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Grand-Am Communications
http://www.grand-am.com
08/06/2008 - 10:47 AM
Watkins Glen, N.Y.
The Daytona Prototype field has been regularly dueling all the way to the checkered flag. (LAT photo) ยป More Photos
Close racing and close finishes have been more than evident in Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 racing. Just ask Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Mark Wilkins or Brian Frisselle how they’ve felt after winning three of the closest five races in Rolex Series history over the last month-and-a-half.
Less than half of a second combined has separated the winners from the runners-up in the last three races - the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway, the Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park and last week’s Montreal 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Whoever the winners are of Friday’s Crown Royal 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International (WGI) will look for a little bit more breathing room when the checkered flag flies after two hours of racing. The race, showcasing the Daytona Prototypes only on the 2.45-mile short course, takes the green flag at 6:37 p.m. ET (airing on SPEED Friday evening at 8 p.m. ET).
Wilkins passed both Darren Law and Antonio Garcia to win last Friday’s Montreal 200 in the closest finish in the nine-year history of the Rolex Series. Wilkins and Frisselle gave AIM Autosport its first victory by edging Garcia by .064 seconds. Law finished third, .654 seconds back, in the closest 1-2-3 finish in Rolex Series history.
It marked the second in three races the winner earned the victory on a last-lap pass. Pruett passed Alex Gurney to win the Brumos Porsche 250, winning by .081 seconds in what was the closest Rolex Series finish at the time. In the following race, Pruett held off Law by .341 seconds at Barber Motorsports Park, the fourth-closest series finish at the time.
All eight of the “sprint format” races on the 2008 Rolex Series schedule have been decided by less than two seconds - including six by .629 seconds or closer. Only the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen (3.033 seconds) and season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona (two laps) were decided by 1.645 seconds.
With competition that close, a number of teams will be looking to take the checkered flag when the series returns to The Glen to share the bill with the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series. Wilkins and Frisselle will be looking for their second consecutive victory in the No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford Riley, while Law and David Donohue in the No. 58 Brumos Porsche Riley and Garcia and Christian Fittipaldi in the No. 16 Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Pontiac Coyote look for
Pruett and Rojas are seeking a record-tying seventh victory in 2008 in the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley, while taking another step closer to the championship with four races remaining. Gurney and Jon Fogarty in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley are the defending winners of the Crown Royal 200 - one of their seven triumphs en route to the 2007 Daytona Prototype title - and are 63 points behind in the standings (321-258).
Max Angelelli - the pole winner for the Sahlen’s Six Hours and 2005 winner of the Crown Royal 200 - will be joined by Michael Valiante in the No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Dallara. The pair scored their best finish of the year at WGI in June, driving their Riley Daytona Prototype to a third-place finish. Other teams to watch include Mexico City winners Jim Matthews and Marc Goossens in the No. 91 Riley-Matthews Motorsports Pontiac Riley; Joao Barbosa and JC France, with six consecutive top-10 finishes in the No. 59 Brumos Porsche Riley; Joey Hand and Bill Auberlen in the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Porsche Riley, who were second at the white flag in Montreal before running out of fuel; and No. 3 Southard Motorsports Lexus Riley drivers Bill Lester and Shane Lewis, who led four laps at Montreal.
Several two-car teams are seeking their first victory of the season. Oswaldo Negri put the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley he shares with Mark Patterson on the pole for the Rolex 24, while John Pew and Ian James scored their first podium of the season with a third-place finish for the team’s No. 6 entry at Barber. Krohn Racing, a two-time winner at The Glen, fields a pair of Pontiac Lolas - the No. 76 for Nic Jonsson and Ricardo Zonta and the No. 75 for Tracy Krohn and Eric van de Poele. Doran Racing, another team with a strong history at The Glen, has the No. 77 Kodak Ford Dallara for Memo Gidley and Brad Jaeger, joined by the No. 47 Brach’s/CDOC Ford Dallara for Ricky Taylor and Burt Frisselle.
A pair of teams will be making their Daytona Prototype debuts this week. Childress-Howard Motorsports rolls out the No. 4 Pontiac Crawford for Andy Wallace, who will be joined by GT class regular and frequent NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor Andy Lally. Alegra Motorsports moves up from the GT class to race the No. 28 Porsche Riley, driven by former Rolex 24 At Daytona GT class winners Carlos de Quesada and Jean-Francois Dumoulin.
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