photo by John ThawleyMonterey, Calif. – Intersport Racing flexed its muscle in the American Le Mans Series season-ending Monterey Sports Car Championships at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, as Jon Field led the opening lap in the LMP1 category. Field, aboard the No. 37 Very Berry Exotics Lola B06/10 AER, powered his way past the two factory Audi R10 TDIs on the first lap, once again showing the strength of the team and the cellulosic E85-powered prototype.

Jon Field, teaming with season regular Richard Berry and British road racing star Ryan Lewis, finished fifth in the highly competitive P1 category. The Clint Field-owned team now focuses on the 2009 season, where it expects to be back stronger than ever. Details on Intersport Racing's 2009 program will be forthcoming.

Quotes:

Clint Field: "It was great again seeing Dad out front on that first lap. It brought back memories of his great runs at Salt Lake City and Road America. We unfortunately had an unlucky break but we rebounded and look forward to returning to the series again in 2009."

Ryan Lewis: "We had a hiccup at the start of the race, but we once again showed how competitive we could have been. I'm really looking forward to next year. The American Le Mans Series is where I want to be, as I've had a great time racing here. Hopefully I can work something out."

The 2009 American Le Mans Series season starts with the 57th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday, March 21. It will mark the 100th race in the history of the American Le Mans Series. SPEED will televise the race live. American Le Mans Radio will have live coverage on americanlemans.com, which also will feature IMSA's Live Timing & Scoring.

Very Berry Exotics specializes in buying and selling some of the world's more exotics and hard to find automobiles. Not only do they sell cars already in the inventory, Very Berry Exotics will search for automobiles that are their customer's dream cars. Company owner Richard Berry founded Very Berry Exotics in 2004 and is himself a racer.

The American Le Mans Series is the premium brand of motorsport in North America, featuring high-tech sports cars from the most prestigious automobile manufacturers in the world. With its direct link to the world famous 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, its unique four classes of competition showcase exotic prototypes (LMP1 and LMP2 classes) and sophisticated production-based GT cars (GT1 and GT2 classes), all competing on the track at the same time. With a 12-race schedule in 2008, the American Le Mans Series competes at premier road racing tracks across North America and at selected temporary street circuits in major urban markets. With a television package that includes five network broadcasts on ABC and NBC as well as seven live telecasts on SPEED, plus live broadcasts across Europe, the Series delivers a global marketing platform that is unmatched in motorsports. The Series, founded in 1999 by Georgia entrepreneur Don Panoz, represents a mirror image to the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world's most famous and authentic automobile race. The American Le Mans Series features elite marques such as Acura, Aston Martin, Audi, Corvette, Dodge, Ferrari, Ford, Mazda, Panoz and Porsche, and premium brands such as Michelin, Yokohama, Kumho, Lowe's, EPIC, Shell, DHL, Hyatt Hotels, XM Radio and many others. The teams competing in the Series range from top professional teams such as Penske Racing, Andretti Green Racing and Rahal Letterman Racing to top-level independent teams such as Dyson Racing and Intersport Racing.

The American Le Mans Series features technical rules that not only allow new technology, but actually encourage auto manufacturers to introduce new innovations into the racing environment as a means of rapid development for production car application. The Series is the only motorsports body in the world that features multiple street-legal alternative fuel sources - clean diesel, E10 gasoline and E85 cellulosic (non-feedstock) ethanol. Through partnerships with diesel fuel supplier Shell, VP Racing Fuels and EPIC (Ethanol Promotion and Information Council), the American Le Mans Series has taken the global leadership role in motorsports for the development of alternative fuel technology and its practical use in production cars.