Miller Barrett Racing - Montréal preview.... Toronto's Dave Lacey joins team

Miller Barrett Racing will add some Canadian power for the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montréal on Aug. 29. Dave Lacey of Toronto will join Bryce Miller of Summit, N.J., behind the wheel of the No. 48 Marquis Jet / IPC / Total Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

Both drivers are experienced Porsche specialists who have enjoyed success in the Rolex Series. Miller finished third in the 2007 GT class championship with 10 podium finishes, including second place in the Montréal race. He added a class podium in the Rolex 24 At Daytona last year. Lacey has been winning in Grand-Am competition since 2000 and his resume includes two Rolex 24 class podiums.

Racing is an integral part of both driver's families. Lacey's father John was a Formula One team manager in South Africa. He later owned Doncaster Racing and guided his son's career. Miller's father Paul was a Trans-Am and IMSA endurance racer and team owner, now in partnership with his son in the new Miller Barrett Racing team.

"It's great to go back to Montréal. It's a fun circuit with a lot of prestige surrounding it, with the Formula One championship having raced there. I enjoy the motorsport culture of the city and the festivities that surround the race," Bryce Miller said.

"I'm excited about my co-driver, Dave Lacey, because I know he can do a really good job for us and deliver the results that we need. It will be additionally good to have a Canadian in the car at a Canadian venue. Dave has the experience and he knows the track really well. His family has had prior team ownership, so he may be able to contribute something to our new team as an outside, objective party."

Lacey noted, "It's great to be returning to Montreal with a new team, but also some familiarity. Bryce and I know each other through other teams and we are both very acquainted with the GT3 product.

"I watched the team's performance at Watkins Glen. For their inaugural race, they had great pace, but unfortunately came together with a prototype, which ended what would have been a great race. I'm excited to get with Bryce and decide on a strategy to podium at Montréal."

The Montréal race will be only the second outing for Miller Barrett Racing, but the crew is already in sync. Although the team members hadn't worked together before – and some had no race experience – the small crew gelled quickly and gave the drivers a class-leading car in their first race, at Watkins Glen International on Aug. 7.

"We go to Montréal with some confidence because the début of our car went very well at Watkins Glen," Miller said. "I think we stand a chance to show competitively again because now we have more data and we have experience with the pressure and all of the time constraints of a race weekend. It's shown us what we have to refine to do a better job, so we're working to make those adjustments and apply them at Montréal. With so many different backgrounds and histories of our crew members, they each bring a different contribution and offer a unique perspective to the program."

The two-hour Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 29, from 2:15 pm to 4:15 pm ET on the 4.361-km (2.708-mile) Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course in Montréal. The race will be telecast live on SPEED at 2 pm ET. Live timing/scoring will be available at grand-am.com.

Bryce Miller races with the support of three international sponsors. Marquis Jet is the recognized leader in private jet cards because it's the only program that offers exclusive access to NetJets – the gold standard in private aviation – 25 hours at a time. IPC Information Systems is a leading provider of mission-critical communications solutions to financial services firms. Total Lubricants is the world's fourth-largest publicly traded integrated international oil and gas company.

From Sylvia Proudfoot