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2008 Riley Mk XI Southard Motorsports Prototype news, pictures, and information | ||
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About Southard Motorsports
Southard Motorsports, based in Powell , Ohio , is owned by Steve and Martha Southard. The program made its professional debut in 2003 and is one of only two teams to have participated in every Grand American Rolex Daytona Prototype Sports Car Series race since the inaugural season's final event. Since that time, Southard Motorsports has won the inaugural Jim Truman Driver ' s Award, scored two podium finishes ( Long Beach and Phoenix in 2006) and closed the 2007 season wîth a fourth-place at Miller Motorsports Park . Multiple-time Grand-Am sanctioned race winner Shane Lewis (Jupiter, Fla. ) returns to the driving effort as he has since 2004 while NASCAR veteran Bill Lester ( Atlanta , Ga. ) joins the operation for the first time in 2008.Steve Southard began racing in 1972 and was competing professionally on the SCCA National level and in IMSA competition by 1976. He has personally raced in the Rolex 24 At Daytona fives times and the 12 Hours of Sebring five times. Southard made his Grand-Am debut in 2002 in the GT class and raced in the Daytona Prototype as recently as 2004. Southard Motorsports and Steve Southard are well known for their successful campaign of the Coca-Cola Porsche 935 and 962 in historic and vintage racing.
The familiar red, white and blue livery of Southard Motorsports adorns a Riley chassis. Southard is one of only two teams to be powered by the Lexus V8 in Daytona Prototypes.Source - Southard Motorsports
Rain Pummels Southard Motorsports Homecoming, No. 3 Lexus-Riley Finishes 13th
Southard Motorsports, based in nearby Powell, Ohio, entered Saturday's EMCO Gears Classic presented by Key Bank eager to put on a good show for their hometown crowd. However, the weather had different plans for the No. 3 Southard Motorsports Lexus-Riley and drivers Bill Lester (Atlanta, Ga.) and Shane Lewis (Jupiter, Fla.) in the two hour and 45-minute timed event at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Round seven of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Daytona Prototype season left the Steve and Martha Southard- owned team wet and frustrated wîth a 13th-place finish at the conclusion of the rain-soaked and caution- riddled race.Lewis started the race 10th on the grid. Even as the green flag waved across the Daytona Prototype (DP) field raindrops were beginning to fall on portions of the 2.258-mile, 13-turn mile road course. The first of eight cautions came on lap eight as a number of DPs came together under the increasing showers. Despite cars adding to the mess both in front of and behind him, Lewis successfully plotted his way through the melee to continue on as the rain pounded harder. Lewis would hold the red, white and blue Lexus V8- powered Riley chassis near the leaders until lap 22 when the car joined the long list of cars of course wîth his first spin of the day. Lewis rejoined the race but was quickly overtaken by the leaders as he brought the car back up to speed. Now a lap down, Southard Motorsports had its work cut out for it the remainder of the race.
One hour and 30 minutes into the race the clouds cleared briefly and the track began to dry before a second wave of storms hit the famous Ohio facility. With the rain again increasing, Lewis held the 12th position, one lap behind, until spinning a second time into the gravel wîth 50 minutes remaining. Once extracted from the gravel trap, Lewis pitted and Lester took over driving chores. Now two laps down and facing a wet course, Lester spun the Southard car ten minutes into his stint. Again, the car was undamaged and the NASCAR veteran continued through to the checkered flag. Fitting for such a day, the event finished under caution wîth the Southard Motorsports effort 25th overall, two laps down. In total, the rain led to 35 laps under caution and only one hour, nine minutes and 44 seconds under green flag conditions.
Despite the bitter weather conditions and disappointing result, the weekend was a success on another level for Southard Motorsports. Hosting over 100 guests of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, Southard Motorsports helped to further raise awareness of the Ohio-based charity's goal of finding homes for foster children throughout North America.Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a non- profit 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to dramatically increasing the adoptions of the more than 150,000 children in North America's foster care systems ready to be adopted. Created by Wendy's founder Dave Thomas who was adopted as a child, the Foundation leads programs such as Wendy's Wonderful Kids, which puts adoption recruiters in all 50 states and Canada to find permanent, loving families for children in the foster care system, and Adoption-Friendly Workplace, which encourages employers to offer adoption benefits to their employees. The Foundation also works wîth adoption advocates and officials to streamline the adoption process and make adoption more affordable for families. As the only Foundation dedicated exclusively to foster care adoption, it is driven by its founder's simple value: Do what's best for the child. To learn more about the Foundation's work, please visit
www.DaveThomasFoundationforAdoption.org.
 | Vital Stats |
| Engine : 4.3 L., 8-cylinder Power: 500 hp | |
QuotesSteve Southard Owner: 'It rained and rained and we had a car that was almost un-drivable in the rain. A lot of credit goes to Shane and Bill for bringing it home without a scratch on it. Now we have to figure out why it became un-drivable in the wet conditions.'Source - Southard Motorsports
| A MAD MARCH FOR MAZDA MOTORSPORTS | |
| -- 15 Races in Seven Series at Three Race Tracks in Two States in One Month -- March 1, 2013 (IRVINE, Calif.) Mazda is ramping up the 2013 professional racing season with their usual hectic month of March, starting with races on March 1st in Austin, Texas, before two busy weekends in Florida. For Mazda, racing is not just a single series, but the majority of all sports car and open wheel road-racing classes in North America. 2013 highlights on the professional level will include: ...[Read more...] | |
| THE VIPER GTS-R IS BACK IN 2012 | |
 | •Two identical SRT Viper GTS-R race cars will compete in this weekend's American Le Mans Series event at the 2.54-mile Road Atlanta circuit. •The driver lineup for Petit Le Mans: Tommy Kendall and Marc Goossens will be joined by Jonathan Bomarito in the No. 93 Pennzoil Ultra Viper GTS-R. Dominik Farnbacher and Kuno Wittmer will share driving duties with Ryan Hunter-Reay in the No. 91 Hewlett Packard Viper GTS-R. •This is the first on-track, factory-based participation for the SRT Viper GTS-R...[Read more...] |
| Stars of American Racing Panel Discussion for upcoming Savannah Speed Classic | |
 | The Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival & Concours d'Elegance, one of the nation's signature automobile events, is proud to announce the addition of legendary racing stars, to the already packed Savannah Speed Classic agenda. The scenic river-view site of Hutchinson Island in Savannah will be alive with not only the roar of vintage race cars, off-road drives through the woods, Hot Lap rides at speed, but some of history's greatest automotive influences including Hurley Haywood, Brian Redman, To...[Read more...] |
| AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES ROAD RACE SHOWCASE RETURNS TO ROAD AMERICA AUGUST 16-18 | |
 | Road America has hosted The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) every year since 2002 and the fabled four-mile, 14-turn circuit - the longest on the series schedule - still provides close finishes with narrow margins of victory year after year. A popular late-summer tradition, this prestigious event will showcase more than 36 cars in several classes on Saturday August 18. Everything from prototypes to production-based sports cars from numerous manufacturers in several classes will battle for position...[Read more...] |
| Vintage Racing Ushers In The 2012 Season At Road America | |
 | It has been 62 years since racers tore through the streets of this tiny village about 60 miles north of Milwaukee. Still, every spring you would swear that the town speed limit doesn't exist when the sounds of historic racecars from days gone by seem to echo throughout the hillside. May 18-20 the Spring Vintage Weekend returns to Road America and kicks-off the start of a summer full of racing, from vintage and historic cars to motorcycles and even NASCAR. Racing came to Elkhart Lake in 1950...[Read more...] |
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