It was not before 2003 that drivers thought of taking any risk in a race as important as the Rolex Series. It was a huge gamble to introduce a new care in the race till the year. But soon a change was felt and four years later bringing in brand-new kind of race cars to the Rolex events became a trend. The risk paid-off really well and once someone took the initiative the rest followed. Rolex Series fields this year have been full everywhere except the Daytona 24 and the premier class.

Heavy loans were extended to anyone and everyone but the financial bubble soon burst. Where banks were giving hefty loans to almost anyone that they thought had the capacity to pay, credit card lenders were issuing gaudy spending limits to every other person. No sport suffered more losses than the Grand-Am Rolex Series once the financial conditions came into picture. But one event that saved its face was the Daytona 24. Amidst dropping car counts and downsizing teams, Daytona 24 is an event that has been able to draw a massive field.

cott Pruett has a lot to say about Daytona 24. “I see it making a lot of progress. We are seeing a lot of car manufacturers looking at getting back into sports, not just looking at it but taking those next steps.” He explains, “Now, this is one of those things that takes a couple of years to gear up, and when you look at where you want to go racing, there’s always really only two series that you want to do that. And if you want to look at where you get your best bang for your buck, and most certainly where the budget is realistic, not out of this world, I think Grand–Am is a perfect place.”

Despite the financial worries that brand-new car purchases are giving to the event, the Rolex Grand-Am event is building a backup. Ryan Dalziel who tied for the second place in the championship thinks, “the new cars, although maybe there was some skepticism at the time about bringing in a new chassis or new body work, I think it was the smartest thing they did.” He also added, “The Grand–Am cars, they were starting to look outdated. They had to become current and I think that it really did, much like Formula 1 has done this year, has just thrown a curveball to everybody. And the multiple different winners; it’s amazing, Ganassi, we’re five, six races in, and they only got their first victory.”

Looking at the current scenario it is clear that in order to coax more owners to join the series more sponsorships will be required for funding as well as advertising. The sponsorships will also help spread the Rolex Series beyond channel SPEED. The Rolex Series at present does not get as much crowd or viewership as does a NASCAR. And, the highest attendance for the Rolex event is witnessed only when it is tied with the Sprint Cup, IndyCar or Nationwide series. Things need to change now. The Rolex Series needs to go completely independent.

A win in the Rolex Series race is high-priority for them because Starworks currently stands second in the NAEC standing. This Starworks team is just behind the Rolex-24 winning team of Michael Shank Racing, just two points back (16-14). This makes it clear how important is the Rolex Series race wins for Peter-Baron and team. The commitment that Starworks team is putting the preparation for the Rolex Series race is exceptional. Moreover, the fact that they are all charged-up for winning the race is obvious from the fact that the four-time Champ Car World Series champion Sebastien Bourdais would make their talented two-man driver lineup an even more imposing trio (as announced by the team during a GRAND-AM media teleconference that.)

The Rolex Grand-Am series for Starworks Motorsports has been extremely favorable. The event brought a number of victories to Starworks. It has been an incredible event for the Starworks Motorsports team since the accomplishments that it has made in this year’s Rolex Grand-Am are simply astonishing. The stretch has been simply amazing for the Baron owned team as well as co-driver of the No.8 Starworks MotorsportsFord/Riley Ryan Dalziel and Enzo Potolicchio. It has been an all the more incredible game for them because it prepares them for a victory at GRAND-AM Rolex Series race this season. The team is geared-up to race brilliantly on Sunday in Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen International (11 a.m. ET, SPEED and MRN). The event will be telecasted LIVE!

