Press Release

T Karts, LLC

255 Westbrook Road

Essex, CT 06426

 

860-767-5012

860-271-8318 fax

 

 

Date: September 14, 2006

 

 

2006 GRASSPASS PRO-AM by T Karts Features World Class Drivers and Winners.

 

Professional sportscar racer, Andy Lally, teamed up with Todd Samuelson to win the 4th annual Memorial Day GrassPass Pro-Am against a world class field of drivers.  The race, held at the T-Bone Ranch in Essex, CT, coincides with the annual sportscar races at Lime Rock Park, and pairs professional drivers with local kart owners for a fun and competitive one-hour race.  This year’s Pro-Am featured drivers from the Grand Am Rolex and Grand Am Cup series competing at Lime Rock.

 

The 2006 event featured the strongest field of racers to date, and could truly be considered a Pro-Am by any standards.  Among the visiting professional were past Pro-Am champions, Stu Hayner and Andy Lally, with Hayner making his third appearance at the event.  Other notable drivers included: Four-time Grand Am champion, Terry Borcheller and Indy 500 starter Claude Borbonais, 2 time SCCA National Champion, Elivan Goulart and 3 time Rolex 24 class winner, Pete Halsmer, who also has two Indy 500 starts and 1992 IROC series honors.  Trans Am and NASCAR driver Mike Miller and sportscar standout and Team Green member, Owen Trinkler.  ALMS and Grand Am winner, Dave Sterenberg and LMP2 and Grand Am ace, Ryan Eversley.  Pontiac GTO race engineer, Lars Geirsing and Endurance Karting series owner, Johan Schwartz.  Northeast Hillclimb champion and record holder, Daniel Rutan and multiple SCCA Champion, Ian Prout.

 

The 1-hour Pro-Am race, which included a mandatory driver change, was lead by the team of Daniel Rutan and Dave Sterenberg until the 125th lap, when Andy Lally, co-driving with Todd Samuelson, passed Sterenberg for the lead.  Lally and Samuelson would go on to win the race, completing 141 laps and putting the second place kart a lap down.  Don Spencer and Terry Borcheller made a strong drive from 15th on the grid to a third place finish. 

 

Following the win on Sunday, Andy Lally returned to Lime Rock Park and won the headline Rolex GT series event driving the Pontiac GTO.  Several other drivers had top 5 finishes at Lime Rock following the Pro-Am.  Andy Lally went on to win the 2006 Rolex GT Championship. 

Past Pro-Am competitors have included Andy Lally, Stu Hayner, Scott Bradley, Bobby and Don Sak, Jim and John Osborn, Elivan Goulart, Ian Prout and Woodson Duncan. The event is organized by Trevor Hilliar, maker of the T2 by T Karts and former Grand Am driver. GrassPass was formed in 2004 to create a nationwide network of backyard kart tracks, all using a common set of preparation rules. GrassPass has seen rapid growth in the number of compliant tracks in the past year and expects growth to accelerate further in 2006. GrassPass also hosts Kartstock, the Backyard Karting National Championship event, at which a Backyard Karting National Champion is crowned. Daniel Rutan was crowned 2005 Backyard Karting National Champion at the October 24th event when he beat 26 of the country’s best backyard karters in a 50 lap championship race held at the Lone Wolf circuit in Winthrop, CT.

For more information about GrassPass and the backyard karting concept, visit www.grasspass.org on the web or contact Trevor Hilliar at 860-767-5012.