Backstretch Motorsports

In what can only be described as a classic Daytona NASCAR move, Scott Pruett took his No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Lexus-powered Riley to the top of the Daytona Speedway and used momentum to pass Alex Gurney in the No. 99 GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley and win by the closest margin in Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 history.

Gurney seemed fully in control of the final circuit untill veteran Pruett moved ahead in the last 100 yards of the dash to the checkerd flag. Gurney and Fogarty were aiming for their second consecutive triumph in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley. Gurney had passed Pruett for the lead with 22 laps remaining.

“I could see that if I didn’t have a certain gap he could close and go by,” Gurney said. “All of the restarts were different. The track was slick and the tires are not all the way in. I knew as soon as I turned on to the oval I didn’t have the gap. It was an exciting race for everyone. From my seat it was very painful. A great finish, we just didn’t have enough today.”

“I had just enough to get by Alex at the start/finish line,” said Pruett, who extended his Rolex Series record to 19 victories. “I’ve got to put it to Grand-Am for putting on a great show.”

It was the fifth — and most dramatic — victory of 2008 for Pruett and Memo Rojas in the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley. The winners of the 2008 season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, Pruett and Rojas extended their Daytona Prototype championship lead to 40 points after their seventh podium finish of the season.

The final margin of victory was 0.081 seconds, bettering the mark Pruett and Luis Diaz set in 2005 at California Speedway when they edged Wayne Taylor and Max Angelelli by .096 seconds.

“That Pruett’s the man,” Chip Ganassi said. “This track rewards great drivers, and it did that tonight. Winning felt good here in Daytona (when Ganassi won his third consecutive Rolex 24), but it felt even better tonight.”

The 70-lap, 250-mile race ended with a one-lap sprint to the finish following the fifth and final caution when Jeff Segal flipped the second-place No. 69 SpeedSource FXDD Mazda RX-8 after an altercation with a Daytona Prototype. Nick Ham and Sylvain Tremblay went on to win their third consecutive race at Daytona.

Tremblay bested Bryce Miller by 1.83 seconds to win in GT. Miller passed Robin Liddell at the line for his and co-driver Dirk Werner’s best finish of the season.

Four cautions for 16 laps slowed the race’s average speed to 102.690 mph.

After taking next weekend off, the second half of the 2008 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series kicks off July 20 with the Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala

July 3, 2008
Brumos Porsche 250
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, FL
Official Race results

