Lexus Wins 3rd Straight Year Rolex 24 at Daytona

Chip Ganassi Racing With Felix Sabates Wins Third Straight Rolex 24 At Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 27, 2008) - The Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates racing program became the first team to capture a Rolex 24 At Daytona overall victory in three straight years when Rolex Series stars Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti captured the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 season opener in the No. 01 TELMEX/Target Lexus Riley. The record breaking race was the 46th running of the classic endurance race.
In a race that featured Grand-Am Rolex Series and Rolex 24 records for car leaders (15), driver leaders (25) and lead changes (60), the Ganassi team stayed out of trouble to complete 695 laps and march to a two-lap victory over defending series champions No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Lowe's Pontiac Riley of Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty, joined by back-to-back NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and former Champ Car champion Jimmy Vasser.
The wins were the second straight for Montoya and Pruett, the first time drivers earned repeat victories in the race since Derek Bell, Al Unser, Jr. and Al Holbert accomplished the feat in 1986 and 1987.
"We pushed very hard," Montoya said. "Every stint I was in the car, I pushed really hard. It's a good way to start the year. We all worked; we all did what we need to do."
The No. 9 Penske-Taylor Racing Toshiba Pontiac Riley of Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe and Kurt Busch scored a third-place finish in Roger Penske's first Rolex 24 effort since 1973, rounding out the podium.
While the No. 01 team led 252 laps, it was clear a race win would have to be earned surviving the rain and slippery track prevalent throughout the night stages of the race. When the checkered flag waved, the Ganassi quartet executed their strategy to perfection and went without the mechanical problems that plagued many of their counterparts.
During the final quarter of the race, a string of bad luck hit many of those front-running machines. The least catastrophic of the bunch came when the No. 99 machine was pulled behind the wall with gearbox problems. But strong pit strategy and speed allowed the team to rally throughout the remainder of the race, making up four of the six laps they lost in the garage area.
"My guess is that if we would have changed the gearbox under yellow instead of green, we probably would have won, but you make your best decisions and run with it," team owner Bob Stallings said. "It was a little bit chaotic. We were all arguing for about 15 minutes on if we should stay out because Jon was in the car and was gaining on Rojas. We left him out there but then the problems started to get worse and we made the decision to switch."
Disaster struck others. With less than five hours left, a broken suspension piece on the No. 59 Brumos Porsche Riley caused Joao Barbosa to spin from the lead in the final turn. The curse hit No. 23 Alex Job Racing Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Porsche Crawford driver Joey Hand moments later as the No. 23 began smoking while running third. What was originally thought to be tire rub turned out to be a blown engine, erasing the team's efforts that included 59 laps led.
Less than an hour later, Burt Frisselle - hoping to give Michael Shank Racing its biggest win to date - saw the No. 6 Ford Riley suffer suspension damage while running in the lead. Despite leading 118 laps, Frisselle and co-drivers Allmendinger, John Pew and Ian James fell to 14th overall and ninth in class.
Frisselle's suspension failures left Montoya alone on the lead lap, and from there he and the TELMEX/Target team held on for a victory.
The victory added to Pruett's already all-time best eight class victories at the Rolex 24 and record 15th overall Rolex Series wins. It was his third overall in the Rolex 24.
"Your last one is always your best. This was tough," Pruett said when asked to pick the favorite of his Rolex 24 wins. "The conditions were pretty treacherous because it was rain, then it was dry, then it was a little bit of wet again. That makes for a really tough race. I can't say enough for all of the Ganassi guys."
For Fogarty and Gurney, the race was the first step in their Daytona Prototype title defense.
"This is the Rolex 24," Gurney said. "This is a big race. It's a bit of a bummer that we could not pull out a win. We were watching the board all the time to see the No. 01 up there knowing that any little thing could go wrong and put us up front. We were hoping but it didn't work out. We're now in good shape for the championship."
Even as a NASCAR champion, Johnson felt the pressure of joining the Rolex Series champions for the Rolex 24.
"In some ways, coming to the Rolex Series in the past, it's really been a release of sorts and something to have fun with," Johnson said. "But coming in, having the honor for these guys to invite me to the team and come drive for them, I'm thinking championship. That pressure was on my mind just like it would be for a Sprint Cup Series race. I would hate to be the one that kept them from winning a championship this year."
Unlike the early favorites who ran into trouble at the end, the No. 9 Penske-Taylor team's troubles started early. The advantage of an early fumble was the ability to recover.
"I had a cut right front tire early in the race, and I just managed to bring it in without much damage," said Castroneves. "Unfortunately, that put us a lap down. This type of race is all about not having trouble. As you can see, the winner had no trouble. To put this project together in four to six weeks with Wayne Taylor, it was an incredible result, and we are extremely happy to finish third."
Busch, a former NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion, also had an idea of what to expect having competed in a prior Rolex 24.
"It was an incredible effort," Busch said. "I don't know what the expectation was coming in, but when you're teamed up with the Captain, Roger Penske, you're only shooting for the best. To be able to have a podium finish is incredible. It was a great effort by Tim Cindric (Penske Racing President); he's a leader on top of the pit box. That allowed us to do our job."
The decision of Krohn Racing to put the development of the Lola chassis on hold to run the tried-and-true Riley chassis from past seasons paid off as Nic Jönsson, Ricardo Zonta and Darren Turner finished fourth overall in the No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley.
Wayne Taylor teamed with 18-year-old son Ricky and No. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley full-season drivers Max Angelelli and Michael Valiante for a scrappy fifth-place finish, eight laps behind the champions.

