DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The following are news and notes for the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.

Dempsey Joins Freedom Autosport At Daytona

The two Mazda MX-5s that won races for Freedom Autosport during the 2009 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge circuit will return to the 2010 season opener, but the team’s newest additions – MAZDASPEED3s – will attract Patrick Dempsey.

Dempsey, who will also compete in the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Saturday, will suit up to drive the No. 27 MAZDASPEED3 with Formula Atlantic Championship driver John Edwards. Also running a MAZDASPEED3 are Taylor Hacquard and Ryan Ellis in the No. 28.

Team manager Tom Long, who will pilot the No. 25 Mazda MX-5 at Daytona, is excited Dempsey will join the four-car team.

“He brings a lot of star power to the lineup,” Long said.

Long expects his regular teammates – including Andrew Carbonell and team co-owners Rhett O’Doski and Derek Whitis – to be in the MAZDASPEED3s soon. At this juncture, he notes the team is looking forward to helping Mazda manufacturer title as well as take a team championship.

“The 2010 season will prove to be Freedom Autosport’s strongest year ever in competing for the manufacturers championship within GRAND-AM competition,” Long said. “Building on our 2009 successes, and moving forward with the all new Mazdaspeed3 is a fantastic opportunity Mazda has provided us. Debuting a Mazda filled driver lineup for Daytona like this will be sure to start the season off with plenty of Zoom-Zoom!

Said, Kelly To Drive For TPN/Blackforest Motorsports

Boris Said has been a co-driver on-and-off for the Blackforest Motorsports stable, and he will return to the team Friday in the Fresh From Florida 200.

This time, however, Said will drive one of two Dodge Challengers, this time with Owen Kelly of Tasmania. Kelly and Said competed for Blackforest in last year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona, but did not complete the race. For Friday’s event, they will drive the No. 4 Dodge Challenger.

Team owner Tom Nastasi will drive the No. 5 TPN/Blackforest Motorsports Dodge Challenger with Ian James, as team members expect the cars to put together solid after running only one race last season.

Turner Motorsport To Defend Daytona With New Cars

Turner Motorsport earned the 2009 season-opening GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race victory at Daytona International Speedway with drivers Bill Auberlen and Matt Bell.

This season, Auberlen will be back to defend that victory in the No. 96 BMW M3 he shares with rookie Paul Dalla Lana. Joey Hand will compete in the No. 97 BMW M3 with rookie Michael Marsal.

“It’s hard to believe that it has been a year already since we won the Daytona race – it seems like last week! This is first race for our 2010 M3 – Our goal is to defend our race win but there are a lot of new cars entered that won’t make that an easy thing to do.”