Raceworks to Make Nascar Grand-Am Debut with Eric Metzger & Johan Schwartz

Huntersville, N.C. (July 20, 2011) – Raceworks is pleased to announce its upcoming debut in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Race July 23. The team will compete in the ST class with a Honda Civic Si. Raceworks is owned by Huntersville residents and husband-and-wife duo, Matt and Mary Beth Chambers. Raceworks’ shop is located 20 minutes north of Charlotte in Cornelius. “We have been working very hard to put a solid foundation down for our team over the past year,” Matt Chambers says. “We are very excited that [drivers] Eric [Metzger] and Johan [Schwartz] are racing with us. After long hours and lots of elbow grease, it is awesome to see our dream finally come to life.”

Who is Raceworks?
With more than years of NASCAR experience, Team Manager Matt Chambers has served as a Crew Chief in all three of NASCAR’s top series -- Sprint Cup, Nationwide Grand National and the Camping World Truck Series. He has served as crew chief for all of Scott Pruett’s Sprint Cup road race efforts for Chip Ganassi. Throughout his career, he has managed a Nationwide Grand National team and served as a Shop Foreman for a fleet of 72 Sprint Cup and Nationwide Grand National cars. At age 25, he held the record for the youngest NASCAR Crew Chief with a win to his name. Currently, he also serves as Test Team Manager for a Sprint Cup team.

Raceworks President Mary Beth Chambers is a 15-year veteran of sports marketing and promotion. She has worked as the Marketing Director for an LPGA golf tournament, sold and implemented sponsorships for the Detroit Pistons and Palace Sports & Entertainment, has served as the Director of Sponsorship Sales and later VP of Ticket Sales & Marketing for the Charlotte Checkers (hockey). Most recently she was the Marketing Director for the United States Olympic Canoe/Kayak team.

Follow Raceworks Drivers
Eric Metzger
Website: FastEricRacing.com Hometown: Fairfax, Va.
Eric began his racing career by enrolling in the Skip Barber Race School in 2005. He competed in the Skip Barber Regional Race Series, entering 12 events over the next three years and claimed a win at Daytona in the Master Class. He has raced in the INEX Legends at Old Dominion Speedway and had three events with a top 10 finish. Eric began his pro racing career at VIR in the 2007 Grand Am Koni Challenge. In 2008 he raced in the Koni Challenge at Daytona, Lime Rock, Watkins Glen. Returning to Grand Am for 2011, Eric posted a 25th place finish at VIR.

Johan Schwartz
Website: EnduranceKarting.com Hometown: Denmark (resides in Huntersville, N.C.)
Racing Highlights: With 26 years of racing experience, Johan has experience in 100+ open wheel, karting, SCCA and NASA events. A champion in the BMW 325 spec class, he claimed wins at Sebring, Road Atlanta, Carolina Motorsports Park, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Homestead, Stafford, Nelson Ledges, Rockingham and Watkins Glen throughout his career. Johan is a Driver Team Member for BMW North America’s historic car collection, prepared by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and is a factory driving instructor at the BMW Performance Center in Spartanburg, SC. He is a champion in long distance 6-24 hour kart races in US, France, England and Portugal. Johan has owned Endurance Karting for 10 years. In his spare time, Johan helps out as an instructor with Doug Herbert’s BRAKES (Be Responsible and Keep Everyone Safe) Teenager driving training program. He is married to wife Karen and has two children.

Follow the Action
Please follow Raceworks via daily Facebook page updates from the track with information from practice and qualifying on Friday, July 22 and the race on Saturday, July 23. Live timing and scoring is available at www.grand-am.com.

Follow the Television Broadcast
Tune into SPEED at 3 p.m. ET Saturday, July 30 for the broadcast of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race.