Friday Report: Typical Mid-Season Practice

So what kind of interesting things can we write about after the first day of practice for this weekend's Global Barter 250?

Well, nothing.

That's right, welcome to the mid-season, when no one shows what they 'got. Concentrating on long fuel runs, tire wear, and of course keeping our cards close to our chest, the no. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche ran flawlessly today, finishing the day in the top-10 (which is PR-speak for 10th).

"We have a few things to work on for qualifying, but we're getting there," stated Andy Lally, who set the team's fastest time of the day at a 1:23.792. "We weren't really focusing on setting lap-times, but really thinking about our race setup and what we think the car is going to do over a long run."

With one more practice session before tomorrow's qualifying, all eyes are focused on small tweaks in the effort to get as far up the grid as possible for the race.

"There's not too many places to pass here, so qualifying will definitely be important," stated John Potter, who will most likely qualify the car tomorrow as well as start Sunday's race. "It's really hard to gauge just where our car is against everyone, but the car has been reliable, and nothing's blown up!"

After two engine failures during practice in successive race weekends, Magnus Racing has at least gotten away cleanly from the first few runs.

Running the special pink no.44 in honor of Susasn G. Komen for the Cure- South and Central Jersey, the team has extra motivation to perform well.

Based on today's run, we can at least say... so far so good. That's all we got.

Pink. It's the New Grey

Millville, NJ (May 10, 2012)- Magnus Racing is pleased to arrive at the track this weekend with a special surprise livery… an all pink no. 44 Porsche in honor of Susan G. Komen for the Cure- Central and South Jersey.

Komen Central and South Jersey, an affiliate of the parent Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, is committed to increasing screening mammography in order to save lives through early breast cancer detection. Twenty-five percent of the affiliate proceeds support innovative national breast cancer research programs while the remaining 75% supports local programs. Serving 13 counties in New Jersey - Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Salem, and Somerset - the affiliate will reach 100,000 women with breast cancer education and screening programs.

With the parent foundation having a long history of receiving “pink” support in racing, the gang at Magnus Racing have all decided to do their part by transforming the traditional grey and white livery to pink and white leading up to this weekend’s event. Ironically, it was at New Jersey Motorsports Park one year ago where the team made the transition from their original green livery to grey.

“We really enjoy taking an active role in the GRAND-AM community and this is a great cause for our team to get behind,” stated Magnus Racing Team Owner John Potter. “Susan G. Komen for the Cure is a great organization with a strong and powerful heritage, and it’s an honor that we can be a part of it. To be honest, the car actually looks pretty awesome in pink, it seems like all of our best ideas show up at this track.”

In addition to the livery, Magnus Racing will also take an active role in the weekend for the foundation. Involving themselves in everything from providing honorary VIP experiences for auction winners, all the way to auctioning off opportunities to sign the car before it goes out to race, Magnus Racing is excited to take a lead role in the weekend.

“Our team has developed a strong relationship with New Jersey Motorsports Park over the years, and I’m happy to continue that bond,” added Potter. “It seems like we run some sort of big event here every year, so it’s nice to keep to our tradition.”

Two years ago, Magnus Racing announced and executed their plans to build “Magnus Racing East” at New Jersey Motorsports Park, where the team unveiled their name and logo on a series of bouncy houses in the track’s kid zone. One year ago, the team ran a free karting event for GRAND-AM crews and drivers, with the winning team (Turner Motorsports) being awarded cash prizes.

For Magnus Racing co-driver Andy Lally, who grew up only two hours away in Long Island, New York, this weekend’s program adds the perfect compliment to his pursuit of his 100th GRAND-AM podium.

“In all my years in racing, I’ve never driven a pink car before,” stated Lally. “It’s actually really cool, and honestly very humbling to get to work with an organization like this. Our team can’t work any harder than we already are, but this definitely provides extra motivation.”

The Central and South Jersey Affiliate is also sponsoring an on-line charity auction for opportunities to wave the green flag or to participate in VIP experiences with several of the leading Rolex Series and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge teams. Michael Shank Racing, SunTrust Racing, GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing, Magnus Racing and APR Motorsport have donated pit crew experiences for the Rolex Series race, while Stevenson Motorsports, BimmerWorld Racing, Turner Motorsport, Roush Performance and Fall-Line Racing invite fans to join their crew for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race.

