DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Automatic Racing will field two Aston Martin GT4s during the season opening IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race at Daytona Int’l Speedway on Jan. 26.
Team veterans Al Carter and Steven Phillips will team up with Aurora Straus in the No. 99 Stoner Car Care Aston Martin GT4.
Straus competed in the ST class last season and the season opener at Daytona will mark the 19-year-old’s Grand Sport class debut. Straus is also an avid musician, and she is slated to sing the National Anthem prior to the start of the race.
“I’m really looking forward to making this jump up in my career. I think I’m ready to deal with the additional horsepower of the Aston Martin, and I know the car is going to be competitive,” said Straus. “Automatic Racing has really been a success story, so being able to be a part of that for the opening round at Daytona is a dream come true.”
Rob Ecklin, another longtime Automatic Racing driver, is co-driving the No. 09 Invisible Glass Aston Martin GT4 with Brandon Kidd and Ramin Abdolvahabi.
Kidd has an extensive history racing on dirt and asphalt, including the ARCA Racing Series, SCCA Mazda Pro Cup and dirt/asphalt late models. In 2016 he was crowned the 2016 Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints Rookie of the Year.
“This is my first time in the series, so I just have to take advantage of my teammates,” Kidd said. “They’re all so experienced, and I leaned a lot from Al and Steven during the Roar to get my lap times down. I think the driver changes will be the tough part. The car and the drivers have to make the whole race, and it’s going to be a long day, but we hope to keep the car in one piece. I’d like us to be there for a solid finish at the end.”
Abdolvahabi has competed in both the GS and ST classes of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series, including an 11th-place finish with Automatic Racing at last year’s Daytona round.
“The Aston Martin is fantastic. Automatic Racing has done this car for so many years and it’s really competitive,” said Abdolvahabi. “We have a lot of new cars in the field, but Automatic Racing has a great track record with the Aston Martin. In a four-hour race, you’ve got to consider all of the valuables. You can’t treat it as a sprint race. You have to be conscious and pace yourself.”
Source : speedsport.com
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