Max Papis/Krohn Racing Barber Motorsports Park Post-Race Report

Birminghan, AL (July 22, 2007) - Krohn Racing made another visit to victory circle Sunday, July 22nd, at the Porsche 250 race at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. In a battle to the finish, the No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley of Colin Braun and Nic Jönsson finished second, just behind five-time winners Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty in the No. 99 Gainsco Pontiac Riley. Jönsson led 27 of the 99 laps before he turned over the wheel to teammate Braun. Braun emerged second after the pit stop under caution and held that position for the balance of the race while breathing down the neck of Gurney for the final half of the race. Running on fumes at the finish, Braun was unable to challenge Gurney in the final couple of laps while driving on fuel reserves.

The No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley of team owner/driver Tracy Krohn and Max Papis had a good start but suffered a setback early in the race, on lap 6, when the No. 11 SAMAX Pontiac Riley of Patrick Carpentier spun and Krohn was unable to avoid contact. A pit stop for a new nose, tires and fuel put the car down two laps. During two of the race’s three cautions, the No. 76 car was fortunate to be selected as the “lucky dog” and gained back their two laps to ultimately finish on the lead lap. Krohn’s 47-lap stint helped him win the Trueman Award for the top-finishing Sportsman of the race. During Papis’ stint, he brought the car up from 14th to 6th before finally settling for 9th position at the checkered.

The No. 01 Ganassi team continues to lead the 2007 Daytona Prototype Team points’ championship (unofficially) with 298 points. The No. 99 Gainsco Racing team moved into second with 285 points and the No. 10 SunTrust team bumped down to third with 282 points. The No. 75 Krohn Racing team continues to maintain fourth place with 269 points.

 Max Papis, driver, No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley:

“Today the 76 car proved that we are a team with no “I”. Everyone did the best they could. Tracy had an awesome start. It was unfortunate he got tangled right at the beginning and went two laps down but we never gave up. (Race Engineer) Jeff Braun was an awesome guy on the radio and I want to thank him because he really motivated me. I really felt like he was in the passenger seat with me. He was a great motivator. We had a great strategy and we went from the back to the front. Thanks to all the guys, they did an awesome job even when we had the nose damage and went two laps down – they never gave up. I was very pleased. I was here for one goal – to get the Trueman Award for Tracy. He got a 50-point lead on everyone else and we finished in the Top 10, so it was a great race. Today, for me, was the most fun race of the season. Today was a testament that teamwork pays off. Pushing hard and never giving up pays off.

With two laps to go, when I was pushing really hard and went to reserve (setting on the fuel), I put two wheels off in the grass and it slowed my car down and that cost me a couple of positions. It was still an awesome race and we drove the wheels off of the car. Bringing it in the Top 10 was a great team effort – especially two cars in the Top 10. The most important thing is we achieved the two things we came here for -- finishing on the podium with one car and getting the Trueman Award for Tracy, so I’m happy.”
The next race, Round 11 of 14, will be at Montreal’s famed Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on August 3, 2007. The race will be televised tape delay on SPEED TV on Friday night, August 3 at 8:00 p.m. EDT. For more information, please see www.grand-am.com and www.krohnracing.net.