Rolex has played a vital role in the development of talent and influencing the pursuit of excellence. Supporting a number of sporting events around the globe, Rolex has been the momentum behind the motor sports industry in America. At the turn of the century the motor sports racing championships were suffering in the United States and the lack of sponsors further accentuated the problem. Rolex changed the fortunes of the industry altogether with its unhindered sponsorship of the Grand-Am Rolex transform this game into a world class event that draws a number of talented drivers from across the globe. The Rolex Sports Car Series is one of the most prestigious and challenging race events and comprises twelve races held all over the United States. The points garnered by the teams and their respective drivers are totaled up to determine the champion at the end of the event that is held in October on the Homestead Miami Raceway.

The 2009 edition of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series was one of the most eventful racing championships ever held. With a number of photo-finish victories at the event this turned out to be the most competitive and eagerly fought for racing event ever. In some cases the teams were behind each other by a few milliseconds. The thousand strong spectators that had come to witness the event were gasping with delight and stunned to see the standard of competition at the event. The Gainsco team and SunTrust team along with others are in close contention for the title of the Rolex champion. Literally racing to the finish Max Angelelli and Brian Frisselle are fighting hard in an attempt to lay a claim to the title of the Rolex champion. Securing two victories this year in the total races that were held as a part of the Rolex Sports Car Series, the second of which came at the Montreal 200 they are hoping to close the lead. Currently eight points behind Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty, who are representing the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley, Max Angelelli and Brian Friselle will be putting all they have got in order to win the finale as well as the Rolex Championships.

Champions from the last years Rolex races Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas will be defending the title in the close competition that will reach its crescendo on the 10^th of October at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. Merely a week or so away the grand finale of the Rolex Sports car Series will be a spectacle to watch. The best teams, the most competent drivers and a huge fan base along with a sea of spectators will descend to the tracks of the Homestead-Miami Speedway on the 10^th of October to come together in a celebration of the eminent Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Championship Races.

Proudly supporting the race and celebrating the remarkable drivers who participate in this event Rolex is redefining the popularity of the Grand-Am Sports Car Series. In a few days time Rolex will crown the champion, till then fans along with the spectators have to wait anxiously for the eventual victor.

A race weekend which had shown a lot of promise with high level of competition anticipated turned out to be a great race for the Gainsco team. Miller Motorsports Park played a perfect host to the penultimate race of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series 2009. The entire season has been a rollercoaster ride for the teams trying their best to come out at top with many tasting success but none in a situation where they could take any chances with even a single race. The way the teams raced at the weekend clearly demonstrated the hard work everyone has been undergoing but there could have been only one winner and that honor went to the Gainsco/Bob Stallings Pontiac team.

Driven by the duo of Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty the Gainsco team managed to come out at top for the fourth time in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series 2009. With this win they now have a very real chance for a shot at the championship at the last race to be held in the month of October. For Alex Gurney the coveted win in the Daytona Prototype Class at the Utah 250 was sweeter considering his wife had given birth to their second child only 72 hours ago.

The race was held at the prestigious and difficult Miller Motorsports Park and from the beginning was going to be a challenge for every team and every driver. But those who had come prepared for the rigors of the track had a field day. The duo of Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty did remarkably well to lead the race for most of the time. In a race spread over 56 laps the Gainsco/Bob Stallings Pontiac was leading the cars in 42 of those.

The Miller Motorsports Park is a difficult and very tiresome track with 4.5 mile long laps that are made more difficult with good 24 turns which test the drivers and their cars thoroughly. The race on the weekend was completed in two hours and 45 minutes with the hard fought competition being well represented by the fact that the top five teams were separated by mere 1.309 seconds and the difference in time taken by the top team and the team coming 10^th was only 3.029 seconds.

Alex Gurney led his team to a great victory with a good 1.264 second lead over the team that came second, the Ford Dallara. The duo of Max Angelelli and Brian Friselle in the Ford Dallara team gave a real competition to the Gaisnco team but could not overtake them in the end when it would have really mattered. Lexus Riley was the third team to cross the checkered flag at the Miller Motorsports Park to complete the line up for the podium. The team had driver duo of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas to keep them among the top teams.

Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty now have a total of 309 points in Grand-Am Rolex Daytona Prototype team and driver championships. The last race of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series in October is going to be the final test of whether the Gainsco team can lift the championship or not.

