ERIC CURRAN RACING

Will Co-Drive with Ashley McCalmont in GRAND-AM Continental Season-Opener

Daytona Beach, Fla.

Jan. 18, 2011

Eric Curran would have qualified the CKS Autosport Chevrolet Camaro on the pole for the opening round of the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series, had this been a race weekend.

Instead, Curran's 1:57.826 lap averaging 108.771mph during Test Days at Daytona International Speedway topped all 24 entries in the Grand Sports class.

Curran set his fast lap in the fifth of six test sessions over the Jan. 8-9 weekend. It was the fastest lap turned over a three-day span by any of the 24 cars in the Grand Sports class. His fastest testing lap, although unofficial, was over a second quicker than the existing track record.

The season-opening race will be Jan. 28 at 1:30pm.

The Ontario, Canada-based CKS team has entered two of the powerful 2011 Camaros, powered by 378 cu. in. LS3 engines, in the 2.5-hour race.  Ashley McCalmont joined Curran in the testing driver lineup. The duo will share the driving for the race itself, with McCalmont as the starting driver, and Curran bringing it home to what the team hopes is its first race win for the fifth generation Camaro.

"Ashley got the Camaro up to speed really quick. It's a big change, going from the Chevy Cobalt race car to the bigger, higher horsepower Camaro but she's doing an impressive job!" Curran said.

"If you look at our best laps every session and compare them to the session before, you can track what a great job the CKS crew did in implementing all the little changes we were suggesting to make the cars handle better.

"It's always fun to go back and work with Ashley, Kirk Spencer, Mike Kuznicki and the old Georgian Bay crew. We have had a great relationship over the years. Ashley and I shared the CKS team's new Rolex GT Camaro in the season finale race last year at Miller Park in Utah, and finished 9^th the first time out.

"I'm really enjoying being in these different GM race cars; the team has built two great Camaros for the GRAND-AM Continental Tire season. We'll be going into race week with the knowledge learned in testing, and especially with the new Camaro, that's a great morale-booster."

Curran will also race in the feature event of the Daytona weekend, the annual Rolex 24 At Daytona round-the-clock endurance race, on Jan. 29-30.

In the 24hr. race, he will be in another Camaro, built and entered by Leighton Reese's Performance Group Racing team.  It will compete in the GT class of the Rolex series.

"There's very little similarity between the Rolex and Continental Tire series Camaros other than maybe their silhouette at 100 yards at midnight," Curran laughed. "The Rolex car is hand-built from scratch, and the other started life on a Detroit assembly line. You can see the difference in the lap times - Leighton's Rolex GT car is seven seconds a lap faster."

The Rolex 24 At Daytona field will feature at least 31 cars in the GT category ranging from Camaros to Ferraris.

Curran will share the driving with General Motors factory driver Oliver Gavin, plus Gunter Schaldach and Bruce Ledoux II.

"I only drove in a couple of sessions," Curran said. "Leighton's crew made some really nice improvements to the car throughout the weekend. They do a really good job!"