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GRAND-AM
GRAND-AM: Champions Crowned In New York City
It was an evening to remember as the 2012 GRAND-AM Rolex Champions Awards presented by SunTrust saw the season close out in style at Gotham Hall...
The 2012 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series champions. (Photo: Brian Cleary/GRAND-AM)
Staged in a dramatic setting on a crisp New York City fall day, it was an evening to remember as the 2012 GRAND-AM Rolex Champions Awards presented by SunTrust saw the season close out in style at Gotham Hall.
With NBC’s Brian Williams addressing the assembled group by video to open the event, SPEED’S Leigh Diffey adroitly handling the MC duties, and Edwin McCain providing a live performance, the awards banquet celebrated a dynamic and historic season of competition.
Jim France, the founder of GRAND-AM and Vice Chairman of NASCAR, brought the ceremony underway with a champagne toast as the room welled in approval of the upcoming new merged entity that will bring sports car racing under one umbrella with a unified schedule and regulations starting in 2014.
That integration, which was reflected in the recently-released 2013 GRAND-AM season schedule, was also very much on display during the event as Scott Atherton was tabbed to present the Jim Trueman and Bob Akin Awards, drawing on his personal experience working with both the motorsports legends earlier in his motorsports career.
The event showcased the 2012 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series season, which was highlighted by several firsts.
The year opened with the first-on track action for the new generation Daytona Prototypes as Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian scored a dramatic and popular victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
The season also saw the debut of an all-new championship, the inaugural North American Endurance Championship (NAEC), which featured a separate championship tally for three races. The Rolex 24 played host to NAEC’s the opening round, followed by the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, and then saw the championship decided as the series staged a debut race on the hallowed grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Starworks wrote their name in the history books by taking the first-ever NAEC crown as part of an outstanding season of success.
Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas were feted as they collected their fifth (Pruett) and fourth (Rojas) GRAND-AM Driver Championships for TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. The Championship is the group’s third consecutive GRAND-AM title, and marks the 15th Championship for the full Ganassi organization.
The Rolex GT Class honors went to AIM Autosport with Ferrari drivers Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal as AIM Autosport made the move from Daytona Prototype competition to GT Class a championship-winning one.
Ferrari capped off a dramatic first season of GRAND-AM competition with the Rolex GT Manufacturer Championship, with Chevrolet bringing home the Engine Manufacturer Championship in the DP ranks. Riley Technologies set a new mark as Bill Riley accepted his firm’s ninth consecutive Daytona Prototype Manufacturer Championship.
It wasn’t all about awards, though as Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Development for Camp Boggy Creek, Sarah Gurtis also addressed the room to give thanks for the drivers and teams generous efforts through the year.
While it was the Championship--winning cars that were on display outside of Gotham Hall, it was not just the Champions who were on hand to gather acknowledgment and hardware from the season’s toils as GRAND-AM also recognized the efforts of drivers and teams in a range of categories.
North American Endurance Championship: Peter Baron
Monticello Motor Club Rookie of the Year: Jim Norman (APR Motorsport)
Total Performance Specialties Pole Award GT: John Edwards
Total Performance Specialties Pole Award DP: Jon Fogarty
2012 Bob Akin Award winner: Emil Assentato.
2012 Jim Trueman award: Alex Popow
2012 Rolex Series GT class manufacturers championship: Ferrari
2012 DP constructor championship: Riley Technologies
2012 DP Engine Manufacturer Champion: Chevrolet
With experience at Skip Barber Racing School, Lime Rock Park, and several IndyCar teams, Matt Cleary has covered open wheel and sports car racing for over a decade. Working for Sunday Group Management, Cleary also provides strategic motorsports consulting for a range of clients in the sport. You can follow him on Twitter @sundaygroup
With NBC’s Brian Williams addressing the assembled group by video to open the event, SPEED’S Leigh Diffey adroitly handling the MC duties, and Edwin McCain providing a live performance, the awards banquet celebrated a dynamic and historic season of competition.
Jim France, the founder of GRAND-AM and Vice Chairman of NASCAR, brought the ceremony underway with a champagne toast as the room welled in approval of the upcoming new merged entity that will bring sports car racing under one umbrella with a unified schedule and regulations starting in 2014.
That integration, which was reflected in the recently-released 2013 GRAND-AM season schedule, was also very much on display during the event as Scott Atherton was tabbed to present the Jim Trueman and Bob Akin Awards, drawing on his personal experience working with both the motorsports legends earlier in his motorsports career.
The event showcased the 2012 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series season, which was highlighted by several firsts.
The year opened with the first-on track action for the new generation Daytona Prototypes as Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian scored a dramatic and popular victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
The season also saw the debut of an all-new championship, the inaugural North American Endurance Championship (NAEC), which featured a separate championship tally for three races. The Rolex 24 played host to NAEC’s the opening round, followed by the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, and then saw the championship decided as the series staged a debut race on the hallowed grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Starworks wrote their name in the history books by taking the first-ever NAEC crown as part of an outstanding season of success.
Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas were feted as they collected their fifth (Pruett) and fourth (Rojas) GRAND-AM Driver Championships for TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. The Championship is the group’s third consecutive GRAND-AM title, and marks the 15th Championship for the full Ganassi organization.
The Rolex GT Class honors went to AIM Autosport with Ferrari drivers Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal as AIM Autosport made the move from Daytona Prototype competition to GT Class a championship-winning one.
Ferrari capped off a dramatic first season of GRAND-AM competition with the Rolex GT Manufacturer Championship, with Chevrolet bringing home the Engine Manufacturer Championship in the DP ranks. Riley Technologies set a new mark as Bill Riley accepted his firm’s ninth consecutive Daytona Prototype Manufacturer Championship.
It wasn’t all about awards, though as Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Development for Camp Boggy Creek, Sarah Gurtis also addressed the room to give thanks for the drivers and teams generous efforts through the year.
While it was the Championship--winning cars that were on display outside of Gotham Hall, it was not just the Champions who were on hand to gather acknowledgment and hardware from the season’s toils as GRAND-AM also recognized the efforts of drivers and teams in a range of categories.
North American Endurance Championship: Peter Baron
Monticello Motor Club Rookie of the Year: Jim Norman (APR Motorsport)
Total Performance Specialties Pole Award GT: John Edwards
Total Performance Specialties Pole Award DP: Jon Fogarty
2012 Bob Akin Award winner: Emil Assentato.
2012 Jim Trueman award: Alex Popow
2012 Rolex Series GT class manufacturers championship: Ferrari
2012 DP constructor championship: Riley Technologies
2012 DP Engine Manufacturer Champion: Chevrolet
With experience at Skip Barber Racing School, Lime Rock Park, and several IndyCar teams, Matt Cleary has covered open wheel and sports car racing for over a decade. Working for Sunday Group Management, Cleary also provides strategic motorsports consulting for a range of clients in the sport. You can follow him on Twitter @sundaygroup
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