Baron said, ““I think it says something about how determined we are, to try to get a good result at the Glen”.  Adding to Glen’s comment Dalziel said, “I think if anything, [WEC success] has made us more determined to really win in GRAND AM.“It’s amazing having the success in WEC, but what we would give to go back to Daytona and do things a little different and be on the top step instead of the second step.” He also said, “It really has been an unbelievable season for us. We would have loved to have won Daytona. We came just a few seconds shy of winning it … [now] we are very excited about Watkins Glen and for sure really excited about Indianapolis. We feel that what we are doing in the WEC has been very special and brings awareness to the competition in GRAND‑AM. We don’t dominate in GRAND‑AM by any means.
We consider ourselves a frontrunner but I think the performances we’ve put on in the WEC have opened people’s eyes and the world’s to just how difficult GRAND‑AM is.”

In the Rolex 24race the Starworks’ team finished second. Having been beaten by just few points by the Shank’steam and losing by only 5.198 seconds, Starworks has started chasing the FIA World Endurance Cahmpionship in LMP2protoypes. Dalzeil said, “This weekend we are again kind of the runners up and we don’t like being runners up. Watkins Glen has been a very bittersweet track to us over the years. There are only a couple of tracks now that we have not had success on, and that’s one of the monkeys we want to get off our back. We think that we have been good in the two hour race there [in August] but we have got to have a good result there [Sunday].”

The Rolex Sports Car Series has come a long way from being one of the shortest races in the GRAND-AM event to becoming the second longest in the event. The series is all set to for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen that will be held this weekend. The Rolex Sports Car Series on one end serves as the eight race of the 2012 GRAND-AM season and on the other hand doubles as the second round of the new North American Endurance Championship. This adds to the importance of the Rolex race that will be held on Sunday at 11.00 A.M. LIVE on SPEED.

Scott Pruett and Memo Roja, the duo that emerged victorious last weekend at Road America have extended their championship lead. The pair broke a nine-race winless streak for the defending Daytona Prototype champions. Pruett and Roja will be entering the weekend race with as title leaders in the NAEC; it will see the double points scored at the three and six-hour marks.

Ozz Negri expresses his viewpoint on the event till now and says, “Coming off of a race where we didn’t really feel like we had the pace we were looking for, but still able to earn a podium, we really want to make the most of this weekend at the Glen. We were able to get a good result from some good strategy and being right there when others had problems, so we want to focus on maximizing our chances again this weekend. Six hours is a long race and anything can happen–we’ve seen that at the Glen so many times!”

The Gainsco team that has been on the top of the list, this time is not seen anywhere close to victory. It appears that the team is not doing very well. Co-drivers Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty hope that the bad luck will come to an end at the Glen. Regarding the effort that the duo has been putting in, Gurney quoted his strategy at the Mid-Ohio race and said, “I got one of those laps back and the car was running the fastest lap times of anyone late in that race, and, in fact, we were running 18.5 (second) laps and the leader was doing 19.5 but it was too late. If not for the problem we would have won that race for sure.” Regarding the race at Belle Isle, he said, “My guys were told the pits were closed by Grand-Am. Literally seconds later, as I was exiting pit road, they told me that Grand-Am now was saying the pits were open. As a result everyone else got to pit sooner than me and I dropped to eighth. We got shafted.”

Gurney and team are eyeing to beat Michael Shank Racing’s (MCR’s) No. 60 Ford Riley entry. Shank came fourth at Rolex 24. Regarding the Daytona triumph Shank said, “I’ve been trying to win that race for nine years and to finish first and third was a phenomenal result. We had a party for a month after that race.”The race at the Glen will be extremely important for all the racers.

The Grand AM Rolex sports car series has already begun and there is no end to the brimming excitement in the media as well as the participants. The historic Road America is playing host to the series this time just as it is from the past years. Rolex is associated with the series since 2002 as a sponsor and has since then, maintained its grandeur in each of the races. Now, the 7th round of the series will also take place at the Road America. The entire sports fraternity has their expectations higher and is excitedly waiting for the event to start.

Road America is considered to be a perfect racing course and as a result, it has been hosting the series since the year 2000. This year is no exception, with the only alteration being the perilous levels of challenge. The challenge will be a tougher one and the expectations higher. For all of the participating teams and drivers, this is no less than the most exciting part of the ongoing event. Many of them are focusing on improving their performances, to give their best.

