Merchant Services Racing on the podium at Road America

Move To Second Place in Points Standings

Merchant Services Racing continued to cement their place as a true championship contender at Road America for the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón Road Race Showcase. Taking the Prototype Challenge pole position and putting the No. 8 Lamex, Butterfield Farms ORECA on the podium made for a successful weekend.

#8 Merchant Services Racing Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet: Kyle Marcelli, Antonio Downs,

Photo by: Michael C. Johnson

Fielding two cars for the event, Alder slated Chapman Ducote and James French to join Kyle Marcelli in the No. 8 Lamex, Butterfield Farms ORECA, along with Anthony, Lucas and Matt Downs piloting the No. 7 sister car.

"I'm pretty happy with today's results," Alder continued. "We continued our streak of podium finishes, both cars ran flawless and the crew nailed their pit stops. I think had we caught a few breaks, we might have moved up a couple of spots."

The team had high hopes after Kyle Marcelli qualified the No. 8 car on the pole for the Prototype Challenge cars. Marcelli shattered the previous PC track record by over one second with a lap time of 1:57.172 - six tenths quicker than 3-time 24 Hour Le Mans Winner Tom Kimber-Smith, Indy Car veteran Bruno Junquiera and sports car standout, Marino Franchitti.

"Kyle was outstanding… both in qualifying and the race" said Alder. "And I was really impressed with the opening stints of Antonio Downs and James French. The opening stint for the prototype Challenge cars is really tough. They're battling a lot of traffic while they struggle to get their tires up to temperature. These guys did great."

"I want to congratulate the Core team on winning the 2012 Prototype Challenge Team Championship," said team principal, Brian Alder. "They were very strong all day and in the closing laps, we just didn't have anything for them."

The weekend results move the team in to second place in the team Championship.

Source: Merchant Services Racing