Rolex has earned a reputation that goes beyond being the best watchmaker in the world. It has spread its wings to move beyond the traditional role that everyone plays and is actively involved in bringing forth the human craving to push one to the limits by promoting different events that offer platforms for the same. Grand-Am road racing is one of the most crucial events on the Rolex calendar that is precisely what someone looking for thrills on a racing track behind the racing wheels would die for. The yearlong extravaganza is the crown jewel in Rolex’s crown and generates the kind of hype which is unparalleled for any sport and event in the world.

The skills and capabilities of racers may be checked on the race day but their survival and success on the race course is dependent on the time and efforts they have put into building up on their strengths and overcoming their weaknesses during the tests carried before the races. Every team and race driver is looking forward to the opportunities they can get to work on their skills and cars in real like racing conditions. And to get a chance to race on an actual circuit, nothing possibly can beat that. Everyone had been hoping to get a chance to drive on the prestigious Indianapolis Motor Speedway and everyone’s wish was granted last week.

Last Thursday witnessed the first sanctioned tests at the popular Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the enthusiasm among the teams and officials could be easily felt in the air. The schedule of the test had been broken into two separate but same duration time periods to be carried out in two different race tracks. First off all the cars were to race down the 2.534 mile long Formula One circuit with 13 turns, a rare opportunity for the Grand-Am teams and drivers. The time period for the same had been kept from 10 in the morning to noontime. There was to be a break of one hour after that. The next phase was to involve 2.621 mile long MotoGP configuration which has 16 turns. The time period for the same was 1 pm to 3 pm.

Such a system had everyone very excited about the upcoming test day and it really turned out to a great day for every team that participated. It was a great day for Rolex too as it’s the days like this that propel human ambitions to aim for the sky and prepare well to equip oneself with everything that would be required in materializing those aims.

There were as much as nine Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series teams all presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 which were out there on the bright Thursday. Among the people who tested their cars were Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas in their impressive four wheels. Jon Fogarty and Bob Stalling, the point co-leader at the Daytona Prototype, and Wayne and Rickey Taylor were there on the racecourse that day. Also present in the Coyote were Ed Carpenter, Scott Ayer, Jonathan Klein and Ryan Lewis.

It was a great day for the Rolex sponsored Grand-Am as also for the racers, teams and their countless fans.

Persistence is often rewarded though it requires the utmost level of focus and dogged determination to achieve the extraordinary. Rolex the foremost name in the world of luxury watches has taken the onus of developing the ability of attaining perfecting. I tune with this philosophy, Rolex sponsors a number of sporting events around the globe that aim to develop the capacity for perfection. Aiding the will for pursuing greater ability and talent, Rolex perpetrates to be the driving force behind ambitious initiatives. The fuel behind the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, Rolex is committed to recognizing brilliance and supporting its quest for attaining the highest levels of perfection. It has been over a decade that Rolex has been associated with the motor sports committee and the racing industry and in this period Rolex has encouraged a deep rooted principal of understanding the significance of true skill. The Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series draws tremendously talented racers who have over the years not only broken several records but have also been the precursors of unusually brilliant set of techniques.

Stunned by the increasing levels of performance and the standard of competition, increasing numbers of people are finding their way to the racing circuit every time a race comes around. The increasing scope and range of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series attracts a large number of sponsors who come forward to sponsor the event. As a part of its campaign of constantly supporting motorsport racing in America, Rolex identifies and awards true sporting talents who have performed persistently over the entire year in the races that form a part of the Rolex Sports Car Series.

In the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series a total of nine races out of the entire twelve races have been completed. Each of the races saw a very close fight to the finish as the racers pushed on. Courtesy of Rolex the Grand-Am Rolex Series Driver Point Standings provide a clear picture of the total points each driver has earned as well as the leading driver in the standings. Packed with some of the closest photo finishes in history the 2009 series till now is being led by the duo Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas with a total of 199 points. Driving the Lexus Riley the team of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas is scorching ahead leading the Telemex/Chip Ganassi Racing team to the head of the pack. Born in California in 1960, Scott Pruett has been racing for most of his life and brings with him a tremendous quantity of experience to the team. While the other team member the Mexican born brilliant Memo Rojas, falls in the category of a prodigious racer. Together the duo has been able to push every standard and raise the level of competition in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

Closely following the talented duo of the Telemex/Chip Ganassi Racing team is the SunTrust team with remarkable drivers Brian Frisselle and Max Angelelli with a total of 198 points. The 2009 Rolex standings clearly indicate the tremendous competition and the level of talent this year. As the series draws to a close people anxiously await the rise of their Rolex champion.

