Ricky Taylor (right) will join Wayne and Jordan Taylor in racing at Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 1, 2008) - Jared Beyer kept it in the Taylor family when choosing a teammate for the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway. After co-driving with Ricky Taylor in the No. 19 Beyer Racing Ford Crawford at Virginia International Raceway in April, 18-year-old Beyer will co-drive with Jordan Taylor Thursday evening.
Taylor, who just turned 17, will become the second youngest driver in Daytona Prototype history.
Beyer and Taylor tested this weekend at Roebling Road in Savannah, Ga., with both drivers running approximately 75 laps each while recording similar times. Beyer and Ricky Taylor were joined by Andy Wallace in an 11th-place finish in Virginia International Raceway in the team's debut. Ricky, 18, was also on hand for the test.
"The test went incredibly well," said Wayne Taylor, owner of SunTrust Racing and father of the two drivers. "I never expected this to happen so fast. It's great they both have the opportunities. It's going to be hard for me this weekend, with me owning my own team and my sons driving for two other teams."
Ricky Taylor will co-drive the No. 47 Ford Dallara with Burt Frisselle in the Brumos Porsche 250. Taylor finished seventh in that car in the recent race at Mid-Ohio, and also co-drove to a fifth-place finish in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Beyer Racing plans to run two to three additional races in 2008 - most likely the events at Infineon Raceway and Miller Motorsports Park - and then run the two young drivers for the full 2009 season.
"Jared's really coming to terms with the car," said Beyer general manager Stephen Charsley. "He's gotten over the hump of going from smaller cars to the larger car, and he was very comfortable. For the first time in the Daytona Prototype, he picked up where he left off each time he got in the car and his times came down. At VIR, he was told to be safe and enjoy his first race, and that's what he did. Now, for a change, he's told to see how much quicker he can go."
Wayne Taylor and Max Angelelli were grand marshals of Saturday evening's SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway, and gave the command to start the engines on the nationally televised event.
Angelelli is scheduled to be at Putnam Park in Mt. Meridian, Ind., on Monday afternoon, shaking down the Dallara Daytona Prototype that will replace the car that was destroyed - along with the team's transporter with all of its spares and equipment in the - in a highway fire while returning from the May event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Thunderstorms and a tornado warning prevented the team from testing the car at Putnam late last week.