The Gainsco car defended their race win from Mid Ohio from last year
GM Racing
Lexus
Bob Stallings/GAINSCO
Wayne Taylor/Suntrust
Click a link to go directly to that story!
GM Racing
Lexington, Ohio, June 21, 2008 -- The GAINSCO Pontiac team logged their first win of the season today in round seven of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R finished second in GT.
The race started under threatening skies. The Daytona Prototype (DP) and GT competitors started the race in the dry then on lap seven the sky opened up. In what became a rain soaked race with eight cautions allowing only 39 green laps of running.
The No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing team defended their win from last year at the track located just north of Columbus. Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney got back to their winning ways in a renewed quest to defend their 2007 championship season.
"It was a wild race," Gurney said. "I was thinking there was going to be a red flag. Then I thought there would be a yellow all day. We got the driver change done early. I focused on not putting it off the road and picking guys off. We had a good strategy. It was fun and satisfying. The expectation to win has been high. We have had top finishes, but it is nice to win one. The seven car I think was struggling with his tires toward the end. I could see him hang it out as it got drier. Our car was working really well in the in-between conditions."
The combination of Nic Jonsson and Ricardo Zonta came home ninth in their No. 76 Krohn Racing Lola. The duo were able run upfront in the wet until drying conditions caught up with them toward the end of the race.
"The race for us was when Nic was out there," Zonta said. "The car in the wet really has a lot of potential. In the dry I had massive oversteer which just got worse as the conditions wet to dry. When Nic was out there at the beginning he was able to pretty much drive the car anywhere on the track."
The No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac with Max Angelelli and Michael Valiante finished the day in 10th. Valiante was able to lead laps early and was a constant fixture at the front. Angelelli had a good stint until the drying conditions took the best out of his tires.
"Obviously, I think everybody could see that my tires were finished," Angelelli said. "I had no more tires left and I did what I could with what I had. I have no idea why they went away so quickly. It's not the first time it has happened, so we have to keep looking at why this might be and think about what to do to fix the problem. Unfortunately, I could tell the tires were going to go away. I know the car. I know those tires. But that's what happens, sometimes. Tenth place doesn't feel good at all when you are 10 minutes away from finishing on the podium. It was a disappointing way to end the weekend."
The No. 91 Riley-Matthews of Marc Goossens and Jim Matthews finished 11th. Matthews got the silver 91 stuck in the gravel when the rain came. The extrication cost the team two laps. Goossens was able to put in a good drive to get one of the laps back, but still finished a lap down.
"It is hard to get two laps back," Goossens said. "There were just too many yellows to make up the two laps. I was able to get one back, but that was not enough. We had a good car in the wet. I was running up ahead of the leaders and even passed them. But when you are a lap down you have to be aggressive and careful and not get in the way of the leaders too much."
The No. 75 Krohn Pontiac tandem of Tracy Krohn and Eric van de Poele finished the wet race in 14th. Van de Poele was able to run upfront early with teammate Jonsson giving the new Lola a good first race on the Mid-Ohio circuit. Tracy Krohn fell afoul of the Grand-Am officials when a pit stop call cost them time early on.
"This was one of those hard races," Krohn said. "It was a disappointing call by the officials on our pit stop. When we committed to come in the pits were open and then they closed them when it was too late. They penalized us, costing the team some good track position. I then went out and tried to push too hard and ended up spinning into the gravel."
In GT Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis finished second. After starting the weekend with setup difficulties the team qualified third and finished the race in second. Liddell was able to lead some laps late in the race.
"I had a great battle at the end with the 86 car," Liddell said. "We were leading up until that last restart. The 01 cost me some time and that allowed the 86 to close up. Were too close to winning, so second is a little disappointing. The car ran well and the Stevenson guys really worked hard this weekend on the setup. We ended up in front when it counted and it was a good points day for us. The tires performed well in the wet and we were able to get some rain time on the car."
The Connolly Motorsports team with Ryan Phinny and Diego Alessi took the last step of the podium with their Pontiac GTO.R finishing in third. Phinny was able to lead a large amount of the race and put on an impressive driving display in the rain.
"I really didn't know where I was at in the rain," Phinny said. "Matt Connolly wouldn't tell me where I was running and finally said that we were in the lead. I was just focusing on trying to see out of the windshield. We were strong all day. Diego was able to makeup five positions after the driver change to get us to the podium. We took a huge gamble on the setup and it paid off."
Lawson Aschenbach, Tim Lewis Jr. and Terry Borcheller combined to give the No. 72 Autohaus Pontiac team an eighth place finish. The team started the race from pole position and soldiered through the weather finish in the top 10.
"I got in after Lawson and had a tough stint," Lewis said. "The wiper failed in the rain and that made it really difficult to see. That is something that really makes the treacherous racing in the rain that much worse. I think the elements got the best of us today. We just couldn't convert the pole position into a top finish."
