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GRAND-AM: Ganassi Wins Again At Barber
Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas extend their winning streak to six in Daytona Prototype competition. Turner Motorsport goes back-to-back in GT...
John Dagys  |  Posted April 09, 2011   Leeds, AL
Telmex Chip Ganassi Racing took top honors again at Barber Motorsports Park. (Photo: John Dagys)
After dominating the opening stages the race, it appeared the tides had turned for Spirit of Daytona. Pole-sitter Antonio Garcia stretched out to a commanding lead early and it appeared the Troy Flis-led squad were in route to their maiden Daytona Prototype victory.

But when Garcia’s Coyote-Chevrolet hit trouble, it was none other than Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas that picked up the pieces yet again.

Pruett took his No. 01 Telmex Riley-BMW to victory in Saturday’s Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park, extending the team’s streak to six consecutive wins in GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series competition.

PHOTOS: GRAND-AM Barber Race Gallery
Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas celebrated their sixth consecutive Rolex Series victory. (Photo: Brian Cleary/GRAND-AM)

The three-time series champion cruised to a 28.954-second victory over the wounded No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Riley-Chevrolet of Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty in second.

But the story of the day was the strong run for the Spirit of Daytona machine, which was out front for 50 of the 104-lap race. However, the car suffered a misfire after Garcia handed over to co-driver Paul Edwards with an hour to go.

Garcia and Edwards had to settle for a disappointing ninth place result.

“They had everybody covered today, there was no question about it,” said Pruett, who notched his 34th career victory. “After I got in the car, we were able to cut down about eight seconds between us and them.

“I was getting him and was sliding around. He looked pretty pasted down to the ground, and I thought, ‘These guys are really strong today.’ You never know how it’s going to play out, but they were certainly in the catbird’s seat to sneak out a win this weekend.”

Pruett and Rojas put in another near-flawless performance, aside from the Mexican driver’s coming together with a Mazda RX-8, which sent the GT machine hard into the barriers to bring out an early caution.

“We knew our goal was to focus on saving tires,” Rojas said. “We even started with a qualifying set of tires to have as many fresh sets as we could for the race. It worked out for us... It got a little bit wild out there, and while we had a [few] scratches, we were able to make it to the finish.”

The GAINSCO/Bob Stallings duo of Gurney and Fogarty didn’t have clear sailing either, especially in the end when their Riley-Chevrolet suffered a mechanical failure, as the two-time Daytona Prototype champion explains.

“With two laps to go, we broke the right-rear pushrod,” Gurney said. “So the car was wobbling all over the place and they told me I had a 20 seconds back to [Ryan] Dalziel. I was worried that I wasn’t going to make it around because I was going really slow. But it ended up being a good result.”

Despite getting off to a slow start to the weekend, the No. 8 Starworks Motorsports Riley-Ford of Ryan Dalziel and Mike Forest recorded its first podium finish of the season in third.
After struggling earlier in the weekend, Starworks Motorsports' Ryan Dalziel and Mike Forest put in a solid third-place run on race day. (Photo: John Dagys)

Dalziel took over the position after the No. 61 AIM Autosport Riley-BMW of Burt Frisselle pitted for tires with 30 minutes to go. Frisselle, who led for six laps thanks to an off-sequence pit stop, closed to within four seconds of the Scot at the finish.

Starworks again concentrated on tire conservation, with the duo using four sets of Continentals throughout the two-hour and 45-minute race. Yet according to Dalziel, the tires produced increased wear compared to last month’s Grand Prix of Miami.

“It was our same strategy for Homestead and it worked out for us,” Dalziel said. “It worked out for us here, purely because we didn’t have ultimate pace but we kept better tires than a lot of people. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done from the tires. I hope that improvements are made, because so far, it’s stayed the same for three races.”

Frisselle and co-driver Mark Wilkins rallied for a fourth place finish, ahead of the No. 5 Action Express Riley-Porsche of Darren Law and David Donohue, which suffered a late-race tire puncture after contact with a GT car.

There’s no denying Ganassi’s level of success, with 12 wins in the last 14 races. And given the fact that the last six race winners at Barber Motorsports Park have gone onto win the Daytona Prototype championship, Pruett and Rojas’ win on Saturday could be just another sign of things to come.












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