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THE MEN BEHIND THE ROCKETS

The Rocket Racing LeagueŽ announces promotions and strategic additions to its board


It takes a uniquely-qualified group of people to turn science fiction into science fact, and transform rocket science into a billion-dollar 21st century sport. As the Rocket Racing LeagueŽ progresses from concept to reality, new combinations of skills are required, and the RRL has made some changes and additions designed to take the development process to the next level.

Granger Whitelaw, the President of the RRL, has also taken on the duties of CEO. He will continue to lead the RRL, providing strategic guidance to management and working to develop partnerships to further the goals of the league. Whitelaw is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of BlueCar Partners, LLC, a global venture-consulting firm, and has been involved with such progressive technology ventures as TrendSphere, a think tank and consultancy for Fortune 500 Chief Technology Officers, EOCNet.com, which helps companies establish a virtual presence outside of home markets, and Kalorama Studios, a major motion picture and event site in Washington, D.C. Whitelaw also has twenty years of experience with Indy Car auto racing, including two team victories in the Indy 500 with drivers Buddy Lazier and Eddie Cheever.

The league also announced the expansion and development of its senior management team, promoting VP of Operations Tim Gormley to the position of Chief Operating Officer and the addition of Tom Tauzin to serve as Director of European Racing Operations.

Mr. Gormley brings more than 20 years of operations management experience in a technical environment to the RRL. He has extensive executive level experience both at the Fortune 500 and start-up level and has overseen technical applications development, product delivery, business development, contracting, client management, human resources, and accounting functions.

The RRL also announced the addition of Robert K. Weiss and Ramy Weitz to its Board of Directors and an expansion of the company's management team and advisory board.

Mr. Weiss is a television and film producer currently serving as Vice Chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation where he produced the live telecast and webcast of the winning Ansari X PRIZE flights. Mr. Weiss has produced 17 films including "The Blues Brothers," "The Naked Gun", "Tommy Boy," and "Scary Movie" 3 & 4. He has served as a consultant to the Boeing Corporation and was a principal in a consortium that produces and distributes space-related multimedia educational and entertainment programs, products and services. Mr. Weiss was also the Executive Producer for the American Rocket Company, producing multimedia connected with the development and testing of hybrid rockets.

Mr. Weitz is the founder, creative director and managing director of several companies in the fields of media production, including Pixel Animation, Pixel Multimedia, Broadband Studios, RT-Set, and five additional companies spanning the fields of simulation, optical networking and team collaboration platform development.

The RRL has also expanded its advisory board with the addition of Dr. Ron Dimant and Dr. Robert Hariri. Dr. Dimant is the Managing Director of MumboJumbo, a top tier developer and retail publisher of premium casual games distributed by Yahoo, MSN, Best Buy and Wal-Mart, among others.

Dr. Hariri is the president of the cellular therapeutics division of Celgene Corporation. Recognized as a leading scientist, surgeon and pilot, Dr. Hariri has led the development of new human cellular and tissue therapeutics. He has held various faculty positions at the Cornell University Medical College and Graduate School of Medical Sciences, earning a number of academic and professional honors.

"The Rocket Racing LeagueŽ takes another huge step forward with these changes and additions," says Whitelaw. "Creating the world's newest sport that blends rockets and entertainment is a huge task and we need hugely-talented people to make it happen. Fortunately, to the kind of people we need, the potential of the RRL is obvious and they're as happy to work with us as we are to have them on board."