The No. 07 Banner Racing team of Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards finished 11th. The early part of the race had the 07 running in fourth. When the rain came the timing transponder on the car became inoperable. The officials forced the team to pit twice for repairs sending them down two laps.
"We just went roundie-round and took the checker without hitting anybody or going off the track," Edwards said. "It was one of those days, but it could have been a lot worse. The 70 car had a tough race too and we did gain points on both the 67 and 87 cars because they crashed. We lost some ground to the No. 57 Pontiac team of Liddell and Davis, but they finished second for Pontiac so we are happy about that. It is a shame we couldn't have a better run for all of the Banner Engineering people here today, but that happens sometimes. We just got caught out by a Grand-Am part when the transponder failed and we lost laps when we had to come in and change it."
The No. 06 Banner Racing GXP.R was a victim of the rain and an errant competitor. Marc Bunting started the race and was able to pass a few cars early in the running. When the rain came he went into caution mode and then was hit by the 67 car causing damage that put them out of the race on lap eight.
"We went down into turn seven at the end of the straight and there were cars all over the place spinning off the track." Bunting said. "I got it slowed down enough to avoid the spinning cars but the 67 car couldn't get slowed and t-boned me. He was really moving because he hit me really hard! Standing water and slicks aren't a good combination."
Lexus
LEXINGTON, Ohio (June 21, 2008) -- Memo Rojas and Scott Pruett placed eighth, while Shane Lewis and Bill Lester were 13th in today's EMCO Gears Classic Rolex Sports Car Series race at the rain-soaked Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
After starting the race fourth, Rojas moved into the top-two quickly as rain started to fall just after the green flag. Rojas moved into the lead on Lap 10 and proceeded to lead 22 of the next 24 laps. The Ganassi Racing driver held the point position until Lap 34 when he spun coming out of a re-start, falling back to sixth-place.
After the spin, it became an event of survival and strategy as conditions continued to worsen in a race that would feature eight full-course cautions. Pruett eventually climbed into the car with approximately 45 minutes to go on the way to bringing home the car in eighth-place. The #3 Southard Motorsports Lexus driven by Shane Lewis and Bill Lester also suffered through a rough day. Both drivers struggled with the wet conditions on the way to 13th-place.
Bob Stallings/GAINSCO
LEXINGTON, Ohio (June 21, 2008) -- Reigning Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Champions GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing and drivers Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty got their title defense back on track Saturday with their first win of the 2008 season in a wet and wild EMCO Gears Classic presented by KeyBank at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
The victory was the first for the GAINSCO team since last August at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., where they scored a seventh win in a dominating 2007 season that saw them capture both the Rolex Series Team and Driver Championships. The team has been on pace at the majority of 2008 races, but a variety of problems and circumstances kept them out of victory lane until today's Mid-Ohio race, which was Round 7 of this year's 14 race Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series schedule.
"This win is a lot later than I expected it to be by a long shot," said Team Owner Bob Stallings. "Honestly, I have kind of forgotten how it feels to be a winner because we haven't won since Sonoma last year. I am really happy for our team because winning is a routine that you get into clearly as evidenced by last year, and I want this team to get back into a rhythm. There were eight races left and I said I want to win all eight of them and now we have one down and seven to go."
The race was run in consistent and frequently heavy rainy conditions that began just minutes after the green flag dropped. After starting on the outside front row, Fogarty was running second when he spun in the treacherous conditions early in the race, but he climbed back from being as far down as 23rd place overall (12th in class) when he and the GAINSCO team perfectly timed a yellow-flag pit stop on Lap 27.
"It was a pretty wild race for sure," Gurney said. "I didn't envy being in the car there at the beginning, it looked really difficult and I thought they might even red flag it or we would go yellow all day. When Jon went to the back it actually ended up working out for us because we ended up pitting at an earlier point than we probably would have. We got the driver change done and that made us good to the end."
Gurney took over during the stop and began a march to the front after rejoining the race in 14th place overall and ninth in the Daytona Prototype running order. He passed the No. 7 RumBum.com BMW Riley of Matt Plumb in Mid-Ohio's trademark esses with 14 minutes to go in what turned out to be a timed race and quickly opened up to a more than three-second lead. Gurney was comfortably in front when the eighth and final yellow-flag period of the day saw the race end under caution.
"I could tell that the No. 7 was starting to struggle," Gurney said. "When it was a little less wet he was really out of shape, so I really wasn't that concerned about getting by him. Our car was just working really well in those in between conditions. It was a very fun race and very satisfying and I am just really happy for everyone on the team. It is nice to get one on the board finally."
The winners averaged just 62.317 mph in the victory on the rain soaked track, and 37 of the race's 76 laps were run under caution.
