Mooresville, NC (August 24, 2009) – R3 Motorsports is ready to take on the historic Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada in Sunday’s NAPA Auto Parts 500. The 2.71-mile course has 15 turns and can be a challenge for even the most seasoned road course specialist.
Piloting the No. 23 Mahindra Tractors Chevrolet for R3 Motorsports will be Canada native Jean-Francois Dumoulin. The 33-year-old is no stranger to road course racing. Dumoulin has competed in the Rolex Sports Car Series since 2000, beginning in the GTU class. He has made nine appearances in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and has claimed two class victories in that event – SGS in 2004 and GT in 2007. Overall, Dumoulin has made 35 starts in the in the Grand-Am Rolex Series and has amassed three class wins.
Steve Plattenberger - Crew Chief : “Everyone at R3 Motorsports is really excited to have Jean-Francois behind the wheel of our No. 23 Mahindra Tractors Chevrolet. He’s a proven road racer and that’s what you need if you are going to be able to compete on a track like Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The place has 15 turns on it, so you have to be sure that your car is set up properly. You need a lot of feed back from your driver to get the car to turn like it should, and that’s why it’s good to have an experienced guy like Jean-Francois driving.
“We really think that we’ve got a good car for Jean-Francois. I know that the guys have been working really hard in the shop, getting ready for Montreal. Hopefully, we can get out of there with a nice top-15 finish."
Car: #23 Mahindra Tractors Chevrolet
Chassis Facts: Chassis No. 39
Race Facts: 250 laps / 133.24 miles
Qualifying: Saturday, 4:30 p.m. (ET), will be shown at 9:00 p.m. (ET) on ESPN
Race: Sunday, 2:00 p.m. (ET), ESPN2 and MRN Radio
About Mahindra Tractors
Tomball, Texas-based Mahindra USA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra, one of the largest tractor manufacturers in the world. Mahindra USA began selling tractors in America in 1994 and has grown rapidly due to high customer satisfaction and customer referrals. Professional-grade Mahindra tractors are designed to help consumers push more, pull more and lift more. For more information, please visit www.mahindrausa.com.
R3 Motorsports Media Relations – 704-857-6223 –r3motorsports@hotmail.com