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In the middle of one of the worst cold spells Florida has seen in years, one team in the garage had to feel right at home while preparing for the Fresh From Florida 200. Based out of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Chris Prey Racing felt right at home in the cold and got down to the task of dialing in the setup of their No. 86 Royal Purple Porsche Boxster for the late-January event.

Team Owner and co-driver Chris Prey made his first laps around the legendary track during the Friday session. Gene Sigal, co-driver of the No.86, gave Prey valuable pointers throughout the test session. "(Sigal) Had some really good feedback, we took that and kept running with it. Everything he was giving me back for information made sense to exactly what we were having issues with so far. Car was right where we want it to be, now we're just doing some chassis (work)."

Prey brought Gene Sigal on board over the winter. A mutual friend helped link the two drivers together on team that as Sigal put it is, " A bunch of good guys, working out of their heart and not out of their pocket." . A veteran of multiple forms of racing, including Spec Boxsters, Sigal praised the crew's effort to bring the car along. "These guys have done a tremendous job with the car. When we first took it out of the trailer it wasn't the best, but ultimately the (lap) times have shown, we're coming right down towards the leaders, we're only about a second off the pace right now. From the driver's prospective, I think the car has more in it than that."


I could tell Sigal, a previous Rolex Series Overall Race Winner at Mid-Ohio, is the type of guy who enjoys racing for the fast under-the-radar team. Speaking about his previous success in Grand-Am, " We've (SigalSport) won in the DP class, Grand-Am actually gives you a good, competitive series to go against the likes of Ganassi and beat them, piss 'em off a little bit so that's always fun." That's what racing is all about in my book.

As the speeds picked up later in the afternoon session for CPR, I asked Chris what changed "I don't know, I jumped in the car and I just do what I do" , laughing in a way that just would make you nervous if you're a fellow competitor on raceday.Prey continued, " I walked out of there feeling that I could've easily had another 1.5-2 seconds , just because I'm learning brake zones. You break hard, and (say) 'Oh, the corner's up here'. All said and done, if I would have had those two seconds, we would have been quickest on the charts. The car really came a long way with the development we've been doing over the winter. Really looking forward to the year, we'll see what happens."

Each team's mentality is different and CPR is no exception. Prey describes his race team as "...kinda just a skunk works team, where everybody's mean and lean, just making it work out there and it's starting to pay off."

The team plans on running the first five races along with the help of primary sponsor Royal Purple and other opportunities that are in the works as well. Lastly, Prey says, "The future looks really positive not just even in this car, but other opportunities possibly, we'll see how things work out."

With a few tricks still up their sleeves, be on the lookout for Chris Prey Racing in 2010.

Visit www.chrisprey.com or www.royalpurple.com for more information.


This photo taken by speedwayinsider.com

Other photos courtesy of grand-am.com and chrisprey.com