To bid on any of the fan experiences for the event, please visit the event page on the Susan G. Komen Central and South Jersey website at: http://www.komencsnj.org/njmp.

Magnus Racing and the entire GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series will race this Sunday at The Global Barter 250 presented by Susan G. Komen for the Cure- Central and South Jersey. Live coverage will be featured on SPEED at 1PM ET.

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Susan G. Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest and most progressive grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists the only grassroots organization fighting to cure breast cancer at every stage, from the causes to the cures and the pain and anxiety of every moment in between. The Komen Central and South Jersey affiliate is committed to increasing screening mammography in order to save lives through early breast cancer detection. Twenty-five percent of the affiliate proceeds support innovative national breast cancer research programs while the remaining 75% supports local programs. Serving 13 counties in New Jersey - Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Salem, and Somerset - the affiliate will reach 100,000 women in 2000 with breast cancer education and screening programs.

Magnus Racing will continue to provide updates and coverage throughout the week via their Facebook (facebook.com/RacingMagnus) and Twitter (@MagnusRacing), as well as via www.magnusracing.com. You can also follow Andy Lally on Twitter (@AndyLally).

More information about Magnus Racing can be found at www.magnusracing.com. Any organization interested in learning more about how to be involved with one of the most unique and visible teams in sports car racing can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.

Hamster Wars 2: South Jersey Edition.

Salt Lake City, UT (May 7, 2012)- When Magnus Racing and Kinetic Motorsports made a wager to be the first to get Andy Lally to his 100th GRAND-AM series podium, few would have expected the ensuing deluge in Homestead, Florida, to put such a damper on both teams’ plans. With Magnus Racing taking seventh in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and Kinetic Motorsports taking fourth in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, both teams seek to continue the wager in to this weekend’s events at Thunderbolt Raceway in South Jersey’s famed New Jersey Motorsports Park.

With Andy Lally currently holding 99 combined podiums in GRAND-AM competition, the wager is simple. Whoever gets Lally to his 100th podium first, be it the no. 10 Infinity Audio Forte Koup in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge or the no. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche GT3 Cup in The Rolex Sports Car Series, will force a team member from the opposing team to dance in the signature Kia “hamster suit” at the next series event (in this case, Mid-Ohio).

Having the advantage of running first during Saturday’s B+ Heroes 200 presented by BCKSTGR, Kinetic Motorsports will look to earn their third podium of the season in defense of their current championship points lead. Should Kinetic achieve the goal, Magnus Racing Team Manager Shannon Davis will be forced to adorn the hamster suit, to be seen on the grid at Mid-Ohio.

Should Kinetic fail and Magnus Racing manage to achieve their second podium of the year during the Global Barter 250 on Sunday, Kinetic co-driver Nic Jonsson will fulfill Kinetic’s end of the bargain.

“I had no idea the guys had been planning this at Homestead,” stated Lally. “It would have been nice to wrap this up there, but both races didn’t quite go our way, but we have a great couple race cars headed in to New Jersey. Nic and Shannon are great guys for doing this. Nic is a pretty hairy guy so it won’t be much of a challenge, but Shannon is about 6’3” so I’m not sure how he’s even going to fit in it.”

Lally is no stranger to success at the Millville, New Jersey locale, located just a couple hours south of where he grew up in Long Island, New York. When the track made its professional racing debut with GRAND-AM in 2008, Lally took double victories; winning both with Kinetic in the Continental Series, as well as with a Porsche in the Rolex Series.

“We want to get Andy his 100th podium very badly,” stated Magnus Racing Team Owner John Potter. “However, we’ll settle for getting his 101st. Kinetic is a good group of guys, and we definitely want to make up for ground lost during the strange race everyone had at Homestead.”

The Global Barter 250 will take place this Sunday, May 13, and can be seen live on SPEED at 1PM ET. Saturday’s Continental race will be broadcast on SPEED in two weeks on Saturday, May 26 at 2PM ET.

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Magnus Racing will continue to provide updates and coverage throughout the week via their Facebook (facebook.com/RacingMagnus) and Twitter (@MagnusRacing), as well as via www.magnusracing.com. You can also follow Andy Lally on Twitter (@AndyLally).

