Bryan Sellers Knows Barber
American Driver Knows the Challenges Behind Beauty of Alabama Track
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., April 1, 2013 – Bryan Sellers knows that the park-like setting of Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala. is a fan-favorite. The Braselton, Ga.-resident knows the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) series offers some of the most intense, multi-class racing in the sport. Sellers also knows that behind the beauty of Alabama’s premier road course are challenges for the No. 46 Trim-Tex Drywall Products/BCKSTGR Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3 he will race in the Barber 200 there on April 6. Lastly, Sellers knows the BMW he will share with Mark Boden (Winnetka, Ill.) during the two-hour, 30-minute race has strengths that can overcome those challenges. Yes, Bryan Sellers knows Barber Motorsports Park. He just doesn’t know what lurks behind the splendor of the track that might derail the effort to capture the team’s first win of 2013.
Beautifully laid out just north of Birmingham, the 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course offers incredible vantage points to race fans. Unfortunately for Sellers, the track does not always offer his BMW M3 the same attractive view. In CTSCC race-trim, the BMW benefits from long straightaways where the gearing of the M3 can take full advantage of the engine’s peak performance. However, at Barber, despite several straightaways, none are long enough to get the V8 up to full song. That will leave the 2012 American Le Mans Series’ Most Popular Driver award-winner a distinct challenge. One area where the talented racer, driving coach and Falken Tire development driver can overcome the challenges is at the center of the turns. The weight distribution of the German sports sedan provides superior handling in the middle of the corner allowing Sellers to find speed where others will fall-off. Over the course of the lap, it should even the playing field with other makes. Knowing where those strengths lie will provide Sellers an upper hand when preparing overtaking maneuvers.
In 2012, the Barber 200 started off poorly for the team as Boden was caught-up in an early multi-car incident. After fighting to repair the car, the team returned Boden to the track late in the going making up several positions but severely hurting their championship plans. Fortunes are currently reversed from a year-ago for the team entering the third race of the 2013 CTSCC season. After damage crippled their Daytona season-opener in January, the Trim-Tex operation rallied at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas in early March narrowly missing the podium. The success reignited their 2013 GS class championship aspirations.
Sellers will miss the next CTSCC race to run the No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón at Long Beach, Calif. The Falken Tire factory driver is committed to the street course while the Fall-Line-entered BMW races at his “home” track of Road Atlanta on April 20. It is the only CTSCC race Sellers is expected to miss in 2013. Knowing he will miss the race puts more emphasis on the Ohio-native to post as many points as possible in the remaining races in support of GS Driver and Team Championship-hopes of Boden and Fall-Line.
Timing and scoring of all sessions can be found at www.GRAND-AM.com beginning with the first CTSCC practice on Thursday, April 4 at 1 p.m. (Central Time). The race itself is scheduled to take the green flag at 4 p.m. local time on April 6. The Barber 200, part of the GRAND-AM Porsche 250 weekend, will be broadcast live on www.SPEED2.com with a television broadcast on SPEED, April 13 at 2 p.m. ET.
Quotes
Bryan Sellers:
On expectations for the Barber 200: “The Fall-Line BMW was very strong at Barber last year. We had a series of unfortunate events that led us to not being able to finish the race as well as we could have. We’re confident this year the Trim-Tex M3 will be very strong in race trim. I suspect our overall speed will be down slightly but that we will have a very good race pace over the duration of a stint. That is where our result will come from. I am not too worried about outright lap times.
We moved in the right direction at COTA. We just didn't get quite there all the way with the Trim-Tex/Fall-Line car. We have to continue to adjust ourselves on the fly and make the changes where they are needed. We are getting closer and closer and now we need to seal the deal. The speed we showed in practice here last year means we have a good chance at Barber to do that.”
On the challenges and opportunities at Barber Motorsports Park: “We know there are other cars that are better than we are on the straights but we also know there are places here we can make that up. The BMW is very good at rolling speed across the center of the corners. The balance of the car is very good and at most tracks very neutral. Barber has a lot of sections where it is very important to carry speed into the corners and across the middle of the corner and that will make up for the loss of time on elsewhere.”
On staying out of trouble in the intense competition of CTSCC: “The intense wheel-to-wheel competition of the Sports Car Challenge Series is what draws all the drivers, teams and fans to it. But, you also don’t want to be the guy that makes the crash highlight reel for the SPEED promos the rest of the year. I think the key to being able to avoid those situations is trying to place the car towards the front of the field and hopefully out of the way of danger. There is always a risk in motorsports of contact and ending a race short. It’s impossible to eliminate the risk completely but you have to use your head and try not to get caught-up in the heat of the moment or someone else’s mistake. That isn’t always easy in this series with so many cars on track. But, if you can, you usually see good results.”
For more on Bryan Sellers, please visit him on the web at "> www.BryanSellersRacing.com . Follow Bryan on Twitter ("> www.Twitter.com/BryanSellers ) and LIKE him on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/BryanSellersRacing . Tune-in to Bryan’s YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/BryanSellersRacing .
Learn more about Fall-Line Racing, visit www.Fall-LineMotorsports.com .
For more on the Grand-Am Sports Car Challenge go to www.GRAND-AM.com .
Visit www.FalkenTire.com for more on Team Falken Tire. Learn more about the American Le Mans Series at www.ALMS.com .
Go R/C racing with Bryan at www.HPIRACING.com .
Stayed charged with Batter Tender at www.BatteryTender.com .
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