MONTREAL, QUEBEC: Spirit of Daytona showed the speed of a top 5 car once again at Watkins Glen last weekend, but tire wear that plagued a number of GRAND-AM Rolex Series DP teams hindered a potential podium finish for the No. 90 Chevrolet-powered Coyote. Unable to make a long run in practice, poor tire wear was exaggerated for the Spirit of Daytona, forcing the team to make additional pit stops to change tires, resulting in a 10th place finish.
“The car’s showing the same potential it’s had. At Watkins Glen we had the same tire issues that everyone else had, but we didn’t get a chance to do a long run in practice and I think that hurt us,” said team manager/owner Troy Flis. “I don’t believe it will happen again at Montreal. The car ran well there last year, Antonio’s good there, Paul’s good there. Everybody on the team’s been working hard so hopefully we can get that good finish.”
Spirit of Daytona finished 5th one year ago at Montreal despite a practice crash early in the weekend. Given the speed the team has shown in the previous ten races this season, leading 108 laps, expectations are sky high once again going north of the border.
“We seem to have this black cloud hanging over us right now. The car had speed again at Watkins Glen; we just have to do something with the tires,” said driver Paul Edwards. “Everyone on this team goes at it 100 percent. We’ll show up at Montreal with a desire to win and do our best.”
Edwards and co-driver Antonio Garcia sit ninth in Rolex Series DP points with two races remaining, but have been contenders in nearly every race this season. In addition to leading the third most laps in the series since the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the team has also earned two poles and five front row starting positions.
“The car continues to run well. I feel like we have a podium car at every track,” admitted Garcia. “We should be good again at Montreal. As long as we don’t have any mistakes we should have a good finish.”
The Montreal 200 can be seen Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on SPEED. For more information on Spirit of Daytona, go to: www.sdr-motorsports.com
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