"It was a nightmare when it first started raining," Fogarty said. "When we were on slicks and it first started coming down, it was unbelievable. I was going as slow as I possibly could and was still almost crashing. It was difficult for sure and I am just glad I didn't throw it away when I spun. It is great to get the first win of the season. The team never gave up hope and they have been doing as awesome of a job as they always do."
The win gave GAINSCO a huge jump in the championship standings. The No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Pontiac Riley is now second in the team championship with 188 points. The same number of points also has Gurney and Fogarty with the second highest total in the Rolex Series Driver Championship. Leaders Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and the No. 01 TELMEX/Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley now have 225 points in both championships after finishing eighth in the EMCO Gears Classic.
Wayne Taylor/Suntrust
Angelelli and Valiante's Second Consecutive Podium Bid for SunTrust Evaporates in the Closing Laps of Saturday's EMCO Gears Classic
What looked like a sure podium result for the second race in a row for the No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Riley team of Wayne Taylor Racing evaporated into a disappointing 10th-place finish in the closing minutes of a wet and wild Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series EMCO Gears Classic Saturday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington.
With 20 minutes to go in today's 76-lap race over the 2.258-mile, 13-turn layout between Columbus and Cleveland, Max Angelelli was in third place with his sites set firmly on getting around the No. 99 Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac of Alex Gurney for second place on a lap-63 restart. But shortly after passing the start-finish line to take the green flag, Angelelli made a fateful radio call saying he was starting to struggle with his rear tires.
Angelelli and his fellow competitors had been racing on grooved rain tires from the time a driving rain storm first deluged the facility just seven laps into today's affair -- shortened from its originally scheduled 250-mile, 111-lap distance by the 2-hour, 45-minute time limit. Though the rains had finally subsided about 30 minutes before the lap-63 restart and the track was gradually drying at that point, no one risked switching to slick tires during the caution period immediately preceding it. The combination of rain tires at race pace on a gradually drying track ended up affecting Angelelli and the SunTrust Pontiac the most, as he was able to hold onto third place for just six tours of the circuit before fading quickly. Angelelli dropped to fourth on lap 70, eighth on lap 71, and to his final finishing position of 10th by lap 73.
"Obviously, I think everybody could see that my tires were finished," said a disappointed Angelelli after the race. "I had no more tires left and I did what I could with what I had. I have no idea why they went away so quickly. It's not the first time it has happened, so we have to keep looking at why this might be and think about what to do to fix the problem. Unfortunately, I could tell the tires were going to go away. I know the car. I know those tires. But that's what happens, sometimes. Tenth place doesn't feel good at all when you are 10 minutes away from finishing on the podium. It was a disappointing way to end the weekend."
Co-driver Michael Valiante, who qualified the SunTrust car sixth on Friday and drove the opening 37 laps of today's race, had a spectacular start in dry conditions -- but under ever-threatening skies -- and found himself in third by the end of the opening lap. He was up to second by the end of the second lap, having gotten by Memo Rojas in the series point-leading No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates entry. When the deluge began on lap 7, Valiante pitted for rain tires along with the rest of the field and resumed in fourth place after getting inadvertently stopped by Grand-Am officials while exiting the pit lane. By lap 16, Valiante was up to second, chasing race-leader Rojas, and then made a stellar pass of Rojas to take the lead on lap 21. It was the sixth time in seven events this season that the SunTrust team has led laps -- albeit just two today.
"We had a great start. We picked up some positions and got up to second there in the beginning," Valiante said. "When the rains came, I was on slicks and it got crazy for a while, there. After we put on rains, for the first 30-40 laps, we were fine. As the rain started coming down harder, I don't know if it was tire pressures, or what, but I struggled so much against other cars. We made a major change to the car when I came in to hand the car over to Max and it seemed like it worked well for him. He was quite quick. All in all, it wasn't a bad race, but the result just wasn't there. It was just strange how quickly the tires went away for Max."
Gurney, who took over the No. 99 Gainsco Pontiac from Jon Fogarty for the last half of the race, passed the No. 7 RumBum.com entry for the lead with 14 minutes to go and went on to win today's EMCO Gears Classic. The polesitting No. 58 Brumos Porsche of Darren Law and David Donohue rallied to finish second, while the RumBum.com car, co-driven by Gene Sigal and Matt Plumb, finished third to reach the podium for the first time ever.
"I don't know, I thought we had a really good, third-place car," said team owner Wayne Taylor. "For some reason, the rear tires burnt off and Max went backwards. We were on the same tire strategy with all of the lead cars, but for some reason, we burnt ours off and I don't know why. It's really hard to accept 10th place when you know you've got a car capable of finishing on the podium. We'll go back to the shop, regroup, finish building our new Dallara chassis that arrived on Monday, and get a fresh start on the second half of the season at Daytona."