Gaughan to make Rolex 24 debut with TRG

PETALUMA, Calif. -- TRG announced Wednesday its third entry in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The three-time Rolex 24 winners will field the TRG/HP/South Point Casino/Porsche 997 with drivers Steve Bertheau, Brendan Gaughan, Andy Lally, Spencer Pumpelly, and a Porsche Factory driver to be named later, for the twice around the clock race to be run at Daytona International Speedway on January 29th.

Bertheau and Gaughan will be taking part in their first Rolex 24 Hour race. Bertheau is a product of the TRG driver ladder competing in Continental Challenge and Rolex Series GT events over the last 18-months. Gaughan is a seasoned NASCAR competitor. Gaughan raced a sports car with TRG at Montreal in 2009, ran the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race last weekend at Phoenix and is looking forward to his first Rolex 24 Hour.

"If you're talking sports car racing and you say TRG it is a very powerful name," Gaughan said. "I did the Montreal race two years ago with TRG and Andy as my co-driver. My whole goal was to get within a second of Andy's time. I did get within a second of him and I was really happy with my drive. Andy and I attended driver's school together in the 90s so I know how good he is with endurance racing. I've known him a long time. I love the sports cars. I drove them early in my career and that is where I was going. Once we had the relationship with Kevin Buckler and Andy, I have been thinking of doing the 24 Hour race for a few years. The timing is right. I told Kevin if I do it I want the best, I want to run with Andy and Spencer. We have Steve, Andy, Spencer and a Porsche Factory driver. This is a team that can win the 24 Hours At Daytona. I will make sure I do my job, give the car to Andy and Spence and say here you go guys, I didn't hurt it for you."

Lally is a two time Rolex 24 winner wearing the watches from 2009 and '01.

"I'm stoked about our chances for the 24 with our driver lineup this year," Lally said. "This will be the first time in four years that Spence and I will be back together in a car at Daytona and last time we ran together we led a huge portion of the race. Having Brendan on board is really cool as well because even though the guy has raced just about everything in the world, as well as won in it, this will be his first time at the 24 and I know he is psyched to get at it. Having Steve with us will be cool as well. Steve will be our newest guy on the team and this will also be his first 24, but he has been doing very well with us at all the other Rolex events he has done. I'm looking forward to working with him to produce a solid, fast and smart performance."

Team owner Kevin Buckler continues to expand his footprint in the Daytona garage area for the 2011 race. Buckler is a two time winning driver in 2002 and 2003, winning the race overall in '03, as well as directing his team to a one-two finish in '09.

"This is flat-out a great driver line-up," Buckler said. "We have two seasoned pros and past Rolex winners with Andy and Spencer. We bring in two strong Rolex 24 newbies with Steve and Brendan, but both very competent behind the wheel and both are fiery competitors. The coaching and experience by the whole TRG clan will help to raise the game for all of our drivers. Steve has been a fantastic team member over the last two seasons and seeing him develop as a professional driver has been rewarding for me. Brendan is about as diverse a driver as there is having competed at the top levels of NASCAR and with a great history in off road racing as well. His off-road endurance experience at night will really help the team. These two guys are my friends and are very fun guys who love to race. I am very pleased the way the whole team has come together and we are putting our heads down now and going to work. We want to win this race!"