Construct Corps & TRG Wins Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona January 26, 2009 Daytona Beach, FL - Construct Corps & TRG won the 47th running of the Grand-Am Rolex Series Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona GT race today. Justin Marks, RJ Valentine, Andy Lally, Patrick Long and Joerg Bergmeister drove the No. 67 Construct Corps/TRG Porsche 997 to victory by a narrow margin over their teammates. The No. 66 of Ted Ballou, Tim George Jr., Spencer Pumpelly, Emmanuel Collard and Richard Lietz came second, giving TRG a one-two finish to open Speed Weeks at Daytona. The turning point in the race came on lap 577 at 11:45 a.m. this morning when Lally and Pumpelly were engaged in a battle for the lead with the No. 86 Porsche. Until this point the lead changed over several times throughout the night between the two TRG 997s and the No. 86 and had narrowed from a 30 car race, to just 3. In the late morning the 86 slowed and pulled off of the track, due to an axle failure. The deal was made between the teams that if the 86 broke that the teams would freeze their running order and take the checker accordingly. The team did not want two cars taking a chance of racing each other and having the worst happen. “It is a great way to start the season,” Marks said. “I was excited to get started with TRG. I knew going in that we had a shot at winning and I was really enthused after the test. But it really doesn’t sink in until you cross the finish line. This is a great welcome back to sports cars and start the season with Andy and Kevin. I have been lucky enough to win the 250 here twice, this is just on an awesome scale. It is special because I made my Daytona debut with TRG.” “It doesn’t get any better than this!” Valentine said. “It is a thrill beyond my imagination. I am 64 years old and what happened today has me in shock. This is the greatest thing in racing that has happened to me in 30 years of competing. Kevin and the TRG guys run a great team. They take great care of me and prepare a fast Porsche. The car ran great and all of the guys did an excellent job today. It was a great race.” “I have finished second here three times before,” Lally said. “I know what the 66 guys feel like, it is tough. The car was so well prepped, the crew made it bullet-proof. We had minimum mistakes and there isn’t a dent on the car – only dust. It is a great way to start the season for the team, Kevin and especially Justin and I. I am a small part of an awesome program. Daytona is the pinnacle of racing for me. We wanted to give RJ the honor of taking the car across the finish line, that was special for everyone on the team.” “Thanks to Kevin and TRG for giving me my first shot at the race a few years ago and my first win,” Long said. “I don’t think that the car had a nick on it. Andy and Kevin led the team, Joerg and I just did some work and Justin and RJ ran mistake free, consistent laps. It is really surreal for me. I thought this was one that was going to keep slipping through the cracks and one that I would have to chase my whole career. This Rolex has slipped away from me a couple of times, so that makes it twice as sweet.” “Wow,” Buckler said. “It has been a lot of work this last four months. We have team of five cars that are really driven by my a whole bunch of my friends and that makes it all the more special. Each team had a slightly different goal & I am so glad that we were able to accomplish most of them. I have shared some great moments with these guys before and Daytona is a special place for TRG. Our team chemistry is a big part of our success. I am really proud of that, it is cool.” “The guys had a great event,” Buckler continued. “We brought all of our cars to the checker except one. The quality of driving we had this weekend in all five cars was fantastic. It is a real accomplishment for TRG to have 4 cars finish this cruel race and take the ultimate plum….a 1-2 finish.