December 11, 2003 - Grupo Mundo, Inc. a marketing company based out of Atlanta, Georgia officially held testing for drivers at the Peach State Speedway during the week of December 13th, 2003. One of the four drivers was Amanda Connolly. A 24 year old resident of Aurora, Ontario who's been hot on the Ontario Asphalt short track scene for 5 years. Regularly racing at Sunset Speedway in Stroud, Ontario, Connolly caught the eye of Grupo Mundo Inc. owner Michael Warmack with her impressive racing record.

Grupo Mundo, Inc., a minority-owned sports marketing and management company, entered the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series during the 2003 race season with the introduction of the VOKAL CLOTHING sponsored team. The team, which was owned and managed by Billy Ballew Motor Sports, Inc., completed the entire 2003 season and together with Michael Warmack of G.M.I. have worked diligently to position the team as one of the front-runners in the development of a diversity race team.

Connolly participated in an extensive testing session in the #9 Ford Nascar Craftsman Truck.

"This was an amazing experience, and I really learned a lot about my driving," said Connolly. "Grupo Mundo and Billy Ballew Motorsports are top notch operations with first class people, they really made me feel comfortable, and I felt very privileged to have such a wonderful and knowledgeable group to work with."

Others in attendance included Marty Prevost from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Eric Reed from Hampton, Georgia, and Ricky Gonzalez of South Plainfield, New Jersey.

After the testing, Ballew said, "All of the drivers did well. They seemed very excited and pleased with the way the testing was run. Michael and Grupo Mundo did an extremely good job of organizing the event."

"And I must admit," Ballew confided, "there were a few pleasant surprises."

The testing also included Steven Wallace, son of Rusty Wallace, and Emerson Newton-John, nephew of world renowned recording artist Olivia Newton-John. Both of whom are campaigning for one of the other race teams to be fielded by Grupo Mundo, Inc.

G.M.I. has recently become a team owner and, in conjunction with Billy Ballew, has set their sights on fielding a multiple truck race team during the upcoming 2004 season.

"Following the success and overall fan support surrounding the VOKAL entry into the CTS during 2003, we have decided to continue our quest for the development of numerous racing programs," Michael Warmack, spokesperson for G.M.I., stated. "One of which will feature a minority driver as well as the implementation of a driver training.

Note from Webmaster - if you want to read more on this test session, here are two other links:
http://www.truckseries.com/2003/gen_news/12/121703bb.htm
http://www.nascar.com/2003/news/headlines/ct/12/19/jhogan_test/index.html