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GRAND-AM: Pruett/Rojas Beat the Heat at Barber
Written by: Grand-Am Communications   http://www.grand-am.com
07/20/2008
Leeds, Ala.
 
Pruett and Rojas broiled the competition at blazing Barber Motorsports Park. (LAT photo) ยป More Photos

Scott Pruett loves winning close races. One race after scoring the closest finish in the history of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, Pruett beat Darren Law to the start/finish line by 0.341 second to win the Porsche 250 presented by Bradley Arant, the fourth-closest finish in series history.

The series-leading sixth triumph of 2008 in the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley allowed Pruett and co-driver Memo Rojas to extend their lead in the Daytona Prototype championship to 60 points over Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty, who retired the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley with clutch problems.

Pruett - who led twice for 17 laps, including the final 13 - prevailed on a hot and humid day, with 102-degree temperatures taking toll on both participants and machinery.

Law and David Donohue scored their third runner-up finish in the last four races sharing the No. 58 Brumos Racing Porsche Riley. It was their fifth consecutive top-five finish.

Pruett was the lone race leader to finish in the top 10. Six other cars led the event, but all of them finished outside of the top 10. Ricardo Zonta started third in the No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola. He led the opening 25 circuits after jumping into the lead in the first turn, and stayed there until the team's first pit stop. Nic Jonsson took over, but skidded off course in turn nine early in his run and lost three laps. He returned to finish 13th.

Guy Cosmo led a lap in the Spirit of Daytona Porsche Coyote and co-driver Marc-Antoine Camirand ran second late in the race, but the car lost power late in the race to bring
out the final caution period. Brad Jaeger led three laps in the No. 77 Kodak Doran Racing Ford Dallara, but co-driver Memo Gidley pulled off and retired when the car caught fire. He escaped without injury.

The turn of events gave Joey Hand a sizeable lead in the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Porsche Riley started by Bill Auberlen. Hand had a 45-second lead over Camirand and more than a minute over the third-place car of Gurney when Gidley's incident brought out the caution.

Gurney - who stayed out front a race-high 35 laps -- led Pruett on the restart, but Brian Frisselle passed both Pruett and Gurney for the lead on Lap 76 in the No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford Riley. Frisselle, who took over for Mark Wilkins, led the next 15 circuits before losing power with mechanical problems with 13 laps remaining.

That left Pruett out front, followed by Gurney. However, the GAINSCO car fell back on the restart for Frisselle's problems, and Gurney retired with clutch problems.

Law made a challenge in the closing laps, running side-by-side through turn six. Pruett maintained the lead, and then held off Law's final challenge on the three-lap sprint following the last caution for Cosmo's problem.

Ian James and John Pew finished third in the No. 6 Ford Riley, followed by Michael Shank Racing teammates Oswaldo Negri and Mark Patterson in the No. 60. Burt Frisselle and Ricky Taylor placed fifth in the No. 47 Doran Racing Ford Dallara, followed by the pole-winning No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Dallara of Michael Valiante and Max Angelelli.

PORSCHE 250 RESULTS

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