Pruett, Rojas Win The GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Third Time In A Row

Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas renewed their winning streak at the championship this Saturday, after winning the Grand-AM Rolex Sports Car event at the Watkins Glen Classic. This victory was especially sweet, coming as it was after their first-lap crash at Lime Rock.
Until the accident at Lime Rock, the No. 01 TELEMEX BMW Riley team had recorded three consecutive victories in the championship. Scott Pruett led in the final 30 laps of the 191 lap race at Watkins Glen International, before flying past Max Angelelli to the checkered flag and defeating him by 1.623 seconds.
Scott Pruett, who scored his 27th career victory, said that he loved racing at the Watkins Glen event, where he had won four times before. Victory never felt this sweet for the champion driver, coming as it was after negotiating some very tough conditions that included a rain stricken start and a slew of caution starts. Ecstatic after the victory, thedriver said that he was honored to be a part of history at the Watkins Glen event.
The victory put the team of Memo Rojas and Scott Pruett at the top of the championship, with a lead of 18 points over their nearest competition, Ryan Dalziel, who finished seventh in the No. 8 Corsa Car Care BMW Riley. The GANASSI team faced stiff competition from the No. 99 GAINSCO Chevrolet Riley team driven by Jon Fogarty, Alex Gurney and Jimmie Johnson. Together the two teams dominated the race, leading 179 laps of the total 190 laps, before Gurney spun on Turn 7, resulting in a sixth placed finish.

Later, Fogarty, who drove the initial 3 hours of the race, commented that the car was the best GAINSCO Auto Insurance Car ever.  Fogarty was followed by NASCAR champion, Jimmie Johnson, who trailed Rojas during his one hour stint behind the wheel.
The Grand-AM Rolex Sports Car race at Watkins Glen was slowed down by a slew of accidents, the most serious of which occurred at the very end of the race, when the No. 6 CAP & Associate Ford Riley of Michael Valiante erupted in flames on the race course. However, no one was hurt as Valiante expertly navigated the car to the entrance of the pit lane, before jumping to safety, seconds before the car burst into flames.
In the GT class, the team of Andy Lally, Spencer Pumpelly and Bob Doyle, scripted an unlikely win when they overtook all to win in the 29 field race.
The team of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas are upbeat about their chances at the next race beginning June 19th at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
Posted by Vanessa Puzio on June 7th, 2010 and filed under Rolex Culture, Rolex Events | No Comments »
















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
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 10th was only 3.029 seconds.

Persistence is often rewarded though it requires the utmost level of focus and dogged determination to achieve the extraordinary.
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 









