MONTEREY, Calif., October 17, 2008 - Tafel Racing again placed the No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC in the Top Three of American Le Mans Series GT2 qualifying today at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The 20 minute session set the grid for Saturday's four hour, "into the darkness" Monterey Sports Car Championships. For the fourth consecutive event, Dominik Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany) and Dirk Müller (a native of Germany now living in Monaco) will start from third on the GT2 class grid. Farnbacher's lap of the one minute, 22.701 seconds around the 2.238-mile, 11- turn Monterey, Calif. track was just 0.321 seconds off the pole position winning time for the October 18 season-finale. The No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC of Alex Figge (Denver), Harrison Brix (San Jose, Calif.) and Pierre Ehret (Santa Rosa, Calif./Germany) will start 10 positions behind their No. 71 teammates in 13th. Ehret put in a lap of 1:24.970. The top four cars all bettered the previous track record set last season in a Ferrari. The Bell Micro machine was the quickest qualifying Ferrari.

Farnbacher's time marked the 11th time in 11 races that the Bell Micro Ferrari has turned a time strong enough to sit in the Top Five of the very competitive class. Overall, the Cumming, Ga.-based program leaves the 2008 season with one pole position (Road America), two front row spots and, including today, five Top Three qualifying efforts. The No. 71 Bell Micro Ferrari also has three race victories (St. Petersburg, Fla., Long Beach, Calif., and Mid-Ohio), six podiums and eight Top Five finishes to-date. Farnbacher, who had his contract extension with Tafel Racing for 2009 announced today, set his best time on his sixth circuit. Ehret, making his third start for Tafel Racing this season, also turned his best time on his sixth lap.

The No. 71 Bell Micro Ferrari and the No. 73 will have a 25 minute warm-up session tomorrow morning at 9:55 (PT) to prepare their Ferrari's for the four hour race.

A tape-delayed, two hour broadcast of the Monterey Sports Car Championship begins at 2 PM (ET), October 19 on NBC Sports. XM Satellite Radio will broadcast the full race broadcast on a one day delay on Sunday, October 19 at 4 PM (ET) on Channel 144. Live timing and scoring of each on-track session and the live American Le Mans Series Radio Web broadcast can be found at www.AmericanLeMans.com.

MONTEREY, Calif., October 17, 2008 - Tafel Racing has exercised its option on 2008 American Le Mans Series Driver Championship Runner-up Dominik Farnbacher. The contract extension will return the resident of Ansbach, Germany to the Cumming, Ga.-based organization for a third consecutive season. Entering the October 18 season-finale, Farnbacher has three career American Le Mans Series GT2 class victories; St. Petersburg, Fla., Long Beach, Calif. and Mid-Ohio, eight podiums and two fastest race laps (Mid-Ohio and Road America). All of his race victories have come in 2008 co-driving the No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC with Dirk Müller (a native of Germany now living in Monaco). Farnbacher will be making his 25th career GT2 start on Saturday in the Monterey Sports Car Championships. 23 of his starts have come behind the wheel of a Tafel Racing entry.

Farnbacher joined Tafel Racing for his first full season of American Le Mans Series competition in 2007. He earned two GT2 class podium finishes, both second- place, at the final two races of the season and added a fifth-place GT2 result at the 12 Hours of Sebring. In 2006, Farnbacher made his American Le Mans Series debut racing twice and earning one Top 10 GT2 finish. The same year he made his only 24 Hours of Le Mans start finishing second after leading into the final hour of the race. 2005 brought Farnbacher his first major endurance race victory at the 24 At Daytona driving for his father's team. Farnbacher, known as "Dom" in the paddock, began his racing career driving karts and then motocross in the 1990s. He moved to formula cars in 2000 and sports cars in 2001. He raced in the highly competitive Porsche Carrera Cup and Porsche Supercup before moving up to GT2 competition in 2005.

Tafel Racing, owned by Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Technical Director Tony Dowe (Cumming, Ga.), is based in Cumming, Ga. They debuted in the American Le Mans Series in 2007, earning third in the season- long GT2 Team Championship with six combined podium finishes including a third at the 12 Hours of Sebring and second, twice, at the Petit Le Mans and Monterey Sports Car Championships. Prior to joining the American Le Mans Series, Tafel Racing competed for two seasons in the Grand-Am Series' GT class finishing second, fifth and tenth in the 2006 Team Championship combing three cars for five wins and 12 podium finishes. In 2005, Tafel Racing made its professional motorsports debut nearly taking a podium at the 24 At Daytona and finishing fifth in the season GT Team standings. The operation has campaigned primarily a two car effort since its inception. In 2008, Farnbacher and Müller have been joined once in the No. 71 Bell Micro Ferrari by Rob Bell (England) at the 12 Hours of Sebring. The No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC entered nine of 11 races with Alex Figge (Denver) joining Tafel behind the wheel at seven events. Pierre Ehret (California/Germany) drove the No. 73 three times while Allan Simonsen (Denmark) and Harrison Brix (San Jose, Calif.) each made one start.

A tape-delayed, two hour broadcast of the Monterey Sports Car Championship begins at 2 PM (ET), October 19 on NBC Sports. XM Satellite Radio will broadcast the full race broadcast on a one day delay on Sunday, October 19 at 4 PM (ET) on Channel 144. Live timing and scoring of each on-track session and the live American Le Mans Series Radio Web broadcast can be found at www.AmericanLeMans.com.