Grand-Am: 2010 Schedule for Rolex Series announced

From the Grand-Am Championship

Grand-Am Road Racing announced today its 2010 schedule for the Rolex Sports Car Series, featuring 12 Daytona Prototype and GT class combined-races in a dozen weekends.

The 11th season of competition will include several staple events, including the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen endurance races, as well as significant changes to a pair of sprint races at Lime Rock Park and Barber Motorsports Park.

Rolex Series competition returns to Lime Rock Park during Memorial Day weekend, and for the first time, GT class competitors will be joined by Daytona Prototype teams and drivers. Barber also features a new date, moving its regular July race to April for the first time.

The season again begins with the 48th running of the Rolex 24, Jan. 30-31 at Daytona International Speedway.

Other major alterations to the schedule include moving the Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway from the Fall to back to Springtime, to March 6-8; the Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park from July to April 10-11; and New Jersey Motorsports Park from May to the weekend of July 17.

The season finale returns to Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City, Utah, competing on the Outer Perimeter course for the first time.

The schedule also includes the prestigious road courses at which the series has competed through the years and their regular dates, returning to Virginia International Raceway for the Bosch Engineering 250, scheduled for the weekend of April 24-25.

The series also returns June 5-6 with the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International, then travels to Lexington, Ohio, the weekend of June 19 for the EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Competitors return to Daytona on the Fourth of July weekend and again will share the track with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, running the historic Brumos Porsche 250.

New Jersey is the next stop with the new date the weekend of July 17, and will be followed by another combination race with the Sprint Cup Series, Aug. 7-8 at Watkins Glen.

The Rolex Series then crosses into Canada for its fourth race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, sharing the track with the NASCAR Nationwide Series Aug. 28-29, before the Miller finale, scheduled for Sept. 10-11.