Childress-Howard Motorsports Debut at Watkins Glen
Sports Car racing legend Andy Wallace and multi-time Rolex Series champion Andy Lally will be the co-drivers. It will be the third time the duo has co-driven an entry after competing in two races in another series last year.
CHM is a joint effort between Richard Childress, president and CEO of Richard Childress Racing, and Rick Howard, president of Howard Motorsports. The announcement of the team’s formation was made Jan. 21 during the NASCAR Media Tour stop at RCR. Current plans are to compete in at least one other race this season and then the full season in 2009.
Wallace began his very successful professional racing career in the 1980s. The Oxford, England native has earned three overall Rolex 24 at Daytona titles (1990, ’98, ’99), one 24 Hours of LeMans (1988), and two 12 Hours of Sebring (1992, ’93).
“We had a fantastic two-day test last month at Virginia International Raceway with a brand new car," said Wallace. “Andy and I use exactly the same seat so there will be no extra time needed when we make the driver change to add a seat insert. We like the same car setup so there won’t be any issues there, either. I can’t wait to get at it."
Lally is a three-time Rolex Series class champion (2001, ’04, ’06) and won a season-high five races last year in the Rolex Series GT class. He also earned a class win in the 2001 Rolex 24 at Daytona. The Northport, N.Y., native has a great deal of experience and success in many other forms of auto racing, including the NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Truck Series, and open wheel competition.
“Andy is one of my racing heroes so I’m looking forward to driving with him again," said Lally. “I grew up in New York and have had a lot of success at Watkins Glen so I love racing there. I only got to make one day of the test last month because of a scheduling conflict but everything seemed to go very well."