(Mansfield, OH) 20 June 09 – After running in the top five in the opening stages of the ECMO Gears Classic presented by Key Bank at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Guy Cosmo and Scott Russell combined for a run to 11th in the No. 09 No. 09 Porsche V8-powered Coyote on Saturday.

Cosmo started the race from seventh on the combined Daytona Prototype and GT-Class grid, and was right in the thick of the action in the opening stages of the two hour and 45-minute race, moving up to fifth position by the fifth lap moving up one more spot to fourth before turning the car over to Russell, who ran a long middle stint before turning the car back over to Cosmo to take to the checkered flag.

Russell’s run showed the progress the motorcycle champ has made so far in his transition from two wheels to four.

“The car had a mid-corner push, so I had to be patient with it,” said Russell. “But once I got used to it, it felt pretty good. I’m still learning, but that’s the best run I’ve had this car yet, so I’m really happy with the race and really looking forward to going back to Daytona and putting the experience I’ve gained since the 24 to use. It’s like going home again to race there, so it can’t come soon enough for me!”

The opening run up front was a promising start to the race, which marked the mid-point of the Rolex Sports Car Series season. The No. 09 Coyote, which has countless miles in Rolex competition, had two driver changes as Cosmo took to the cockpit for the final stint on the day.

“It was great to run up front there and mix it up with the big dogs,” said Cosmo. “It was a really intense, and a fun race to run. The car was just like it tends to be-very consistent. It didn’t change at all through the run and that gave me more confidence with the car. This is one of my favorite places to race because there is a little bit of everything here and you have so much going on, almost the entire lap, so this was a fun day today. We’d have loved to have been in the top ten, but we had a little problem in the pits and that was just enough to keep us from that, but it’s still a solid run for us today.”

Spirit of Daytona Racing has been hard at work, preparing the 09 machine for racing while also making sure the No. 90 is ready to go in testing in the coming days.

“We figured that we had a top-ten car, and even though we just missed that today, it was a pretty good result on the day,” said team owner Troy Flis. “The Metro Motorsports Guys did a great job and Guy and Scott did as well. Scott got a lot of seat time this weekend and during the race it really showed so we’re proud of how he keeps progressing out there. Hopefully things go well with the test on Monday and that we have some good news to announce soon!”

The team will be back in racing action in two weeks’ time as part of the Brumos 250 event at the high-banked home of the team, Daytona International Speedway.

About Spirit of Daytona Racing:

Spirit of Daytona Racing is headquartered just down the road from the “World Center of Racing ” in the Daytona Beach, Florida area. Team principal Troy Flis has steered the team since its inception, and the organization has competed in Grand-Am since 1999, with sixteen class victories to its credit.

For additional information:

www.scouting.org
www.spiritofdaytona.com
www.sundaymanagement.com

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