TEAM NEWS: STaSIS Places Its Hopes for Utah on Young Guns

Photo by John Thawley TOOELE, Utah, May 17 -Insiders can't remember when a team has assembled a

driving roster of such young and accomplished racers as STaSIS Motorsports has

entered in Saturday's SPEED World Challenge Touring Car race at Miller

Motorsports Park here.

When Dino Crescentini decided not to compete here this weekend due to family

responsibilities, the California-based team called on Adam Pecorari to join

regulars Chip Herr and Ian Baas behind the wheels of its Audi A4s this weekend

on the longest road course in the United States.

Pecorari is 22; Baas is 24 and Herr turned 25 today.

Their ages belie the accomplishments they've already recorded in the sport.

Pecorari, of Aston, Pa., won the IMSA Lites championship last year with nine

victories in 10 races.

Baas, of Noblesville, Ind., has a Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona victory (2006) on

his also distinguished racing bio.

Herr, of Lititz, Pa., finished third in this series last year and recorded

the most victories of anyone with three. He is currently fourth in the 2007

driver point standings. He's the team's veteran, as he's been competing in SPEED

World Challenge Touring Car events since 2004.

Herr drives car No. 17; Baas pilots No. 18 and Pecorari will be in No. 19.

Decals on the cars advertise STaSIS, Clear Capital and Cutrubus Audi.

"I raced with Adam before in the Formula Ford Zetec series," noted Baas, a

rookie in the SPEED World Challenge TC series this year. "He also raced with

the STaSIS team once before; he drove with them at Denver last year."

"I qualified fifth, ran in the top five most of the race, and ended up

sixth," Pecorari recalled. "I set the fastest lap of the race too, breaking the

track record.

"I got the call to come to Utah around 4:30 last night [Wednesday]," Pecorari

added. "I was on my way at 7 a.m. this morning. It's a one-off deal right

now, but I hope it turns into more races."

Although Pecorari and Herr live about 50 miles from each other, Pecorari

knows Baas better due to their battles in the Formula Ford Zetec series in years

past.

Is an all-STaSIS podium possible on Saturday?

"I've never been here before and I missed all the practice yesterday

[Wednesday], so I have a lot to learn," Pecorari said. "I'll only have like one and a

half practices before qualifying, but we'll hope for the best. I think we'll

be competitive."

"We learned some things in testing, and so far things are going OK," Baas

noted. "It's a long course with 24 turns and it's definitely challenging, but if

we can stay out of trouble we should be OK."

"They say we're the youngest team of drivers in Touring Car, but we've all

had success and I'm looking forward to having a good weekend," Herr said. "I

don't know if we're the youngest or not, but I think we're the shortest, anyway!"

Herr and Baas are 5'6", while Pecorari is 5'4".

Qualifying will be held at 11:55 a.m. local time tomorrow. The 50-minute

Touring Car race, which is part of the Larry H. Miller Dealers Grand Prix, is

slated to start at 2:15 p.m. local time on Saturday. It will be shown on SPEED

on Saturday, May 26 at 4 p.m. Eastern time.