Martin to drive at Iowa Speedway Sports Car race
Mark Martin will join Southard Motorsports drivers Randy Ruhlman and Shane Lewis in the Southard Motorsports #3 Preformed Line Products Lexus Riley, as they take on the new 1.3-mile, Rusty Wallace-designed road course at Iowa Speedway for Round 9 of the Grand-Am Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve. While Mark Martin is no newcomer to the world of sports cars or road racing, the Iowa event will be his first time driving in a Grand-Am Daytona Prototype car. Martin holds the distinction of being part of four GT victories at the Rolex 24 At Daytona. A track sponsored test day on Thursday, July 11, will help the teams prepare for Friday's official practice and the 5 p.m. Friday qualifying session. The 400-K race at the newly built Iowa Speedway starts at 8:00pm/ct on Friday July 13th for 192-laps or 2 1/2 hours on the 1.3-mile road course oval in Newton, Iowa, just outside of Des Moines. The race will be broadcast same-day delayed on Friday, July 13th at 10pm/et on SPEED. The No. 3 Preformed Line Products Daytona Prototype is campaigned by Southard Motorsports of Powell, Ohio. The Riley chassis is powered by Lexus engines with technical expertise by TRD Engineering and carries sponsorship from Preformed Line Products from Mayfield Village, Ohio. Martin will also run the Nextel Cup race in Chicago this weekend, driving the #01 U.S. Army Chevy for Ginn Racing. Southard Motorsports PR