Mid-Ohio

LEXINGTON, OH July 19, 2008 – It was a comparatively quiet race for Dyson Racing at today’s American Le Mans race at Mid-Ohio. After leaving Lime Rock a week ago with two cars needing major surgery, that was a good thing. The team had their second tandem finish of the year with the #16 Thetford/Norcold entry of Chris Dyson and Guy Smith finishing fifth in class, followed by the #20 Porsche RS Spyder of Marino Franchitti and Butch Leitzinger.

“We came here and ran this weekend without missing a beat,” said Dyson. “That is the main story. No loss of momentum, no slowing of advancement. Butch and I pushed as hard as we could, and then both Guy and Marino drove strong stints to close things up. We were hounding the sharp end of the field the last half of the race.”

The first forty-five minutes of the two hour and forty-five minute race were uneventful. The first yellow came out for a single car incident and the team brought in both cars to do a full service and driver change, with Marino getting in the #20 car and Smith in the #16. An hour and a half into the race, during the second yellow, Franchitti came into the pits for a splash of fuel and the team brought in Smith during the third yellow for tires and fuel and both drivers were good to go to the end. Both cars got stronger as the race went on with Smith setting his fastest race time on lap 92 and Franchitti on lap 93.

“I really want to express my admiration of our team,” said Smith. “They were able to build the car up in 24 hours and have it on the track for the first session and the car ran like clock work. It is in situations like this where you see what people are made of and this team is an exceptional group of people.”