Lowe's Fernandez Racing will conclude its second season of American Le Mans Series competition this weekend with the Monterey Sports Car Championships at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. Team drivers Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz have turned many a lap around the hillside circuit, combining for a total of 23 career starts.

The pair will be looking to end the season on a high note and better their ALMS debut at Laguna Seca last year, which netted a third-place finish for the team. Despite a strong start to the season with their new Acura ARX-01b, Fernandez and Diaz have encountered a series of misfortunes in the closing stages. Following a second-place class finish at Mosport three races ago, the duo has been sidelined by contact in the last two events, at Detroit and Road Atlanta.

In 22 career ALMS starts to date, Fernandez and Diaz have claimed five podiums and 10 top-five results alongside seven top-three starting positions. Close on a number of occasions, the team is still chasing its elusive first win in the series. With a large contingent of guests on hand this weekend from Lowe's, and Acura in pursuit of the chassis and engine manufacturer championship titles, Fernandez and Diaz -- a former winner at Laguna Seca in Grand-Am competition -- will be mounting a charge for the top step on the podium Saturday.

THE RACE

Circuit: 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course

Saturday's race will last four hours with a 5:45 p.m. EDT start

A driver may not drive more than three hours total in the race

OF NOTE

Fernandez will be making his 15th career start at Laguna Seca (Indy Lights in 1992, 11 Champ Car starts from 1993-2003, one Grand-Am race in 2006 and the ALMS last season)

Fernandez has finished half of his career starts at Laguna Seca in the top 10, claiming his best result of third last season in ALMS competition

Diaz will be making his eighth career start at Laguna Seca (Indy Lights in 2000 and 2001, Atlantics in 2002 and 2003, Grand-Am in 2005 and 2006, and the ALMS last year)

Diaz, who made his U.S. racing debut at Laguna Seca, has three podiums to his credit -- third place last year in ALMS competition, a win in the 2005 Grand-Am race and a third-place finish in 2001 Indy Lights competition

Three DNF's (did not finish) in the last four races place Fernandez and Diaz seventh in the championship standings with the opportunity to advance only as high as sixth in the final rankings

QUOTABLE

Adrian Fernandez, No. 15 Lowe's Acura ARX: "I would be lying if I said this hasn't been a frustrating season. We have had some strong runs and a few shots at wins, but our races at Elkhart Lake, Detroit and Road Atlanta really knocked us out of contention in the points. These are tracks that we thought we would do really well at, and we just didn't have the opportunity to show it. Hopefully we can pull a rabbit out of our hat this weekend. This is a track that Luis and I know well, and it is definitely one of my favorites. We had a fantastic race and battle for the front here last year, and it would be great to end the year with a win for Lowe's and Acura."

Luis Diaz, No. 15 Lowe's Acura ARX: "I love racing at Laguna Seca -- the track, the fans and the beautiful cities like Carmel and Monterey. It is a great event and I am confident we will have a strong run there again this year. After the last few races, we are due for some luck. It is a long race at four hours so a lot can happen, but hopefully we can stay out of trouble. I know if we can make it to the end, we will bring home a good result to end the year."

ABOUT THE DRIVERS

Adrian Fernandez ... second season of ALMS competition after claiming three podiums and six top-five finishes in 2007 debut ... is a veteran of 12 years at the top levels of open-wheel competition, winning in both Champ Car (CART) and IndyCar Series (IRL) competition ... debuted in sports car competition in 2006, winning the Mid-Ohio Rolex Sports Car Series race and claiming four additional top-five finishes ... began competing in select NASCAR Busch Series events in 2005, driving for Team Lowe's Racing and Hendrick Motorsports ... finished fifth in the IndyCar Series championship in his inaugural season in 2004 with three wins ... missed the 2000 Champ Car championship crown by only 10 points, finishing second in the series to Gil de Ferran ... has garnered numerous awards over the years, including "Athlete of the Year in Mexico" ... named one of Mexico's 300 most influential people by a national magazine in 2006 ... 44 years old from Mexico City ... resides in Scottsdale, Ariz., with wife Catalina, daughter Valentina and son Niko.

Luis Diaz ... second season of ALMS competition after claiming three podiums and six top-five finishes in 2007 debut ... entered sports car competition in 2004 netting eight wins in the Grand-Am series over three years as well as Rolex Sports Car Series Team Championship honors in 2006 and a second-place result in the driver championship co-driving with Scott Pruett ... was named "Driver of the Year" in Mexico in 2006 ... won the Mexico Formula 3 championship in 1998 ... earned Rookie of the Year honors in the Indy Lights Pan-American Championship, Mexico Formula 3 Championship and Formula Reynard Series Mexico ... U.S. open-wheel success includes a fourth-place finish in the 2002 Atlantic championship ... began racing go-karts at the age of 12, winning several national championships ... 30 years old from Mexico City ... resides in Toluca, Mexico, with wife Carolina ... nickname is "Chapulín" (Cha-poo-leen), which means grasshopper.

ABOUT THE NO. 15 LOWE'S ACURA ARX

Powered by the 3.4-liter Acura LM-V8 engine

Chassis is the Acura ARX-01b, the latest version of the ARX-01a chassis which was developed by HPD (Honda Performance Development) through a technical partnership with Wirth Research in England

Tires are Michelin

LOWE'S FERNANDEZ RACING KEY PERSONNEL

Tom Anderson, co-owner/managing director ... founded Fernandez Racing with Fernandez in 2000)

Steve Miller, general manager ... eighth year with the team; reunited with Diaz, whom he worked with in 2000 in Indy Lights

Mike Sales, team manager ... as a chief mechanic, has had a decade-long relationship with Adrian Fernandez that includes victories in Champ Car, IndyCar Series and Grand-Am competition

John Ward, race engineer ... is in is ninth year as a race engineer for Adrian Fernandez; designer of many Eagle chassis for Dan Gurney's All American Racers, including the Eagle Mk III IMSA GTP car, which won the Twelve Hours of Sebring in 1992 and 1993

Tony Leith, chief mechanic ... eighth season with the team; was a lead and chief mechanic in ALMS in the late '90s with Panoz Motorsports); won at Petit Le Mans in 1999 as chief mechanic with Panoz Motorsports

2008 PERFORMANCE CHART

* mechanical ** contact

ALMS SCHEDULE