|
GRAND AMERICAN ROAD RACING ASSOCIATION |
11/04/2004 |
SunTrust Racing Scores First Win |
Pontiac From Lexus |
|
SunTrust Racing Scores First Win at Food City 250
Max Angelelli held off Scott Pruett in the closing laps of the Food City 250 at Phoenix International Raceway to give SunTrust Racing its first-ever Rolex Sports Car Series win on Saturday night.
Angelelli took the wheel of the No. 10 Pontiac Riley early in the race when Wayne Taylor brought it in during the second full-course caution. Angelelli then piloted the No. 10 Pontiac into second-place and claimed the lead when polesitter Max Papis pitted on lap 82 to hand the CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing No. 01 Lexus Riley over to Pruett.
Angelelli and Pruett ran in first and second place for nearly all of the remaining laps, with Pruett making several attempts to put the CompUSA Lexus back in front before the two hour, 45 minute time limit drew to a close. But Angelelli was able to hold off his advances, giving SunTrust Racing its first Rolex Series win.
Cort Wagner and Kelly Collins scored their second-straight podium finish with third place in the Rx.com G&W Motorsports No. 81 BMW Doran, moving the pair of drivers into the Daytona Prototype points lead in the unofficial standings.
Forty race cars on Phoenix International Raceway's tight 1.51-mile road course made for an action-packed race, with the caution flag coming out seven times for 35 laps during the 133-lap race. Several teams in the hunt for the North American Road Racing Championship were taken out of the race early due to on-track incidents including the Doran-Lista Racing No. 27 Lexus Doran, both of the SpeedSource Ford Multimatics and the Southard Motorsports No. 7 BMW Fabcar.
Boris Said and Bill Auberlen won the GT class in their Prototype Technology Group No. 21 BMW M3, while Kyle Petty enjoyed his weekend off from the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series by taking second place in the GT class with Gunnar Jeannette in the Gunnar Racing No. 45 Porsche GT3 RS. The Racer's Group No. 66 Porsche GT3 RS rounded out the GT podium with drivers Chris Gleason, Ian James and RJ Valentine.
The battle for the SGS class win came down to the chequered flag, with the TPC Racing No. 36 Porsche GT3 Cup of Randy Pobst and Michael Levitas edging out the AASCO Motorsports No. 16 Porsche of Craig Stanton and David Murry by only 0.353 seconds. TPC Racing put a second entry on the class podium with the No. 36 Porsche of Andy Lally and Marc Bunting finishing third.
Max Angelelli, No. 10 Pontiac Riley:
"We were actually lucky with the yellows, but we had a good race strategy as well. Wayne put a nice pass on Max Papis early in his stint, and he gave me a race car that was one of the best ever. My thanks to the crew that gave me a 33 second stop for fuel & tyres -- I only lost two positions on that stop. All the SunTrust guys and Bill Riley and his dad Bob are so good. The Rolex Series is super competitive and it was fun out there. I hope the fans enjoyed it!"
Wayne Taylor, No. 10 Pontiac Riley:
"Bill (Riley) makes the decisions; in fact we were on the radio talking about whether we should stop or shouldn't we. In hindsight, we could have stayed in because the car was running fine and the tyres were fine. I think the end result probably would have been the same. "
"This is great. The best thing about it is we have formed such a good friendship, and we've been running together since 1990. We've never had any success, so I said to him maybe it's me and vice versa. So to win here, it's really, really great. I don't remember throwing up my hands when Cadillac pulled out, if I threw out my hands, it was because I was relieved it was over. It was a tough three-year deal. We knew the program was for three years, so it was tough for everybody. Clearly, I had enough of driving and that side of the business. During 2003, I had a good time, but I had been working with George Koehn in the days of the Cadillac, the next thing we were back racing again.
Boris Said, No. 21 BMW M3 GT:
"It was great. I think right now we have the dominant team. I've always said over and over again that the BMW is the ultimate driving machine. I proved it again tonight. We have great, efficient brakes. I have a new sponsor Centrix Financial out in Colorado. It was just good fun."
Scott Pruett, No. 01 Lexus Riley:
"We played our plan perfectly. We got a little tripped up because there were a lot of yellows at the start, which other teams could take advantage of. Our strategy was to make one stop; unfortunately a yellow didn't come back to us. The CompUSA guys did a terrific job. We got in and out very quick on the pit stop. We managed to keep our lap, which was big. Then we just worked our way back through traffic, and at the end it was just a shoot out. I was driving as hard as I could, and the Lexus ran great.
Max (Papis) did a terrific job. We came up a little short, but we didn't go down without a hard fight. This is the first year for Chip Ganassi Racing (with Felix Sabates) in this series, and the guys that beat us have been in this series for many, many years."
Max Papis, No. 01 Lexus Riley:
"The beginning of the race was very hectic because of all the yellows and the traffic that was out there. Everyone on the CompUSA team has done a really great job. Today was a matter of track position. We got a little bit unlucky in terms of the pit stop. We ended up second, and I think that it was just a matter of track position at the end. Scott (Pruett) drove absolutely amazing at the end, and gave it absolutely everything that he had. We should be very proud because we are creeping up in the championship points. We are still new to the series, and we are working on the learning curve. Everyone at Ganassi Racing knows how to win, and this is just the beginning."
