committed to a rigorous testing schedule for the coming months. Infineon proved that the team has gained significant experience and knowledge from the select races completed in its inaugural season. Kevin O’Connell, team owner and driver commented, “Infineon was a defining race for everyone on the team this year. Barry and Roy were right on with pit strategy as I stayed in the car for 2 hours negating several cautions early to come in and pit. We gained track position as a result of the strategy moving as high as 4th after starting 15th. After running the car out of fuel on the front straight I used the reserve cell to get around the track and hand the car off to Mike.”

The team brought its primary Porsche GT-3 car to Infineon for the race. Mike Speakman commented, “ We had problems with the clutch and gear box throughout the weekend. We skipped morning warm ups to avoid any further damage but by the time I got in the car for the final stint it would not shift into any gear under caution or race condition unless you blipped the engine hard. The faster you were going the easier the gear change. The 996 GT-3 car is pretty durable and somehow we got through the race.“

The team finished 9th for its first top ten in the Rolex Series. Rick Toth was moved back to pit lane fueler and Eddie Bernabeo resumed his position as front tire changer. Roy Montgomery, Technical Director for OCR commented, “ What an incredible job everyone did. We took a wounded car and made no fatal mistakes all day. Kevin and Mike both had solid performances in the cockpit and the team made a clean pitstop under green flag conditions when we had no luck on getting a timely caution. We never gave up and ended up with a solid finish for the year."

Infineon is the final Rolex Series race for the year for OCR and the team is busy preparing the new Riverside race facility for use and preparing its American Stock cars for the next three road races in Arizona and California in that series.

Additionally, the team is working with Porsche North America to acquire 1 of 12 purpose built 997’s prepared specifically for the Rolex Series. Kevin O’Connell, team owner and driver stated, “ We want to run the 997 with the sequential gearbox and additional power in the sprint races next year and keep the 996 GT-3 for the endurance races. The 996 is a proven winner at the Daytona 24 hour and some of the other races that are particularly hard on equipment and Barry and Roy have really familiarized themselves with the car and its set up.”

Also, OCR plans to acquire a NASCAR Nextel Cup and a Busch car from a recognized leading team out of North Carolina. The team intends to run one of the cars at the NASCAR West Infineon race in 2007. If possible, and if without any other conflicts with its Rolex Series schedule, the team will try to run Watkins Glen or Infineon in a Nextel Cup car. Additional information will be made available on these plans in early 2007.

Special thanks to the marketing partners of OCR currently managed by SpeedSport Branding, LLC: General Environmental Management, Inc., Taleo Grill (the Spirit of Mexico), Mothers Polishes-Waxes-Cleaners, Dragon Optical, Crow Enterprises, HPC West, MicroFiberStuff.com, Neo Synthetics, SparcoUSA, Streamline Designs, General Pacific Group, IMMS, Inc., BASF and Arnett Designs. SPEE

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