By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

It’s been a memorable two weeks for Kissimmee driver Jonathan Summerton.

Two weekends ago, Summerton, with co-drivers Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand, drove the Rahal LettermanLannigan No. 56 BMW M3 GT to victory at the 60th 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race.

It was Summerton’s first time in the race, and his first seat in two years.

“It was one of the races that I targeted as one that I wanted to win during my career,” Summerton said. “It was great. I was fortunate to sign a contract with a great team, and I got a lot of help and advice from great drivers like Joey and Dirk, and also from our teammates on the other (No. 55 BMW) team.

Last weekend, Summerton was at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg where he had an opportunity visit with comedian David Letterman, one of the co-owners of the BMW GT team as well as other racing operations.

“That was a lot of fun. He is really cool. We talked about some things and he really is interested in racing. He enjoyed listening to the (in-race) radio and being in the middle of the action,” Summerton said.

While it still is difficult to land a seat on a team in any racing circuit, Summerton believes that the opportunities are increasing.

“Definitely, I’ve seen a change over the last year,” he said. “Things are improving. I feel fortunate to have a relationship with BMW. I’m happy to play any role I can in helping that company continue to succeed.”

Summerton joined the Rahal LettermanLannigan team in early March for Sebring and for three more races later this year, where he will substitute for Hand.

Although he had tested other cars at Sebring, this was the first time Summerton drove a GT sedan at the track, and the first time he participated in the race, which meant driving at night.

“It was different, but really not that different,” he said. “I had great teammates who gave me good advice. At first, I was pretty cautious, but as the laps went on I learned that I could brake a little closer to the curve and pretty soon I really didn’t notice it. You learn to adjust your sight, and you can actually see a lot more than what you would think.”

The BMW topped out at about 170 miles per hour down the airport straight, an old runway.

“The runway section is a little rough, but that is just part of that race, a part of the tradition at that track,” he said. “It’s a little up and down, but nothing that really bothers you.”

The BMWs were locked in a tight race in the GT class with the No. 33 C6-ZR-1 Corvette, driven by Jan Magnuson, and the No. 35 Ferrari F458 Italia, driven by Oliver Beretta.

Hand, driving the final lap of the race, was pushed off the track, but he recovered to hold off Magnuson’s Corvette by 6.3 seconds.

“It was unbelievable, a special weekend,” Summerton said.

Audi won the LMP1 championship, the quickest prototype class, at Sebring.

Summerton graduated from Osceola High and is taking online college classes.

He began his pro career in 2004 as one of six youngsters to earn a driving scholarship from the Formula BMW USA program.

Later that year, he became the youngest driver ever to win a race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, driving a Formula BMW car.

Summerton, who will turn 24 next month, remains interested in joining a F1 team. Twice he was selected to drive for teams that were unable to find funding.

“That’s something I’ll always be interested in, it is my goal, but I’m talking to people and I am open to all opportunities. I’m very excited now to be with BMW, and we’re talking about some exciting possibilities. Anything can happen,” he said.