July 8 2015
Toronto, Ontario - Mantella Autosport will be flat out for its home race, Round 7 of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge on July 10-11 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
On track, the team's focus will remain on hunting down its first podium finish. Off track, the home team will be busier than ever as it hosts nearly 50 guests and fans of Gulf Oil Canada, sponsor of the team's No. 8 Camaro Z/28.R.
Mantella Autosport's relationship with Gulf Oil led to a special honor this year. The well-known livery of the No. 8 is the only official Gulf Oil livery to ever grace a Camaro Z/28.R.
Mantella Autosport and Gulf Oil will invite fans to share their stories of watching the iconic livery over the years during the fan walk that takes place from 12:30-1:15 p.m (ET) Saturday, July 11, shortly before the 1:25 p.m. start of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race
Fans who share will receive a free gift from Gulf Oil Canada.
"Obviously having our biggest sponsor at our home track is very exciting," team owner and driver Anthony Mantella said. "It will be great to spend time at Mosport in a racing environment with the people who are as passionate as we are about racing success.
"I'm so proud to drive a car with the Gulf Oil colors. Cars with this livery have set records in the infancy of auto racing and have been driven by men whose names reside in the halls of fame. Today Gulf stands for endurance, reliability and quality. And I'm proud to represent that for them in our series."
Off track, Mantella Autosport will help raise awareness for aplastic anemia with the Olliestrong Foundation.
Oliver Ferguson, the 5-year-old son of Rob Ferguson, a friend of team owner and driver Mantella, was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a rare cancer. Rob Ferguson and his wife, Melitta, set up the foundation to raise awareness and funds after his son's diagnosis. Fans and participants this weekend at CTMP will be asked to support Ollie through donations.
All donations will go directly to the Olliestrong Foundation. For more information, visit http://cookieejar.com/project/olliestrong or Olliestrong on Facebook.
Ollie will attend the race and wave the green flag to start the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race on Sunday, July 12.
"We as a team have an opportunity to, at the very least, put a smile on Oliver's face and hopefully raise some funds for this struggling family to help care for Oliver until he's cured," Mantella said. "We hope that fans and other teams can contribute to his cause."
Mantella Autosport and co-driver Anthony Mantella will welcome back Mark Wilkins to the No. 8 car after a one-weekend hiatus. The dynamic Martin Barkey and Kyle Marcelli will drive the MBPR Inc. No. 80 Camaro Z/28.R. Both cars will feature a tribute to Ollie Ferguson and the Olliestrong Foundation.
The two-hour, 30-minute Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race starts at 1:25 p.m. Saturday on the 10-turn, 2.459-mile circuit. Fans can follow live video on imsa.com and live timing at scoring.imsa.com or the IMSA mobile app. The race will be broadcast at noon (ET) Sunday, July 19 on FOX Sports 1.
For updates, follow the team on Facebook and Twitter. To keep up with Team Chevy, follow the hashtag #TeamChevy at @TeamChevy.
ABOUT MANTELLA AUTOSPORT: Driver Anthony Mantella founded Mantella Autosport in 2013 because of his intense passion for high-performance speed racing. His business model was designed with the goal of inspiring companies to use racing for client entertainment, building corporate culture and generating business.
Mantella Autosport offers world-class hospitality for companies looking for ways to reward corporate partners, conduct team-building exercises and benefit from unusual meeting spaces within the exciting, unique environment of elite sports car racing. The two-car team represents Team Chevy in the new Camaro Z28.R during 2015 in the ultra-competitive International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge at prestigious venues across North America.
ABOUT GULF OIL: Gulf Oil is one of the most famous oil brands in the world, with a long heritage in motorsport, and in particular the Le Mans 24Hrs, the world's oldest sports car endurance race.
Gulf lubricated race cars have competed in the famous blue and orange livery and won many great races. Today, Gulf has a partnership with Aston Martin Racing in the World Endurance Championship and, through Teklub Canada Ltd with Mantella Autosport in the Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge.