The Monterey Festival of Speed is headlined by the Daytona Prototypes and GT cars of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. The Daytona Prototypes and GT cars will do battle in a 250-mile race (with a two-hour, 45-minute time limit) on Sunday, May 17. The Rolex Sports Car Series will be joined by the Grand-Am Koni Cup for high-performance sports cars along with the Mazda MX-5 Cup and Mustang Challenge.

Grand-Am's top-tier Rolex Sports Car Series begins its tenth season of competition in 2009 and the Daytona Prototype category has attracted the attention of superstar drivers and universally-recognized teams through its extremely raceable and relatively affordable format. It has revolutionized sports car racing with plentiful battles at the front of the field and close finishes in virtually every race.

Like the Daytona Prototype class that has redefined prototype sports car racing, the Rolex Series GT class has done the same for high-performance, production-based sports car racing.

Defending champion Ryan Dalziel with co-driver Henri Zogaib and SAMAX got their first Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series victory here last year in the prototype class and Paul Edwards with co-driver Kelly Collins and Banner Racing Banner won the GT class.

The KONI Challenge Series for straight-from-the-showroom American muscle cars and the hottest imports will join the Rolex Sports Car Series for the first time at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for its ninth season of competition under the Grand-Am banner.

Tickets, additional event information, parking directions and information for the 2009 season at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca are available by calling (800) 327-SECA or online at www.laguna-seca.com.

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was established in 1957. The world-renowned raceway has been operated since its inception by the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP), a not-for-profit 501C(4) corporation. Each race season, SCRAMP donates its net proceeds to the volunteer groups that help put on the races.

Mazda Raceway Laguna Secas world-class 2009 racing schedule includes the Festival of Speed featuring Rolex Grand-Am Series May 15-17, Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix featuring MotoGP World Championship July 3-5, the 36th Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races August 14-16 and the Monterey Sports Car Championships featuring the American Le Mans Series October 9-11.

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