Scott Maxwel racet NASCAR op the glen

[Raceboy]

LEVEL CROSS, N.C. -- One of the world's top sports car drivers will be behind the wheel of the No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge at Watkins Glen, N.Y. next week.

Scott Maxwell, 39, will drive the car in place of Christian Fittipaldi, who will wheel the No. 44 New York Yankees Dodge in the Watkins Glen event.

Maxwell, a native of Toronto, Canada, won this year's Rolex 24-hour race at Daytona Beach, Fla., in the Daytona Prototype class in February, picking up the trophy in one of the most important road-course races in the world.

"I met Scott at the 24-hour race at Daytona and through the relationship we have with Multimatic Motorsports," said Kyle Petty, CEO of Petty Enterprises.

"I was impressed with Scott, and we were looking to better our road course program. We asked Scott to help us out and we then tested at Virginia (International Raceway). He did a good job in testing, and he'll do a good job for us at Watkins Glen."

Maxwell may be a stranger to NASCAR Winston Cup racing, but is no stranger to Victory Lane at the world's top road courses. Maxwell, who has more than 10 years of road racing experience, has competed and won at Daytona, LeMans, and is the 2002 Grand Am Cup series champion driving a Porsche Supercup.

He has over 10 professional sports car victories to his credit since 1998 and holds track records at some of the most challenging road courses in North America.

In fact, Maxwell is very familiar with the record books at Watkins Glen. He set the track record in the Motorola Cup North American Street Stock Championship series in 1999. Maxwell currently works for Multimatic Motorsports, and drives in the Grand Am Series and the American LeMan Series.

"I'm thrilled, excited, and very anxious to get to Watkins Glen," said Maxwell. "I've never even attended a NASCAR Winston Cup race before, but to actually be competing in one is really exciting.

"We tested with the car at the Virginia International Raceway and the test went well. I know how the car works, and now I just have to see how it handles at Watkins Glen. I want to keep everything in perspective at Watkins Glen and do the best I can for Kyle, the team, and General Mills."

bron: nascar.com