The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón will throw the green flag on its final event this Saturday. The Series will have come full circle ending where it began with the 2013 Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
Tomy Drissi will team up with Rusty Mitchell and James French driving the No. 7 Prototype Challenge car featuring The Maze Runner movie on its livery for this final event. French and Mitchell campaigned the No. 7 to a podium finish two weeks ago at Virginia International Raceway and Tomy is confident the trio can continue that success.
“We’ve got a great driver lineup for the final American Le Mans Series event. It’s going to be a great weekend with lots of bittersweet emotions running throughout the paddock.
“It’s fitting that it should all end here… at Petit Le Mans. This is an epic event and one of the classic North American race tracks. We compete throughout the year in tough events and on fantastic tracks… but Petit is truly something special.
“I’m really happy to get back to racing with the guys at BAR1. The team has been on a roll since the Austin race at Circuit of the Americas and really seems to have hit their stride. We’ve had good cars all year long.. but it seemed that we just couldn’t get a break. Plus… I’ve been 2nd two years in a row here. I’d like to finally get the win!”
The car will feature the upcoming movie The Maze Runner as it’s livery this weekend. The Maze Runner is a story of Thomas (O’Brien) who wakes up trapped in a massive maze with a group of other boys, he has no memory of the outside world other than strange dreams about a mysterious organization known as W.C.K.D. Only by piecing together fragments of his past with clues he discovers in the maze can Thomas hope to uncover his true purpose and a way to escape. Based on the best-selling novel by James Dashner.
The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón ends its 15th and final season with the Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda on Saturday and ALMS fans will be able to follow the action live across multiple FOX Sports platforms and ALMS.com.
Petit Le Mans will mark the end of an era in American sports car racing while anticipating the unification of the ALMS and the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series into the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship in 2014. The Petit Le Mans will maintain its time-honored position on the new TUDOR Championship calendar as the final race of the season.
FOX Sports’ coverage of the race on Oct. 19 begins on FOX Sports 2 from 11 a.m.-noon ET, including pre-race activities and the green flag at 11:30 a.m. for the 1,000-mile (394 laps)/10-hour time limit race.
FOX Sports 2 resumes the broadcast from 2:30-6:30 p.m. FOX Sports 1 will continue live coverage from 6:30-8 p.m., before FOX Sports 2 picks up with the conclusion beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Live coverage of the entire event will be available on FOX Sports’ new mobile application, FOX Sports Go.
FOX Sports 1 will also broadcast a three-hour highlight presentation from 4-7 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 20.
Live streaming of qualifying on Friday, Oct. 18 will be available on ALMS.com beginning at 1:50 p.m. ET. ALMS.com will then offer a complete live stream of Saturday’s race to international audiences.
Bob Varsha and Brian Till will share lap-by-lap coverage with Calvin Fish, Dorsey Schroeder, Johnny O’Connell and Justin Bell handling color commentary. Jamie Howe, Chris Neville and Kelli Stavast will report on pit road activities.
Tomy Drissi is an American driver and Trans Am Champion. His driver experience includes ALMS, Trans-Am, NASCAR and Speed World Challenge.
Born December 9 in Hollywood, California, Tomy owns an advertising firm that produces upcoming film displays for cinemas. Drissi’s first racing experience in motorsports was street racing on Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills.
His professional racing career highlights include; 1999 Trans-Am Rookie of the Year, 2000 Trans-Am BBS Most Improved Driver, 2000 Trans-Am Crew of the Year and Trans-Am Champion. He also competed in the American Le Mans Series LMP1 class at Mid-Ohio finishing 3rd. 2011 saw Tomy’s return to the American Le Mans Series, LMPC division. He scored a 2nd at Long Beach, 3rd at Lime Rock, 1st at Mid Ohio,1st at Inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix and second at Road Atlanta -Petit Le Mans. In 2012, Drissi teamed with Bruno Junqiera for finishing 2nd at Laguna Seca, a win at Mosport (Canadian Tire Motorsports Park), 2nd at Baltimore and second at the season finale, Petit Lemans.
Tomy is married to Lacy Livingston Drissi.
Find out more about Tomy Drissi at http://www.tomydrissi.com or follow Tomy on Facebook /tomydrissi and Twitter @tomydrissi
The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón is the world`s leading sports car championship and is recognized as the Global Leader in Green Racing. In the tradition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, multiple classes of cars – purpose-built prototypes and production-based Grand Touring automobiles – race on the track at the same time to create compelling race action and constant passing. All cars in the Series compete using one of five approved alternative fuels or energy sources: clean sulfur-free diesel, cellulosic E85 or E10, Isobutanol and electric hybrid technologies. The Series has more automobile marques involved than any other major race series in the world as manufacturers develop relevant technologies on track that transfer directly to the customer showroom. The ALMS competes at North America`s premier road racing tracks and selected temporary street circuits in major urban markets.