A passion that rises from mastering the drivability of the incredibly fast vehicles moves the entire sea of spectators to the rhythm of speed and focus. Rolex the celebrated Swiss brand of luxury watches has been partnering world class sporting events like motor sport racing around the world. Associating with the American organization to revive the motor sport racing in the United States, Rolex collaborated to form the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

Over the year the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series has grown exponentially both in size and scope, resurrecting the faltering motor sport racing industry. Now regarded as one of the most prestigious racing events in America, the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series draws incredible talent from around the world. This prestigious racing series is divided into two parts and features a total of 12 races. Performance in all of these races adds to the total tally and influences the standings of the race car driver as well as the various teams. The rise in the number of spectators along with the increased media coverage was possible only due to the unhindered support of Rolex as the principal partner. The 2009 edition of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 saw a spectacular display of talent and racing skills at the racing circuit.

The second half of the season will begin on Saturday at the Daytona International Speedway as throngs of people start to congregate at the circuit. Even though Chip Ganassi Racing team had a slow start in the first half of the season, the champion drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas drove the Daytona Prototypes to lead the rankings with an 11 point lead over the others. Taking the lead by winning their first race at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen that was held at the Watkins Glen International in the beginning of July, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas proved their ability by out rightly winning the EMCO Gears Classic that was held two weeks later at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Highly competitive rivals Scott Pruett and Alex Gurney had one of the closest races last season at the Brumos Porsche 250 and ended in a spectacular photo finish.

In this extremely competitive season apart from the drenched race at the Verizon Wireless 250, five of the six races finished before 10 seconds. An incredible four out of the total six Daytona Prototype finishes have been under a second. Even the grueling Rolex 24 races saw this level of competition with a record four cars finishing the final lap. Memo Rojas with 2 wins and Scott Pruett with one account for half of the total wins in the first half of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. The high level of competition and skill at the racing event has led to increased display of incredible talent and has led to many alterations in the statistical log of the races. In the constructors category Porsche is leading the pack with a total of 60 wins, 76 poles and 248 podiums.

With such incredible numbers hitting the circuit every time this edition of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series promises to be a riveting event. As the second half of the prestigious season hits the tracks this Saturday, spectators are already anticipating some brilliant maneuvers and exceptional drivability that is bound to once again change the history of motor racing.

Endeavoring to promote excellence and constantly striving to attain perfection, Rolex provides resolute support to over 150 world class sporting events around the world. The Rolex Sports Car Series is regarded as a premier racing event in the world of motorsports. This event attracts ferociously competitive racers that pack more than a mean engine under the hood. The stands are packed with a sea of enthusiasts that come to witness revving engines that leave a trail of smoke, as they blaze around the circuit trying to go faster and still maintain control. There are instances when these road warriors fall prey to the limitations of the machine and crash into a ball of fire that gets the spectators on to their feet, as fire tenders hurtle their way towards this burning inferno. Such is the allure of speed and control that men have forever craved for and in most cases been able to triumph over. The Rolex Sports Car Series is an endeavor by Rolex to assist the drivers break through the barriers of achievable speed and enable them to reach the highest level of control and precise functioning. It is this passion to drive faster that fuels the desire to compete and clinch the top spot.

A part of the Rolex Sports Car Series, the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen is a highly competitive event that is held annually. Taken over by the Grand-Am Road Racing Championship in 2000 with Rolex as its tile sponsor the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen had nearly collapsed when the United States Road Racing Championship, a body that governed the event crumbled. After a revival of the format and continued sponsorship this racing event has been able to grow and re-establish itself as a sought after and popular racing event in America. During the 2009 edition of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of Glen that was held on the 6th of June, defending champions of the Daytona Prototype version, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas cruised through to victory. Striving to get their first victory for the year the team of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas were running 14 points behind the top team in the standings. Before entering the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, the team of Pruett and Rojas was extremely anxious as a single win can be the only requirement to clinching the top honor. In a memorable display of talent and aptitude both the members of the team gave other competitors at the Watkins Glen International speedway a lesson in racing to victory. Blazing ahead in their number 1 TELMEX Lexus Riley fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, the duo had stayed in the lead for 142 of the total 188 laps. Though this race will be followed by other races the 2009 Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen turned out be a complete nail biter as teams tried every maneuver and skill to dominate the race. The next race at the Miami speedway is all set to be a thrilling event, as the teams are separated by a few points and will push the levels of human capacity to gain ground and triumph.

Rolex has constantly partnered the event and as a part of its ambition of promoting excellence it will continue to spark the human spirit into action and achieving the extraordinary.