Thursday, June 21, 2007 - Kris Szekeres of Hartland, Michigan has joined the SAMAX Motorsports Grand-Am Rolex team for this Saturday's Round 7 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The 27-year old driver, who was born in Chicago, entered the Grand-Am Series in 2005 recording three Top-10 results in 12 GT Class starts. Szekeres has also competed twice in the Daytona Prototype class of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the first time with Southard Motorsports in 2006 and this year with SAMAX Motorsports where he finished sixth overall. He shared seat time in the #7 Dynamic Technology Pontiac Riley with Czech driver Tomas Enge, American's Chris Festa and Roger Yasukawa and Christian Montanari, a citizen of the Republic of San Marino.

"I'm really excited to be back with the team and I'm looking forward to driving with Patrick (Carpentier)," said Szekeres. "There is a lot to learn and I know that working alongside him will be my greatest asset. I have signed for the next two races and I'm working with my sponsors to conclude a deal that would enable me to complete the season with SAMAX. It's great to be back!"

Team principal Peter Baron, who is looking for some stability in his driver line-up, was happy to have Szekeres on board for the next couple of races and was positive about Kris's future with the team. "I think that Kris will be with us for the rest of the season. It will be nice to have a steady line up of drivers and not have to introduce a new partner to Patrick and the team at each race weekend. Not that it really hurt us so far except for the last race where we had an unfortunate engine failure. We've finished in the top five most of the season. However, stability is a good thing in the long run. We lost some ground in the team standings the last time around and we have to get back into contention with a good result this weekend."

The South Florida-based team is now sixth overall in the Team Standings after six races with 145 points, only five markers from third placed Gainsco Racing. SAMAX, which has four top-five results including a second-place finish in the season opener at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, is looking for its first win of 2007.

As for Patrick Carpentier, he has always enjoyed success at Mid-Ohio. In six Champ Car starts between 1997 and 2003, he finished five times in the top seven with three consecutive podium results: a third place in 2001, a much publicized win in 2002 and a second place finish behind then teammate Paul Tracy in 2003.

 "I met Kris (Szekeres) when he was a member of the second SAMAX entry at the Rolex 24 at Daytona earlier this year and I am happy to hear that he could be my teammate for the rest of the year," said Carpentier who lives in Las Vegas. "Since the beginning of the season, the numerous driver and team personnel changes haven't really hurt us, but it hasn't helped the team to gel much either. With Kris coming on board, things should improve and I am really looking forward to work with him. As for Mid-Ohio, it brings back fond memories. It is a great track and I have enjoyed much success there. As a matter of fact, the Rolex Series runs on the finest road racing courses in America and this is one of the things I like the best in this series: the choice locations."

Official Rolex Daytona Prototype action starts Friday with two practice sessions with qualifying at 4:55 p.m. (Eastern Time). The EMCO Gears Classic, a 400-kilometer race for Daytona Prototypes only, will start Saturday at 5:45 p.m. ET. Same day television coverage on SPEED will start at 8:00 p.m.

More information on SAMAX Motorsport is available at www.samaxmotorsport.com. Learn more about Grand-Am at www.grand-am.com