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<body> <Table Width="550" border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellpadding="0"><TR><TD Width="35"><IMG SRC="//www.totalmotorsport.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH="35" HEIGHT="1"></td><td> <CENTER><Table border="0" width="100%"> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="5">GRAND AMERICAN ROAD RACING ASSOCIATION</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">09/07/2004</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">Half Time Report</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">2004 = More Cars, Better Reliability, Closer Racing</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><img border="1" src="Storage/daytona24startr04(2).jpg"></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="1">  </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">The 2004 Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series reached the halfway point in the 12-race season with last week’s Paul Revere 250 presented by Brumos Porsche at Daytona International Speedway, and several notable trends have emerged.<BR> <BR> Bolstered by the explosive growth of the Daytona Prototype class, the 2004 Rolex Series has averaged 42 starters per race through the first six events and is on pace to set an all-time high in that category. The previous best season was in 2001 when the Rolex Series averaged 40 starters per event. The series has also seen a 150 percent increase in field size from the average of 28 starters last year.<BR> <BR> More teams are also finishing the races in 2004, as there has been an average of 32 cars running at the finish through last week’s race. That represents an increase of 200 percent over last year’s average of 16 finishers per race, and also tops the 2001 previous best average of 30 cars running at the finish of each event. Rolex Series fans have also been treated to more laps of racing the first half of ’04, as the races have averaged 200 laps, nine more than the 191-lap average from 2002, the previous high.<BR> <BR> Not only has the Rolex Series seen growth in quantity, but the quality of the racing in 2004 is also improved based on a few key statistics. On average endurance and sprint events included there have been four cars on the lead lap at the end of each race this season, which puts the series on pace to establish another all-time high. Last year, there was an average of three cars on the lead lap which tied the record established in the inaugural Rolex Series season of 2000.<BR> <BR> The 2004 series has seen an average of five leaders per race, topping the previous best of four established in 2001 and equalled in 2003. Also, not including the Rolex 24 At Daytona, where the No. 54 Kodak-Bell Motorsports Pontiac Doran quartet of Terry Borcheller, Forest Barber, Christian Fittipaldi and Andy Pilgrim won by three laps, the 2004 average margin of victory has been eight seconds, which is 11 seconds closer than the 2003 average and trails only the seven-second average margin of victory from 2001.<BR> </FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE><BR> </CENTER> <BR><CENTER><font size="1" color="#808080" face="Tahoma">Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport</font></CENTER> </td> </tr> </table> </body>