Lexus New Super Car LF-A Sets Record at Nurburgring

According to Auto Express and Japanese car magazine Holiday Auto, Lexus insiders have revealed that the upcoming 552 bhp Lexus LF-A sports car has lapped the Nurburgring in 7 minutes and 24 seconds, slashing the current record time of 7 minutes and 27 seconds set by the Pagani Zonda F. Despite conflicting claims regarding the lap times of the all-new Porsche 911 GT2 (7:32 AutoBild, 7:25 AutoExpress), one thing appears to be clear; the Lexus LF-A has raised the bar to a new level.

While the German Nurburgring has always been the benchmark for measuring the performance of a sports car, Porsche and other European sports car manufacturers are starting to feel the heat of Japanese manufacturers, particularly from Nissan and Lexus, who are currently going head-to-head with their GT-R and LF-A sports cars. In September, the Nissan GT-R lapped the Nurburgring in 7 minutes and 38 seconds, narrowly beating the time of the Porsche 997 GT3. Even Honda is reportedly working on a 5.0-litre V10 powered NSX.

Sources say that the Nurburgring test mule was powered by a 4.8-litre V10 engine putting out 552 bhp, capable of reaching 210 mph. We can't wait to hear the official announcement on the final specifications of this car. What are your thoughts? While the Nissan GT-R may not stack up against its German archrivals in terms of interior build quality, do you think the Lexus will?

US Faces Driving Smoke Ban

Drivers could be banned from smoking if with children.

Drivers in the US could soon be banned from smoking in their cars if children are present, according to reports.

Bills banning smoking in vehicles carrying children, are understood to be making their way through Legislature.

Parts of the US have led the way to banning smoking in public places and some senators now argue the interior of a vehicle is a new realm of government regulation. A new law would cover pipes, cigars and cigarettes; although there is discussion as to whether it would affect open top cars. Police could only ticket drivers if they are first pulled over for a major or "primary" offence, like speeding, it is reported.

Under the provisions of the House bill, drivers would be given a six-month reprieve from penalization, in which time police would give warning tickets and attempt to educate drivers.
The amount of money people would have to pay in fines has yet to be set.

The bills are said to have been proposed by Sen. Chris Marr, D-Spokane, in the Senate, and Rep. Shay Schual-Berke, D-Normandy Park, in the House.

‘We're not telling you not to smoke. We're not telling you to not smoke in your car. We're telling you to not smoke in front of your kids in your car,’ Schual-Berke said.

Rallye Lexus Twenty Percent Club Members Bowling Night

Twenty-eight top performing Rallye Lexus team members gathered at Strikes in New Hyde Park for a night of bowling and lots of fun. High scores were recorded by Rich Repanes 155, Andrew Rifkin 150, Bill Finsilver 134, Jim Oates 130, Joe Savino 123, Juan Fuentes 123 and John Tetta 121.

Team RX, whose players were Jim Oates, Tony Costanzo, Cythia Idavoy and John Tetta, took top team honors.

The Winter Surprise Sales Event

We are celebrating Winter and the arrival of the all new Lexus LX 570 with our Winter Surprise Sales Event. The All New Lexus LX 570 is as luxurious as the LS 460 Sedan with all the utility you expect in the big Lexus SUV. Order yours today.

Drop by and enter our raffle to win a Winter Surprise Ski Weekend at Top Notch Resort in Stowe Vermont.

Welcome to Rallye Lexus Weblog

Welcome to the Rallye Lexus Blog site. We are always looking for better ways for our managers and team members to communicate with our clients and Lexus owners. We hope you will find the Rallye Lexus Blog interesting and informative.

Our team members will post articles about our services, products, events and our initiatives to better serve the needs of our clients. We encourage our clients and Lexus owners to comment on these articles. We are always searching for ways or ideas to improve our level of service to the Lexus community in the New York Metro area.

We are extremely proud that we are New York's longest running Elite of Lexus dealer. In addition to the coveted Elite of Lexus Award, Rallye Lexus has received more customer-service awards, such as the Crown Jewel Award and Best of the East Award, than any other Lexus dealer in the Northeast. Our team is driven to continually improve our performance in customer satisfaction. We hope you will participate in this blog and give us feedback on any of the new initiatives announced in this blog. The Rallye Lexus blog will give our staff the opportunity to learn more about the needs of the Lexus community and the ability to respond to your needs and feedback.

William Finsilver
General Manager