Many in the record Sebring crowd took advantage of the open grid prior to the start of the race.

After a quiet winter, the 2012 season opener at Sebring brought a flurry of announcements to provide momentum to the series and excitement for ALMS fans. Here are a few of the most recent chunks of good news:

• Nissan joins the DeltaWing project and renames the car the Nissan DeltaWing.

• Dyson Racing is entering a second Dyson Lola Mazda car for Michael Marsal and Eric Lux at six races, beginning in Long Beach.

• Alex Job Racing is entering a Lotus Evora driven by Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler in the GT class for the balance of the 2012 ALMS season beginning in Long Beach.

• Dempsey Racing will enter a 2012 Lola/Judd for Patrick Dempsey and Joe Foster in the ALMS LMP2 class starting a bit later this season.

• Sebring International Raceway saw record attendance for the 60th Anniversary 2012 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

• Mobil 1 inks a three-year extension of title sponsorship for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring through 2015.

Look for more news between now and Long Beach, April 13-14.