Racing

Rumbum Has Horsepower at 24 Hours of Daytona

by Bryan Lahr on January 23, 2009 at 03:18PM

Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge competitors will begin their quest for the 2009 Grand Sport (GS) and Street Tuner (ST) championships beginning this week at Daytona International Speedway.

The 2009 24 Hours of Daytona will no doubt be an exciting one. The race, which begins on Saturday, will be one of the most competitive in recent history, with new teams and many driver changes.

Rumbum.com is proud to sponsor the #69 Speedsource Mazda GT. Drivers Mike Canney and Matt Plumb are set to kick some ass in this tear's race.

Rehagen Racing and Horsepower Ranch dominated the three-day test session at Daytona earlier in the month, with Rehagen Racing drivers setting fast times each day. Among those competing Friday will be Robert Bengoa and Bryan Ortiz in the No. 57 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT, and Dean Martin and Ken Wilden in the No. 59 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT. Ortiz set the fast time for two of those test days, while Wilden was fastest on the first day.

Speedsource has drivers Matt and Hugh Plumb in the No. 69 Speedsource Mazda RX-8 entry competing with Mike Canney and Jack Roush Jr. . Hugh Plumb led during last year's race and also split a victory with Canney and Matt Plumb in last year's season finale, the six-hour race at Virginia International Raceway.

Defending race winners Craig Stanton (GS) and Glenn Bocchino (ST) will be on hand to defend their race victory after taking the checkered flag first in the 2008 race. However, the landscape has changed for last year's champions, leaving the door open for others who have championship aspirations.

Stanton, who finished fourth in last year's point standings, is entered in the No. 83 BGB Motorsports Revo Technik/Performance Drink Porsche 997, tentatively with John Tecce. Stanton was running fourth late in last year's race when problems sidelined the top-three running cars, and he and Tim Traver took the victory.

Another defending race winner, Glenn Bocchino, has moved from the ST circuit to GS, and will drive the No. 32 i-MOTO Racing/Kinetic Motorsports Cybernation/Cobalt Friction BMW M3 with Todd Lamb. The team also has entries for Lee Davis and Russell Smith (No. 78 BMW M3), Nic Jönsson and Gunnar Jeannette (No. 79 BMW M3) and Lance Willsey and Chip Herr (No. 80 BMW M3).

Other teams entered include CMA Motorsports, Cardiosport Racing, Motorsport Technology Group, Fall-Line Motorsports, Hyper Sport/Jim Click Racing, CA Sport, Maxwell Paper Racing and Ranger Sports Racing. Practice for the race begins at 11:45 a.m. Thursday, with qualifying for the ST class at 5 p.m. and the GS class at 5:30 p.m. Catch live timing and scoring, as well as updates throughout Thursday and Friday.