Continental - Pruett's Double-Stint on Continental Tires Net Rolex Series Victory at Road America
Elkhart Lake, WI (June 28, 2011) – Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sebates driver Scott Pruett elected to not change tires on his final pit stop, and that proved to be key to a return to victory lane as he and co-driver Memo Rojas ended a three-race losing streak Saturday, winning the Rolex Sports Car Series 250 Driven by VISITFLORIDA.COM in GRAND-AM's return to historic Road America. It was the fourth victory of the season for the drivers of the No. 01 TELMEX BMW/Riley fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.
Pruett took the checkered flag 11.738 seconds ahead of Alex Gurney, who shared the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Chevrolet/Riley with Jon Fogarty. Pruett led the final 20 of 46 circuits on the 4.048-mile circuit for his 36th career Rolex Series victory.
"We came away from the warm-up saying, 'this car is not good enough to win, no way,' said Pruett. "So we talked with John Henneck (Engineer), and came up with a big change. When we had the yellow, we took advantage of the situation with not changing tires on that last stop. The car was fast, and stayed fast for a long time. You had to manage the tires at the end, but we were sliding around less than anyone else. But we could still go at a good pace."
Max Angelelli survived a last-lap battle with Ryan Dalziel to finish third - ending a two-race winning streak for the No. 10 SunTrust Chevrolet/Riley started on the pole by Ricky Taylor. Dalziel and Mike Forest held on for fourth in the No. 8 Grout Shield Ford/Riley, followed by John Pew and Ozz Negri in the No. 60 Crown Royal XR Ford/Riley.
The GT battle saw three different leaders on the final lap. Eric Curran prevailed in the wild last-lap battle, giving Marsh Racing its first Rolex Series GT victory in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Corvette started by John Heinricy.
Jordan Taylor took the white flag in the GT lead, but ran out of fuel in the No. 88 Autohaus Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro started by Bill Lester. That gave the GT lead to Spencer Pumpelly - who shared the No. 67 TRG Porsche with Steven Bertheau - but he also ran low on fuel. Curran - who had been pressuring Pumpelly - took over the lead, and managed to hold off John Edwards in the No. 42 Team Sahlen's Mazda RX-8 started from the pole by Wayne Nonnamaker.
Pumpelly managed to hold on for third, followed by the No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche GT3 of Craig Stanton and John Potter. Taylor managed to place fifth in the No. 88 Autohaus Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro. Taylor and co-driver Bill Lester extended their lead in the standings to four points over sixth-place finishers Leh Keen and Andrew Davis, drivers of the No. 59 Brumos Porsche GT3.
"When I took the checkered flag, I didn't even realize that we won - I wasn't sure if they were saying we finished fourth or first," said Curran. "We've had poles and we've led laps, but we've never ended up winning before. The Whelen Engineering guys needed a great result. It's interesting to win without my main co-driver (Boris Said) here."
The race featured a 51-minute caution resulting from an accident five laps into the race involving Gunter Schaldach and Joe Foster. Schaldach lost the brakes in the No. 07 The Cool TV/Mobil 1 Chevrolet Camaro, ran into the back of Joe Foster's No. 40 Visit Florida/Modspace Mazda RX-8, went through the gravel trap in Turn 1 and catapulted the catch fence. He walked away uninjured.
Foster also spun through the gravel and tagged the tire barrier. He was awake and alert, and later transported to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Milwaukee, Wis., for further evaluation.
Pruett and Rojas now hold a 24-point margin in the team championship standings with five races yet to run in the 2011 championship season. The next round will see GRAND-AM return to the scenic Monterrey Peninsula for a visit to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca July 6th.
About Continental
With sales of €26 billion in 2010, Continental is among the leading automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for powertrains and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers, Continental contributes to enhanced driving safety and global climate protection. Continental is also a competent partner in networked automobile communication. Continental currently employs approximately 150,000 people in 46 countries.
Pruett took the checkered flag 11.738 seconds ahead of Alex Gurney, who shared the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Chevrolet/Riley with Jon Fogarty. Pruett led the final 20 of 46 circuits on the 4.048-mile circuit for his 36th career Rolex Series victory.
"We came away from the warm-up saying, 'this car is not good enough to win, no way,' said Pruett. "So we talked with John Henneck (Engineer), and came up with a big change. When we had the yellow, we took advantage of the situation with not changing tires on that last stop. The car was fast, and stayed fast for a long time. You had to manage the tires at the end, but we were sliding around less than anyone else. But we could still go at a good pace."
Max Angelelli survived a last-lap battle with Ryan Dalziel to finish third - ending a two-race winning streak for the No. 10 SunTrust Chevrolet/Riley started on the pole by Ricky Taylor. Dalziel and Mike Forest held on for fourth in the No. 8 Grout Shield Ford/Riley, followed by John Pew and Ozz Negri in the No. 60 Crown Royal XR Ford/Riley.
The GT battle saw three different leaders on the final lap. Eric Curran prevailed in the wild last-lap battle, giving Marsh Racing its first Rolex Series GT victory in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Corvette started by John Heinricy.
Jordan Taylor took the white flag in the GT lead, but ran out of fuel in the No. 88 Autohaus Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro started by Bill Lester. That gave the GT lead to Spencer Pumpelly - who shared the No. 67 TRG Porsche with Steven Bertheau - but he also ran low on fuel. Curran - who had been pressuring Pumpelly - took over the lead, and managed to hold off John Edwards in the No. 42 Team Sahlen's Mazda RX-8 started from the pole by Wayne Nonnamaker.
Pumpelly managed to hold on for third, followed by the No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche GT3 of Craig Stanton and John Potter. Taylor managed to place fifth in the No. 88 Autohaus Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro. Taylor and co-driver Bill Lester extended their lead in the standings to four points over sixth-place finishers Leh Keen and Andrew Davis, drivers of the No. 59 Brumos Porsche GT3.
"When I took the checkered flag, I didn't even realize that we won - I wasn't sure if they were saying we finished fourth or first," said Curran. "We've had poles and we've led laps, but we've never ended up winning before. The Whelen Engineering guys needed a great result. It's interesting to win without my main co-driver (Boris Said) here."
The race featured a 51-minute caution resulting from an accident five laps into the race involving Gunter Schaldach and Joe Foster. Schaldach lost the brakes in the No. 07 The Cool TV/Mobil 1 Chevrolet Camaro, ran into the back of Joe Foster's No. 40 Visit Florida/Modspace Mazda RX-8, went through the gravel trap in Turn 1 and catapulted the catch fence. He walked away uninjured.
Foster also spun through the gravel and tagged the tire barrier. He was awake and alert, and later transported to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Milwaukee, Wis., for further evaluation.
Pruett and Rojas now hold a 24-point margin in the team championship standings with five races yet to run in the 2011 championship season. The next round will see GRAND-AM return to the scenic Monterrey Peninsula for a visit to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca July 6th.
About Continental
With sales of €26 billion in 2010, Continental is among the leading automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for powertrains and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers, Continental contributes to enhanced driving safety and global climate protection. Continental is also a competent partner in networked automobile communication. Continental currently employs approximately 150,000 people in 46 countries.
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