Backstretch Motorsports

(Ed. Note: This story is from yesterday but with the race being shown one day later on tape delay on SPEEDTV, backstretchmotorsports decided not to run results as a spoiler)

Dalziel and Zogaib Scored First for SAMAX at Laguna Seca

MONTEREY, Calif. - Henri Zogaib and Ryan Dalziel delivered the best birthday present possible for SAMAX Motorsport team owner Peter Baron as the two combined for a convincing race win with the No. 2 Dinan BMW-Riley in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16Rumbum.com 250 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday. After racing back to the front from a lap down from the leaders, Dalziel led the final 23 laps to take the win.

The win is the first Rolex Sports Car Series victory for SAMAX Motorsport, and also marks the first Rolex Series Victory Circle visit for Zogaib and Dalziel. The break through victory was all the more remarkable given that Zogaib had never seen the track before the weekend started.

Dalziel took the lead from Scott Pruett on a three-wide pass on Lap 76 and held Marc Goossens by 1.504 seconds to give SAMAX its first victory in Saturday’s RumBum.com 250 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

While Dalziel led the final 23 laps, he had one close call late in the race. Following a restart with 15 minutes remaining, Goossens managed to pull alongside Dalziel. Both cars went through the dirt through the famed Corkscrew turn and managed to maintain control, with Dalziel holding the lead at the exit of the fast downhill corner.

Dalziel gave the No. 2 SAMAX BMW Riley its first Rolex Series Daytona Prototype victory after three runner-up finishes. Henri Zogaib started the car before turning to over to Dalziel 14 laps into the race. Once in front, Dalziel led the final 23 laps of the 98-lap race. Goossens and Jim Matthews were seeking their second victory of the season in the No. 91 Riley-Matthews Pontiac Riley.
Pruett, seeking his fourth victory of the season in the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Riley started by Memo Rojas, had taken the lead from Cristiano da Matta on a restart following a caution for a fire that damaged Matt Plumb’s No. 7 Rum Bum BMW Riley. Moments later, Goossens made his move on Pruett. Dalziel, seeing his opportunity, went by on to take the lead, although pressured by Goossens for the remainder of the race.

Pruett and Rojas finished third, followed by the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley of Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney, and the No. 58 Brumos Porsche Riley of pole winner David Donohue and Darren Law.

Donohue dominated the early portion in the No. 58 Brumos Porsche Riley, leading 29 laps. Michael Valiante also led early in the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley, which he turned over to Angelelli on a pit stop. The No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Porsche Crawford of Bill Auberlen and the No. 7 Rum Bum BMW Riley of Plumb were side by side exiting the pits. Angelelli exited the pits into the side of Auberlen, causing minor bodywork damage on both cars. The SunTrust and Ruby Tuesday cars were served drive-through penalties following the incident.

The GT race came down to the final lap. Sylvain Tremblay had been leading the class in the No. 70 SpeedSource Castrol Mazda RX-8, but went off course through the Corkscrew, allowing two cars to go by. Paul Edwards took the checkered flag in the No. 07 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R 1.131 seconds ahead of the No. 67 TRG Porsche GT3 of Spencer Pumpelly and Tim George Jr. That was the second victory of the season for Collins and Edwards, and the fourth consecutive GT triumph for Pontiac.