More information about Magnus Racing can be found at www.magnusracing.com. Any organization interested in learning more about how to be involved with one of the most unique and visible teams in sports car racing can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.

Homestead Slideshow- Audio by Andy and Williams/Hyatt Show

Andy Lally- Homestead Review from Magnus Racing on Vimeo.

Seventh. Meh

Homestead, Fla. (April 30, 2012)-Concluding a weekend that literally saw the only dry sessions occur during Friday practice, Magnus Racing and the no. 44 Flex-Box Porsche GT3 Cup car took home seventh place at the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series’ Grand Prix of Miami. While this was the team’s third straight top-10, it is a result that can best be described as indifferent.

After qualifying was cancelled on Saturday due to torrential rain, Magnus Racing’s John Potter was awarded the first starting position due to the team’s lead in the point standings, the first in his GRAND-AM Rolex Series career.

Driving an impressive opening stint in extremely wet conditions, Potter held off a hard charging Sylvain Tremblay in the no. 70 SpeedSource Mazda to lead for the first part of the race. Unfortunately, a small mistake would cause John to run off the track briefly, re-joining in ninth place with no damage to the car. Not alone in his error, several others cars would spin, run wide, and all bring back dirt and mud on to the track, eventually leading GRAND-AM officials to make the call to go to a yellow flag as they cleaned the track.

With Potter pitting and placing Andy Lally in the car, the team turned their attention to gaining ground and considering different pit strategies. Running a strong series of opening laps, Lally made quick work of the cars in front of him, moving up to second position before a rare, un-forced error would send Lally running wide as well, again without damage, but losing several positions in the process.

As the rain showers picked up, the race all of a sudden became interesting… or boring, depending on the team you ask.

Determining the conditions to be too extreme, GRAND-AM threw a full course caution to bring the cars to a manageable pace. During the first few laps of this caution, series officials made no mention of possibly shortening the race, and several teams, including Magnus Racing, took the opportunity to top up on fuel and change all four tires.

With a handful of cars not pitting, Magnus would re-join the field in seventh, Lally having his work cut out to beat the cars in front of him on the same strategy, as well as the cars even further ahead who had yet to pit.

However, it was all moot, as GRAND-AM officials would never waive the green flag again, and instead waving the checkered flag before the race had even hit two hours (of a planned 2:45). This was critical, as the leading cars in both the GT and DP categories would have run out of fuel had GRAND-AM chosen to run the designated race time. The arbitrary nature of the decision to end the race therefore had a critical role in the race's outcome, as the leading cars would have had to pit again had the series run the full distance.

“Winning this race might have been a little out of reach for us,” stated John Potter. “But at the same time, the result is pretty frustrating because it was an odd time to end the race."

With conditions nearly identical to other points in the race, the decision to stop the race seemed random at best, especially as very little indication was given until minutes before the decision was made to stop the race. Just to make matters worse, as the team loaded the transporter, the sun would peak out 20 minutes later, or more accurately, at what would have been the 2:30 mark if the race had continued.

At the end of the day, whatevs. The team is packed up and moving on to the next race in just two weeks time, the Global Barter 250 at New Jersey Motorsports Park, with live coverage on SPEED on Sunday, May 13 at 1PM ET. In addition to continuing the pursuit for 100 podiums for Andy Lally in GRAND-AM competition, the team will also be running a special program to be announced soon.

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Flex-Box is a leading worldwide supplier of new and used shipping, storage and reefer containers. An international company based in Hong Kong, Flex Box manufactures and ships containers to customers all over the world. Keeping a year round inventory of containers in China, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and North America, the Flex Box staff can help with container requirements whether a client needs one or one thousand containers in any location.For more information, visit www.flex-box.com.

Magnus Racing will continue to provide updates and coverage throughout the week via their Facebook (facebook.com/RacingMagnus) and Twitter (@MagnusRacing), as well as via www.magnusracing.com. You can also follow Andy Lally on Twitter (@AndyLally).

More information about Magnus Racing can be found at www.magnusracing.com. Any organization interested in learning more about how to be involved with one of the most unique and visible teams in sports car racing can e-mail info@magnusracing.com. All press inquiries can be directed to press@magnusracing.com.