James Vance is adding a ride for Sick Sidways in the Playboy MX-5 Cup to his usual Compass360 mount. (Photo-IMSA)
Stouffville, Ontario - Round 8 of the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge takes place at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, just 40 miles (65 km) from driver James Vance's home in the Toronto suburb of Stouffville.
Vance considers the beloved, challenging track - known by many by its first name, Mosport - as his home track and is thrilled to race July 12 at a familiar venue.
The knowledge of the 10-turn, 2.459-mile circuit and the area will help ease the stress of the weekend, as Vance will pull his first weekend of double-duty racing with his team Compass360 Racing in the SportsCar Challenge and Sick Sideways in the Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup. Vance also will race with the MX-5 team in August at Road America and in October at Road Atlanta.
"I am completely excited for this weekend," Vance said. "I know the MX-5 cars really well, and I love racing them. My team (C360) is supportive of me doing this. I'm excited for the extra track time. I know I'm really fast in the car, and think I can shine in the series because last year I was running up front and now I have more experience.
"The most frustrating part of this season is that I haven't been able to break out and really show my potential in Continental (Tire SportsCar Challenge). I've had to learn to lean on my teammates some. Luckily, I have a great one in Jon Miller."
With new plans in place with C360 teammate Miller, Vance will be equally as focused on success in his No. 74 ExpoSystems USA Honda Civic Si in the Street Tuner class.
"We'll be focused on getting the No. 74 back on track," Vance said. "We've got a new plan going into the weekend. Jon and I will have our own engineering plan worked out with the team for our car. We'll be basing it more of how we feel in the car rather than looking to our teammates."
Vance's sponsor ExpoSystems USA will provide homecoming grandeur by setting up a Formula One-style garage structure. The structure is made of aluminum framing and will feature custom graphics. The unique structure will be on display and available for tours throughout the weekend, with dates and times to be announced. Unique setups similar to C360's are available for purchase on the company's website, www.exposystems.us.
The race weekend begins for Vance at 8 a.m. (ET) Thursday, July 10 for MX-5 Cup Practice 1. The series will hold two 45-minute sprint races. at 8 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. Saturday, July 12.
The SportsCar Challenge schedule begins at 1:40 p.m. Thursday, July 10 for Practice 1. Qualifying for the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Series takes place at 2:40 p.m. Friday, July 11. Finally, the green flag drops over Round 8 at 1:15 p.m. Saturday, July 12. Live timing will be available at scoring.imsa.com, with live updates at @IMSALive on Twitter. The race will be broadcast on FOX Sports 1 at 10 a.m. Sunday, July 20th.
For updates on James Vance, follow him on Facebook and Twitter at @James_Vance.
About ExpoSystems USA : ExpoSystems has developed a wide range of Custom Modular Trade Show Displays focusing on durability, lightweight materials, a flexible modular design and utilizing recycled materials where possible. Many of our custom trade show display systems offer custom specialized finishes and specialized accessory options available. From light boxes, Rotagraphics and counters, to special graphic headers or custom signage.
About Compass360 Racing (C360R): Compass360 Racing (C360R) is the motorsports division of Compass360 Brand Architects, a Toronto-based firm offering marketing expertise to clients in diverse industries across North America. The team, with support from Honda Performance Development (HPD), fields front-running Honda Civic Si's in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, winning series championships in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010. C360R also won World Challenge Touring Car Championships in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and the Canadian Touring Car Championship in 2010. It adds single-car Subaru WRX STi efforts to its CTSC and PWC programs for 2014. For details visitwww.C360R.com, like on Facebook and follow on Twitter.