Five Drivers Fight For Rolex Series GT Championship

Sept. 10, 2010 - PRLog -- All that's left for Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas (No. 01 TELMEX BMW/Riley) in the 2010 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype season is for each to drive 30 minutes to share the DP championship.

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It's the second crown in three years for the two drivers, Pruett's third and the fourth for TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Pruett shared the title with Max Papis in 2004 - Ganassi's first year in the Rolex Series - while the team won the championship in 2006 when driver champ Jorg Bergmeister raced two different cars.

Pruett and Rojas have been racking up milestones along the way in the most dominant season in DP history. They've won eight of the 11 races-breaking the mark set by Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty (No. 99 GAINSCO Chevrolet/Riley) in 2007 at the Montreal 200. That was also their 10th podium finish, tying the record set by Max Angelelli (No. 10 SunTrust Ford/Dallara) and Wayne Taylor in 2005.

"It's been a great season, and we just set the record for race wins," Ganassi said. "We've been fortunate to be able to pair two great drivers with a great group of guys. I'm involved in a lot of forms of racing, but sports cars have always been near and dear to my heart."

The team has been a factor to win in all but one of the 12 events, with a Lap 1 incident at Lime Rock Park the lone blemish on their record. Pruett finished second in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, and cut a tire coming to the white flag at Mid-Ohio, allowing Gurney to take the victory.

Five Drivers Fight For Rolex Series GT Championship

Five drivers will end their battle for the Rolex Series GT title Saturday. Co-drivers Jeff Segal and Emil Assentato (No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8), points leaders since April, hold an eight-point advantage (318-310) over SpeedSource teammate Sylvain Tremblay (No. 70 Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8). Tremblay's co-driver, Jonathan Bomarito, did not drive at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

A long shot to win the title could be defending co-titlist Leh Keen and current co-driver James Gue (Dempsey Racing's No. 41 Global Diving & Salvage Mazda RX-8). They would have to finish third or better and hope Segal, Assentato and Tremblay do not score points. Bomarito could also win the title, but he'd have to finish fourth.

Assentato, at age 61, is among the series' most experienced racers. He raced during the 1970s and, after an injury, founded FXDD, one of the world's leading currency conversion companies. He returned to racing in the 1990s and competed in the first Rolex Series race in 2000 - the Rolex 24 - and has been a fulltime competitor in every season but one since 2004.

Segal and Tremblay each seek to join Craig Stanton as drivers who have won titles in both the Rolex Series and Continental Tire Challenge. In 2007, Segal became the then-youngest champion - at age 22 - to win a Continental Tire Challenge Grand Sport (GS) crown, when he triumphed with owner Jep Thornton.

Tremblay, a Continental Tire Challenge GS champion in 2001 and Street Tuner (ST) titlist again in 2004, has been close before to winning the GT title. In 2007, he brought Mazda into Rolex Series GT racing, and won in only his second race. He went on to lead the points, and entered the season finale at Miller with a chance to win the title. However, a first-lap accident totaled the team's Mazda RX-8.

Miller Again Final Race, Competitors To Test Different Configuration

Miller Motorsports Park has a history of switching things up each season the Rolex Series comes to town. The facility has hosted endurance and sprint races for the Rolex Series, and has been both the penultimate round and season finale.

This weekend will feature another change for competitors. After running the circuit's winding 4.486-mile, 24-turn full circuit since in 2006, drivers will compete on the 3.048-mile, 15-turn outer course in both the Rolex Series and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge races.

Three DP teams have visited victory lane in the three years Miller has hosted the Rolex Series season finale. Michael Shank Racing's two teams each scored their first victory at Miller.

Ozz Negri (No. 60 Crown Royal XR Ford/Riley) and Mark Patterson won the inaugural race in 2006, while John Pew (No. 60 Crown Royal XR Ford/Riley), Ian James and Raphael Matos won the 2008 finale. In between, Riley-Matthews Motorsports won in 2007 with Marc Goossens, Jim Matthews and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

The only year Miller did not host the season finale was 2009, when Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney (No. 99 GAINSCO Chevrolet/Riley). won en route to capturing their second DP title in three years.

Dyson Racing Returns To Rolex Series With Davy Jones, McCutchen

Dyson Racing, one of the dominant teams in the early years of GRAND-AM Road Racing, will make its return to the Rolex Sports Car Series, fielding a new Daytona Prototype in the season-ending Utah 250 at Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City.

Dyson Racing will partner with Godstone Ranch Motorsports to field the No. 16 Lola powered by a Roush-Yates Ford V-8. The car will be driven by sports car legend Davy Jones - an overall winner of both the Rolex 24 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans - and John McCutchen II.

Dyson Racing was one of the founding teams of GRAND-AM, winning 16 races, two drivers' and three consecutive team titles from 2000 through 2002. The program will be run from the team's Poughkeepsie, N.Y., headquarters.

"We were fortunate to hook up with some really great people at Godstone Ranch Motorsports with John McCutchen, Karen Garrett and their partners, who helped bring the effort to fruition," said Chris Dyson, Vice President and Sporting Director of Dyson Racing.

"I believe we have the fastest car in the series in the Lola and the best engine - the Roush Yates Ford," Dyson added. "We are looking forward to racing at Utah with the goal of doing more races in 2011. We have won the Rolex 24 At Daytona twice and it would be great to go back there again with a proper, in-house effort."

The team joins Doran Racing, Krohn Racing, AIM Autosport, Michael Shank Racing and SunTrust Racing using Roush Yates Engines in DP competition.

The car was prepared by Multimatic, which recently tested the car three hours north of its Toronto, Ont., shops.

This marks the first time in his career that Jones will compete in a Daytona Prototype. Prior to this season, he competed in two Rolex Series SRPII races in 2003, winning both races with G&W Motorsports. He then made his return to the Rolex Series in this year's Rolex 24 At Daytona, competing with McCutchen, Paul Edwards and Scott Russell (No. 07 Banner Racing Corvette). McCutchen made his series debut in the Rolex 24; he and Jones also competed in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March.

Espenlaub, Putman Lead Points With Grand Sport Title Undecided

Charles Espenlaub and Charlie Putman (No. 48 Sparco/Fall-Line BMW M3) hold a 10-point advantage (254-244) in the Grand Sport (GS) class standings, with the season finale, the Salt Lake City 200, on Saturday.

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Espenlaub and Putman, who need only to finish fifth or better to win the championship, joined the Fall-Line team this year, earning their sole victory in June at Watkins Glen International and have finished eighth or better in all nine races this year. Their closest rivals, Joey Hand and Michael Marsal (No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M3), however, hold the tiebreak in victories - two versus one. Hand and rookie Marsal's Turner Motorsport team has won three of four GS races at Miller since 2006.