No. 01 CKS Camaro GS.R Leads Team Chevy in Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Season Opening Race at Daytona
 
Daytona Beach, FL (January 25, 2013) – Eric Curran and Lawson Aschenbach rallied the No. 01 CKS Autosport Camaro GS.R from the 23rd starting position to capture a fifth-place finish in today’s BMW Performance 200 for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge at Daytona International Speedway.
 
Curran started the race, and with steady precision worked his way through the field to run solidly in the top-10 before turning the car over to Aschenbach. As he exited the pit box and headed down pit lane, Aschenbach was issued a speeding penalty that dropped the Camaro GS.R down in the running order. As the minutes clicked down on the 2.5-hour race, Aschenbach charged back.
 
In the final laps of the race, an exciting battle for position developed between Aschenbach and John Edwards in the No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GS.R that saw the pair of Chevy drivers swapping positions back and forth.  On the last lap, Aschenbach made his final move to get by Edwards to claim fifth and sixth respectively in the final running order.
 
Edwards took over the No. 9 Camaro GS.R from co-driver Matt Bell who started the race from the seventh position on the grid. Bell maintained a consistent presence in the top-five until turning the car over to Edwards.
 
Ashley McCalmont and Bob Michaelian finished 17th in the No. 00 CKS Autosport Camaro GS.R, and Lawrence Davey and Mike Skeen were 23rd in the final running order.
 
Today’s race was the prelude to the 51st running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona for the GRAND-AM Rolex Series.  The race will start at 3:30 p.m. E.T. on Saturday, January 26, 2013.
 
Next on the schedule for Team Chevy in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge will be the March 2, 2013 inaugural event at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.