Posted (01/10/2009) -
Gainesville, GA - With the Daytona speedweeks right around the corner, Randy The Rocket has decided to add to his Daytona experience by teaming up with old friends for the KONI Challenge Fresh From Florida 200. Randy will join Compass 360 Racing for a one race deal in a Honda Civic Si. Led by Team Principal Karl Thomson and Team Manager Ray Lee and based in Toronto, Canada, Compass 360, has been making a name for itself in recent years, winning races and finishing fourth in team points and second in driver points with Adam Burrows in the 2008 KONI Street Tuner class. Compass 360 will field three cars in the Daytona KONI race, with old World Challenge buddy Christian Miller
co-driving with Randy. While this is a great ride with a top team, what makes this ride so special is that former co-driver and long time friend Peter Schwartzott will also be joining the team for the Daytona race in one of the other Compass 360 Hondas. Long time Rocket fans will rememberthat Randy and Peter had great success in the 1980's and 90's, winning many races and championships, including four consecutive Watkins Glen 24 Hour races, a record that is not likely to be broken. Though they eventually went their
separate ways in racing, they have remained great friends.
"I am very pleased to be joining the Compass 360 team in Daytona and thrilled to
be racing Hondas again with Peter after all these years. We were very
successful in the past as co-drivers and always had a lot of fun. We won't be
driving the same car this time but that will give us the chance to race together
on the track. I know my co-driver, Christian Miller, from the World Challenge
Touring series when I was driving the Tripoint Mazda and he was driving a VW
Jetta. He is a good driver and good friend. The Compass 360 Hondas will be
very competitive. I am really looking forward to this opportunity."
The KONI Challenge Fresh From Florida 200 will take place on January 23 at 1:45
PM EST and is three hours long. Television information is not yet listed but we
will put it on Randy's website when it becomes available.
As we previously reported, Randy will also be joining Gotham Competition for the
Rolex 24 At Daytona. On January 3, Randy joined the Gotham team in Daytona for a
test session. Although the team is relatively new and still finding their place
in Grand-Am Rolex competition, Randy was impressed with the professionalism
shown by the team. Based in Saint Augustine, FL, the team is comprised of
Jerome and Joe Jacalone, who co-own and co-drive for the team, their brothers
Marc and Mike and Greg Barnes who crew for the team and also Ken McGuire who is
the Crew Chief. In a fantastic development, Gotham has also hired two other
professional and experienced drivers for the grueling Daytona 24 Hour race.
Gerardo Bonilla, a former ALMS Mazda prototype driver and Shane Lewis, a veteran
of many series and makes, are both friends of Randy's and will add to the
success of the team. Shane Lewis and Randy co-drove with each other in Randy's
first 24 Hours at Daytona in a BMW and finished fifth.
"The recent Daytona test went extremely well and greatly exceeded my
expectations. The entire team was great to work with and operated as a team
very well. Although they, for the most part, are a new and amateur team, they
acted in such an organized, well prepared and professional manner. They gave
me a lot of control over the setup of the car and utilized my experience in
other aspects as well. I really enjoyed being able to have influence on the way
the car and strategies are planned. I am so excited that they have hired
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