Drivers Ozz Negri and John Pew have signed on for another season with Michael Shank Racing’s Grand Am Rolex Daytona Prototype team, according to an MSR press release.
This will the pair’s fourth season driving for MSR and their third in the No. 60 Riley Ford DP. Together they have earned four podium finishes, nine top fives, and 21 top tens, only finishing out of the top then three times. Pew also won the Jim Trueman Pro-Am Driver award in 2010 and 2011.
“I’m very happy to have John and Ozz back for 2012,” said team owner Mike Shank on the team’s website. “With the new third-generation Daytona Prototype debuting at Daytona, there will be a lot of new information for everyone to take on. To have this kind of consistency with our drivers and engineering staff in place is going to be a tremendous help.”
In their second season together, Pew and Negri averaged a 7.4 finish (six, except for a disastrous 20-th place finish at New Jersey) and finished sixth overall in the championship. The pair’s second-place finish at Lime Rock extended Negri’s record of taking at least one podium per season to eight, starting in 2004.
Though John Pew is the “amateur” part of the Pro-Am driving team, he takes his task seriously driving karts in the off-season to hone his racecraft. His test times around Daytona’s 3.56-mile roval this month were his best ever.
“I’m really happy to be back with Michael Shank and of course we are all very focused and motivated for the 24,” said Pew, who joined the team in 2007. “There is a great environment in this team, and working with Ozz is something that makes me a better racer every time out. We are both pushing really hard. Hopefully we can open the year with a big result at Daytona and go on to have a strong run in the championship.”
Ozz Negri, a former F3 and Indy Lights star, has been driving for Michael Shank Racing since the team joined Grand Am in 2004. Negri is also a professional driver coach, which is no doubt partly responsible for John Pew’s diminishing lap times.
Pew and Negri will drive the No. 60 again, but this time it will be a brand-new third-generation Riley chassis, again powered by a Ford V8. The team just successfully concluded extensive tests at Daytona International Speedway, and is eager for the season to start.
“We want to be a consistent strong finisher this year and be a stronger factor in the championship. We are all looking forward to getting the new Riley and getting to Daytona!” said Negri said in press statement.
Pew and Negri will first race their new Riley Ford at the Grand Am Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona on January 29–29, 2012.