1. (10) Wayne Taylor, Max Angelelli, DP, SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley, 133.
2. (01) Max Papis, Scott Pruett, DP, CompUSA Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley, 133.
3. (81) Cort Wagner, Kelly Collins, DP, Rx.com/ G&W Motorsports BMW Doran, 133.
4. (02) Luis Diaz, Jimmy Morales, DP, CompUSA Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley, 133.
5. (4) Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Butch Leitzinger, DP, Howard - Boss Motorsports Pontiac Crawford, 132.
6. (6) Oswaldo Negri Jr, Burt Frisselle, DP, Michael Shank Racing Lexus Doran, 132.
7. (09) Stephan Gregoire, Doug Goad, DP, Spirit of Daytona Racing Pontiac Crawford, 132.
8. (5) Joe Pruskowski, Justin Pruskowski, DP, Essex Racing Ford Multimatic, 132.
9. (59) JC France, Hurley Haywood, DP, Brumos - Goodyear - Kendall Porsche Fabcar, 131.
10. (21) Bill Auberlen, Boris Said, GT, Prototype Technology Group BMW M3, 129.
11. (45) Gunnar Jeannette, Kyle Petty, GT, Gunnar Racing Porsche GT3 RS, 128.
12. (3) John Lloyd, Darius Grala, DP, Cegwa Sport Lexus Fabcar, 128.
13. (54) Forest Barber, Terry Borcheller, DP, Kodak - Bell Motorsports Pontiac Doran, 127.
14. (36) Michael Levitas, Randy Pobst, SGS, TPC Racing Porsche GT3 Cup, 126.
15. (16) Craig Stanton, David Murry, SGS, AASCO Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup, 126.
16. (38) Marc Bunting, Andy Lally, SGS, TPC Racing Porsche GT3 Cup, 126.
17. (2) Milka Duno, Andy Wallace, CITGO - Howard - Boss Motorsports Pontiac Crawford, 125.
18. (66) RJ Valentine, Ian James, Chris Gleason, JGT, The Racers Group Porsche GT3 RS, 125.
19. (91) Robert Julien, Jean-Francois Dumoulin, SGS, Doncaster Racing Porsche GT3 Cup, 124.
20. (46) Gary St Amour, Mike Yeakle, SGS, Michael Baughman Racing Corvette, 124.
21. (41) Joe Nonnamaker, Will Nonnamaker, SGS, Orison-Planet Earth Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup, 124.
22. (37) Bill Adam, John Littlechild, SGS, TPC Racing Porsche GT3 Cup, 123.
23. (47) Bob Ward, Michael Baughman, SGS, Michael Baughman Racing Porsche GT3 Cup, 122.
24. (39) Chris Hall, Larry Huang, DP, Silverstone Racing Services Pontiac Crawford, 121.
25. (35) Dan Kennedy, Tom Jermoluk, SGS, Scuderia Ferrari of Washington Ferrari 360 Challenge, 121.
26. (67) Kevin Buckler, Liz Halliday, GT, The Racers Group Porsche GT3 RS, 121.
27. (04) Gene Sigal, Dennis Puddester, SGS, Grease Monkey Racing Porsche GT3 Cup, 117.
28. (57) Chip Vance, John Stevenson, GT, Stevenson Motorsports/ Auto Assets Porsche GT3 R, 108.
29. (06) Chuck Hemmingson, Steve Lisa, GT, ICY/ SL Motorsports Corvette, 107.
30. (44) Joe Policastro, Jay Policastro, Mike Fitzgerald, GT, Orbit Racing Porsche GT3 RS, 107.
31. (27) Fredy Lienhard Sr, Didier Theys, DP, Doran Lista Racing Lexus Doran, 105.
32. (71) Greg Wilkins, Dave Lacey, Toronto, SGS, Doncaster Racing Porsche GT3 Cup, 102.
33. (42) Mae Van Wijk, Wayne Nonnamaker, SGS, Orison-Planet Earth Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup, 97.
34. (33) Joao Barbosa, Emil Assentato, Stephen Earle, GT, Scuderia Ferrari of Washington Maserati GT, 73.
35. (58) Darren Law, David Donohue, DP, Red Bull - Brumos - Goodyear - Kendall Porsche Fabcar, 56.
36. (7) Shane Lewis, Vic Rice, DP, Southard Motorsports BMW Fabcar, 48.
37. (70) Selby Wellman, Sylvain Tremblay, DP, SpeedSource Ford Multimatic, 39.
38. (62) Pete Halsmer, John Schmitt, GT, Honda of America Racing Team Acura NSX, 14.
39. (22) Justin Marks, Joey Hand, GT, Prototype Technology Group BMW M3, 11.
40. (9) Paul Mears Jr, Mike Borkowski, DP, Mears Motorcoach/ SpeedSource Ford Multimatic, 10.
|
Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport
|