POS NO. CLASS CLASS POS. DRIVER TEAM/CAR LAPS BEST LAP (#) AVG MPH SPONSORS
1 2 DP 1 Dalziel / Zogaib SAMAX / BMW Riley 98 1:20.790 97 79.559
2 91 DP 2 Goossens / Matthews Bob Stallings/ Riley-Matthews / Pontiac Riley 98 1:20.475 97 79.547 Riley-Matthews Motorsports
3 01 DP 3 Pruett / Rojas Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates / Lexus Riley 98 1:21.322 86 79.525 TELMEX
4 99 DP 4 Fogarty / Gurney GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing / Pontiac Riley 98 1:20.933 97 79.520 Gainsco Auto Insurance
5 58 DP 5 Donohue / Law Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley 98 1:20.713 29 79.516 Brumos Porsche, Kendall
6 61 DP 6 Frisselle / Wilkins AIM Autosport / Ford Riley 98 1:20.807 5 79.512 Exchange Traded Gold, Mike Direct Connect
7 59 DP 7 Barbosa / France Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley 98 1:21.316 97 79.496 Brumos Porsche, Kendall
8 10 DP 8 Angelelli / Valiante SunTrust Racing / Pontiac Dallara 98 1:21.205 98 79.492 Sun Trust
9 76 DP 9 Jonsson / Zonta Krohn Racing / Pontiac Lola 98 1:20.753 97 79.489
10 6 DP 10 James / Pew Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley 98 1:23.278 54 79.462
11 23 DP 11 Auberlen / Hand Alex Job Racing / Porsche Crawford 98 1:20.873 28 79.459 Ruby Tuesday
12 3 DP 12 Lester / Lewis Southard Motorsports / Lexus Riley 98 1:21.798 98 79.428
13 75 DP 13 Krohn / van de Poele Krohn Racing / Pontiac Lola 98 1:21.695 44 79.187
14 07 GT 1 Collins / Edwards Banner Racing / Pontiac GXP.R 96 1:27.565 94 77.613 Banner Engineering, Pontiac
15 67 GT 2 George Jr / Pumpelly TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 96 1:28.253 93 77.604 Monster Cable, 944 Magazine, WIN Institute, Gleukos
16 70 GT 3 Ham / Tremblay SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8 96 1:27.601 94 77.602 Castrol Syntec, Mazda
17 21 GT 4 Alessi / Phinny Matt Connolly Motorsports / Pontiac GTO.R 96 1:28.127 51 77.589 Barbetti, Erremme, APCO, Lucy Plast, P1 Groupe, Pacific Teaze, Baja Cantina
18 86 GT 5 Keen / Lux Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 96 1:28.101 70 77.576
19 27 GT 6 O’Connell / Roush O’Connell Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 96 1:29.166 55 77.525 General Enviormental Management, Inc., Taleo Grill
20 88 GT 7 Johnson / Lacey Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 96 1:30.297 6 77.365
21 65 GT 8 Maher / Stanton TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 95 1:29.254 92 76.712 Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing, Total R, Riegel Tuning
22 06 GT 9 Prey / Reese Banner Racing / Pontiac GXP.R 95 1:29.796 48 76.683 Banner Engineering, Pontiac
23 66 GT 10 Ballou / Miller TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 95 1:29.216 41 76.681 Marquis Jet, Mitchell Rubber, Resorts International, IPC, Total Lubricants
24 30 GT 11 Constantine / Stone Racers Edge Motorsports / Mazda RX-8 95 1:29.139 24 76.473 Playboy, TaserNetwork.com
25 87 GT 12 Kaffer / Werner Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 94 1:28.134 76 75.856
26 42 GT 13 Nonnamaker / Sahlen Team Sahlen / Corvette 94 1:30.725 90 75.780 HRPWorld
27 43 GT 14 Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker Team Sahlen / Corvette 94 1:30.588 22 75.765
28 16 DP 14 Bobbi / Garcia Cheever Racing / Pontiac Coyote 92 1:22.009 70 75.865 Crown Royal Cask No. 16
29 40 GT 15 Foster / Ham Hyper Sport / Mazda RX-8 92 1:28.673 79 74.257
30 72 GT 16 Aschenbach / Lewis Jr Autohaus Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R 89 1:28.239 71 77.526 Autohaus Motorsports
31 57 GT 17 Davis / Liddell Stevenson Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R 88 1:28.734 52 71.095 Stevenson Auto, Bryan Mark Financial
32 98 DP 15 da Matta / Vasser GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing / Pontiac Riley 83 1:21.810 42 80.318
33 60 DP 16 Negri / Patterson Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley 83 1:22.169 28 67.203
34 77 DP 17 Gidley / Jaeger Doran Racing / Ford Dallara 71 1:21.314 71 57.531 Kodak
35 7 DP 18 Plumb / Sigal Rum Bum Racing / BMW Riley 62 1:21.921 57 83.019 Rum Bum, Big Vision Miami, Caramba Tequila
36 47 DP 19 Frisselle / Gardel Doran Racing / Ford Dallara 60 1:21.810 46 53.795 BSI, CDOC, Angsten Plus
37 68 GT 18 Sellers / Valentine TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 52 1:30.290 39 72.413 CRG, Maxter, Rotex, MBA Group, F1 Air
38 55 GT 19 Tucker / Zabinski Level 5 Motorsports / Crawford - Ferrari V8 52 1:32.485 37 41.860 Priority
39 69 GT 20 Assentato / Segal SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8 48 1:28.236 41 38.693 FXDD
40 32 GT 21 Forest / Merrill PR1 Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R 31 1:29.138 4 84.029
41 64 GT 22 Lowe / Pace TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 13 1:33.936 10 81.984 SRS, Globus, Adopt A Pig
42* 96 GT 0 Long / Potter Air Power Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 0 0 0.000 Miller Motorsports Park