Long, who stormed the 2011 season with four wins and four pole positions, claimed his first Pirelli World Challenge championship despite missing one round due to a scheduling conflict - at Miller Motorsports Park, as it happens. He returns to conclude some unfinished business, and is excited to get back behind the wheel of a World Challenge-spec car.
He said, “I’m thrilled to be continuing my relationship with TruSpeed, and to return on a weekend to fill in for Lawson. Miller is a very unique track, but it's been good to me in general. Rob Morgan and Tyler Tadevic have put a ton of effort into building the team into a serious contender, and it’s been awesome to watch as they’ve had good pace and early success this year.”
Long, who will substitute for Lawson Aschenbach during a scheduling conflict, will nonetheless carry Aschenbach’s 44lbs. of “success ballast,” a handicap he’s well acquainted with in the series, having clinched his 2011 championship with an extra 200lbs. onboard last year.
TruSpeed regular Justin Marks will race in the #46 GoPro / MMX Porsche this weekend, and will seek to build on strong results from Long Beach on the season’s first proper road course. He and Long will be joined by Utah native and 16-year old racing phenom Madison Snow, who himself will pull double racing duty this weekend, as he drives in both the Pirelli World Challenge and IMSA GT3 Challenge at his home track. Snow will drive the #47 TruSpeed Porsche GT3 Cup in the World Challenge event.
Team Manager Tyler Tadevic previewed the weekend, saying: “For sure, this is a very busy week of racing for us, and we’ve got every last TruSpeed employee firing on all cylinders getting things ready for our races. Juggling eight cars across three series doesn’t leave much down time, but we’ve got the right people in the right jobs, and a huge amount of confidence about our ability to be competitive across the board. It’s a huge deal having Patrick back for us this weekend; he was an integral part of our organization’s growth in 2011, and we need him to score maximum points to offset Lawson not being in the car this weekend. He’s a consummate professional, however, and once the green flag drops, it’s fun to just sit back and watch the guy race.”
The Utah Grand Prix kicks off Friday, April 27. For live coverage, visit http://www.world-challengetv.com.
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TruSpeed Motorsports was founded in 2001 by Rob and Charles Morgan, over the years racing in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge and World Challenge. TruSpeed runs a robust arrive-and-drive and trackday business, as well as a street and race car sales and service facility in Orange County.
For information about TruSpeed’s racing, performance car sales and service, visit: http://www.truspeedmotorcars.com
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