POS NO. CLASS CLASS POS. DRIVER TEAM/CAR LAPS BEST LAP (#) AVG MPH SPONSORS
1 01 DP 1 Pruett / Rojas Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates / Lexus Riley 70 1:43.009 55 102.690 TELMEX
2 99 DP 2 Fogarty / Gurney GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing / Pontiac Riley 70 1:42.726 13 102.689 GAINSCO Auto Insurance
3 76 DP 3 Jonsson / Zonta Krohn Racing / Pontiac Lola 70 1:43.564 59 102.658
4 59 DP 4 Barbosa / France Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley 70 1:43.522 35 102.651 Brumos Porsche, Kendall
5 58 DP 5 Donohue / Law Brumos Racing / Porsche Riley 70 1:43.473 24 102.647 Brumos Porsche, Kendall
6 77 DP 6 Gidley / Jaeger Doran Racing / Ford Dallara 70 1:43.519 31 102.647 Kodak
7 7 DP 7 Plumb / Sigal Rum Bum Racing / BMW Riley 70 1:43.793 27 102.638 Rum Bum, Big Vision Miami, Caramba Tequila
8 23 DP 8 Auberlen / Hand Alex Job Racing / Porsche Crawford 70 1:44.139 33 102.635 Ruby Tuesday
9 16 DP 9 Garcia / Kimber-Smith Cheever Racing / Pontiac Coyote 70 1:44.929 57 102.624 Crown Royal Cask No. 16
10 09 DP 10 Camirand / Cosmo Spirit of Daytona Racing / Porsche Coyote 70 1:44.309 5 102.594
11 47 DP 11 Frisselle / Taylor Doran Racing / Ford Dallara 70 1:43.876 59 102.534 Miracle Sealants, CDOC
12 3 DP 12 Lester / Lewis Southard Motorsports / Lexus Riley 70 1:44.445 30 102.444
13 60 DP 13 Negri / Patterson Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley 69 1:43.606 59 101.143
14 75 DP 14 Krohn / van de Poele Krohn Racing / Pontiac Lola 68 1:45.363 30 99.608
15 70 GT 1 Ham / Tremblay SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8 67 1:51.469 21 98.138 Castrol Syntec, Mazda
16 87 GT 2 Miller / Werner Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 67 1:51.528 3 98.117 Marquis jet, Resorts International, PowerPlus-Porsche Performance Systems, IPC, Modified Luxury & Exotics Magazine, Total Lubricants
17 57 GT 3 Davis / Liddell Stevenson Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R 67 1:53.286 5 98.117 Stevenson Auto, Bryan Mark Financial
18 07 GT 4 Collins / Edwards Banner Racing / Pontiac GXP.R 67 1:53.068 4 98.028
19 66 GT 5 Ballou / Lally TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 66 1:52.708 54 96.670 Mitchell Rubber
20 72 GT 6 Borcheller / Lewis Jr Autohaus Motorsports / Pontiac GXP.R 66 1:53.660 49 96.654 Autohaus Motorsports
21 21 GT 7 Alessi / Connolly Matt Connolly Motorsports / Pontiac GTO.R 66 1:52.552 49 96.646 Barbetti, Erremme, APCO, Lucy Plast, P1 Groupe, Pacific Teaze
22 65 GT 8 Maher / Stanton TRG/Riegel Autosport / Porsche GT3 Cup 66 1:52.936 49 96.641 Mike Wiegel Helicopter Skiing, Total-R Insulation Solutions
23 67 GT 9 George Jr / Pumpelly TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 66 1:53.643 25 96.638 Johnny Love Vodka, 944 Magazine, Gleukos
24 06 GT 10 Aschenbach / Bunting / Reese Banner Racing / Pontiac GXP.R 66 1:54.254 51 96.610
25 40 GT 11 Dempsey / Foster Hyper Sport / Mazda RX-8 66 1:53.285 29 96.595
26 19 DP 15 Beyer / Taylor Beyer Racing / Ford Crawford 66 1:45.583 54 96.592
27 14 GT 12 Friedman / McGehee Autometrics Motorsports / Porsche GT3 Cup 66 1:55.328 4 96.545 Mac Papers, Mac Business Products
28 74 GT 13 Patch / Safina / Skea GTS Racing with Mitchum Motorsports / Porsche GT3 Cup 65 1:55.549 48 95.133 Churchill Transport, BL Patch and Associates
29 34 GT 14 Riolo / Willsey Orbit Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 65 1:55.746 4 95.124
30 91 DP 16 Goossens / Matthews Bob Stallings/ Riley-Matthews / Pontiac Riley 64 1:43.422 55 93.823 Riley-Matthews Motorsports
31 33 GT 15 Bowman / Said Orbit Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 64 1:53.762 26 93.625
32 26 GT 16 Jacalone / Jacalone Gotham Competition / Porsche GT3 Cup 63 1:57.762 17 92.142 Jacalone & Sons
33 2 DP 17 Dalziel / Zogaib SAMAX / BMW Riley 62 1:42.827 59 105.047
34 69 GT 17 Assentato / Haskell / Segal SpeedSource / Mazda RX-8 62 1:51.466 35 100.451 FXDD
35 61 DP 18 Frisselle / Wilkins AIM Autosport / Ford Riley 61 1:42.499 4 89.341 Exchange Traded Gold, Mike Direct Connect
36 6 DP 19 James / Pew Michael Shank Racing / Ford Riley 60 1:43.478 59 107.145
37 97 GT 18 Bucknum / Gue / Stevenson Stevenson Motorsports / Corvette 59 1:52.725 4 101.505
38 10 DP 20 Angelelli / Valiante SunTrust Racing / Pontiac Dallara 57 1:43.032 3 102.260 SunTrust
39 30 GT 19 Smith / Stone Racers Edge Motorsports / Mazda RX-8 57 1:52.400 52 100.914 Makson Construction
40 86 GT 20 Keen / Lux Farnbacher Loles Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 57 1:52.210 44 83.454
41 68 GT 21 Sellers / Valentine TRG / Porsche GT3 Cup 44 1:53.463 24 99.870 CRG, Maxter, Rotex, MBA Group, F1 Air
42 15 GT 22 Dumoulin / Nastasi Blackforest Motorsports / Ford Mustang 36 1:53.073 5 95.764 USG, Guardian, DeWalt
43 63 GT 23 Lowe / Pace JLowe Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup 21 1:55.480 15 98.161 Porsche Of The Main Line
44* 55 GT 0 Tucker / Zabinski Level 5 Motorsports / Ferrari 430 Challenge 0 0 0.000 Priority

* - Withdrew