Press Contact: Dennis Punch (704) 530-4754
Homestead, FL (March 25, 2006) … The #16 Thetford / Norcold Pontiac Crawford, co-driven by Chris Dyson and Guy Smith, scored their first top-ten finish of the 2006 Rolex Series season in the Linder Industries Grand Prix of Miami. Their seventh-place finish was the best for the Howard-Boss Motorsports Team since a seventh at Virginia International Raceway in October, 2005.
The Linder Industries Grand Prix of Miami was the second start for the #16 Thetford / Norcold Racing Team in Rolex Series competition for 2006. The team placed 15th in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona in January.
After practice sessions on Thursday and Friday morning, Guy Smith was selected to qualify the Pontiac Crawford on Friday afternoon. Smith responded with a fast lap of 1:14.914 / 110.527 mph to earn the eighth starting position in the 47-car grid.
The Linder Industries Grand Prix of Miami began with a caution-free first 36 laps. Smith maintained his position on the course, and was running seventh when the first caution of the race waved on 37. Keeping with their strategy, the Thetford / Norcold Team did not pit and assumed the lead when the race restarted on 45. When there was confusion concerning the restart, the #16 was given a drive through the pit lane penalty which was served on lap 48.
Reentering the event in the tenth position, Smith moved to ninth before pitting when the second caution waved on lap 54. Chris Dyson would take the controls of the potent Pontiac Crawford and restart in the eighth position on lap 58. When caution flew again one lap later, Dyson remained on the track and moved up to fifth.
Dyson would continue to run consistent lap times and battle for sixth and seventh positions for the next twenty-five laps. With the majority of the second half of the race run under the caution, the #16 Thetford / Norcold Pontiac Crawford would take the checkered flag in the seventh position.
The seventh-place finish was the third consecutive top-ten finish in the DP Class in the Rolex Series (7th-VIR, 10th-Rolex 24), and marked the first race that the #16 Thetford / Norcold Pontiac Crawford led laps. When Guy Smith led ten laps during the early stages of the Grand Prix of Miami, it was the first laps led for #16 Howard-Boss Motorsports in their brief two-year association.
The next race for the Thetford / Norcold Racing Team will be at Virginia International Raceway on Sunday, April 23rd. Practice and qualifying will be held on April 21st and 22nd. SPEED TV will provide live coverage of the VIR 400 at 1 PM ET.