Alex Job Racing (AJR) heads north to Mosport International Raceway for the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) presented by Tequila Patron Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport. Bill Sweedler will be joined by Brian Wong in the No. 23 Battery Tender/Robert Graham/William Rast/AJR/Porsche.
The team is coming off of their second consecutive podium finish at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut 10-days ago. The team has had a lot of success around the 2.5-mile, 10-turn undulating road course located an hour north of Toronto, winning five times in the last 10-years (ALMS 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004 and IMSA Challenge 2009). Last year the weekend started tough with a big accident in Thursday’s open practice causing the team to rebuild the No. 23 AJR Porsche. Sweedler is looking for another consistent run and his third podium finish in as many races this weekend.
“Mosport is an old school track that dates back to the glory days of Formula 1,” Sweedler said. “It has huge elevation changes and high speed turns that make this one of the most unique circuits on the ALMS schedule. When you factor traffic into the equation, as a driver, you need to be on your “A” game to stay competitive at Mosport. Brian and I have driven well together and I look forward to teaming with him during this round with the entire Alex Job race team.”
Brian Wong returns to the team, having last driven the 23 at Sebring in March. “I have been keeping myself busy racing in different series and cars since Sebring,” Wong said. “I ran a couple of NASCAR races at Salt Lake City’s Miller Motorsports park, finishing in the top ten, and Infineon Raceway with a solid top five finish. I also ran the IMSA GT3 race at Miller Motorsports Park at the end of April with AJR, but the bulk of my time as been spent in Asia. I’ve been keeping my frequent flyer miles up with multiple trips to Asia. I am competing full time in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia series. We have had three rounds, with six races completed. I have been fortune enough to place on the podium at a couple of the opening rounds. I have run at the Shanghai F1 circuit, Zhuhai International Circuit, and Ordos Circuit in Inner Mongolia.
I have had some great races at Mosport. In 2009, I ran two races in the IMSA GT3 Challenge Series, winning both races in the Gold Class. What was so special to me about that race was that we were able to finish second overall, posting the fastest race lap against the more powerful 2010 cars. So far, Mosport has been a really good track for me. After a long break from the ALMS, I couldn’t think of a better race track to be rejoining the series than Mosport. Mosport is a really fun, fast, and historic track. It’s a really tough place to pass, so starting up front and managing traffic will be key for success in this race. I am really looking forward to getting back into the No. 23 AJR Battery Tender car and working with Alex, Bill, and all the AJR boys. I am hoping to contribute to their already great season.”
Team owner, Alex Job, is shuffling drivers and having success.”We have a bit of a revolving door this season,” Job said. “Bill is with us every race and we have Leh Keen and Brian that are sharing the seat and Butch was good enough join us at Lime Rock. We have been able to keep focused and perform with the variable of a different driver nearly every weekend. We have a really nice podium streak going. We will be looking to keep that streak intact this weekend.”
The American Le Mans Series Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport will be run July 22- 24. The race can be viewed live at ESPN3.com starting at 2:45 p.m. ET, July 24. The race will be broadcast, taped delayed, on ESPN2 at 10 p.m. ET, July 24.
Source: Alex Job Racing