The event will span across a 4.048 miles which contains around 14 turn tracks, a lot of straights, squiggly turns and high braking. The participants in the event also include APR Motorsports and Audi R8 Grand-AM. The teams, which suffered a minor defeat in the Mid-Ohio, are all geared up for proving their mettle. The teams have been investing much of their time in improving their performance for better results.  The team previously qualified for the fourth place in Detroit. “Racing at Road America brings me a lot of great racing memories. I’m excited to return to a track with so much history”, said Von Moltke, race car driver for the #51 APR Motorsport and Audi R8 GRAND-AM. He also talks about his experience saying, “I drove here often in the Skip Barber Racing School series where I learned the fundamentals of driving race cars. I’m looking forward to showing off the Audi R8 V10 engine and what it can do at Road America!” He is quite confident about his performance and is expected to dazzle the Road America with his spectacular driving skills. The racing driver has previously participated in the Audi R8 Grand AM and says he is pretty confident of his performance this time.

The world too is taken by the storm by the dedication with which the preparations are on to make the event a spectacular show. The fans are waiting and the organizers.

The Oyster Perpetual Rolex Deepsea is the ultimate reference chosen by the professional divers all across the world. The Oyster Perpetual Rolex is specially meant for those who wish to push the boundaries to reach the highest spot in their endeavor. The Rolex Deepsea was specially designed for extreme underwater exploration. The Ringlock system, an intricate three-piece case architecture, enables the Rolex Deepsea to withstand colossal pressures at a depth of 12,000 feet under the ocean bed. The Rolex Deepsea has a bezel inlaid with a virtually scratch-resistant black Cerachrom disc and a titanium caseback. It is also equipped with a unique bracelet, featuring a double extension system for a perfect fit over any diving suit.

The Ringlock system has been developed and patented by Rolex itself. This three-piece architecture is a lesson in technical superiority. To begin with, a nearly indestructible nitrogen-alloyed stainless steel support ring is set inside this unique Rolex timepiece. Considered to be the backbone of the watch, it can withstand a pressure which has the ability to crush a submarine. Providing incredible reinforcement to the outside of the watch, a dense 5 mm dome-shaped sapphire crystal protects the face. Made from high-purity aluminum oxide, it can withstand three metric tons of pressure at a depth of 12,800 feet under the ocean bed.

A remarkable grade-5 titanium caseback seals the watch completely, making it virtually impenetrable. Every professional diver after a dive needs to spend time in the decompression chamber in order to breathe a gas mixture containing helium. Being an extremely light and volatile gas, it has the potential to penetrate anywhere in the chamber, even inside the watch. It escapes from a watch at a slower rate than the reduction of pressure in the chamber, with the result that the pressure of the helium imprisoned inside the watch is so great that irreparable damage could occur. After studying these parameters, Rolex engineers created a helium valve fitted with a spring. It opens when the difference in pressure between the inside and outside of the watch reaches to 3 to 5 bars, allowing helium to escape and protecting the watch.

American actor, musician, producer, photographer, cartoonist, storyteller, and occasional vintner Jeffrey Leon Bridges has successfully established himself as one of the most respected Hollywood actors of all time. Jeffrey Leon Bridges comes from a well-known acting family and began his first televised acting in 1958 as child with his father, Lloyd Bridges, and Brother Beau on television’s Sea Hunt. Some of Jeffrey Leon Bridges best-known major motion films include: “Tron” (and its sequel) , “Fearless”, “Iron Man”, “The Contender”, “Starman”, “The Fabulous Baker Boys”, “Jagged Edge”, “Against All Odds”, “The Fisher King”, “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot”, “Seabiscuit”, and “The Big Lebowski”. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis “Bad” Blake in the 2009 film “Crazy Heart” and earned his sixth Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Rooster Cogburn in 2010’s “True Grit”.