The Valiante and Angelelli and the rest of the team got reward in a tough year

SONOMA, Calif. (Aug. 23, 2008) - In a season where just about everything has gone wrong for the SunTrust Racing team in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, everything went right for Michael Valiante and Max Angelelli Saturday at Infineon Raceway. Valiante led the opening 24 laps before handing over the No. 10 Pontiac Dallara to Angelelli, who led the final 58 laps to win the Armed Forces 250. The Daytona Prototype race will be televised Sunday at noon ET.

It was the first victory of the season and 12th career for Angelelli, the 2005 Daytona Prototype champion - and the first career triumph for Valiante, who joined the Wayne Taylor-owned team this season.

The team's best finish this season was third in the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen in June, only two weeks after the team's transporter and primary car was destroyed in a highway fire. It was the first victory for the Dallara chassis, and first victory for a non-Riley constructor this season.

Alex Gurney finished second in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley started by Jon Fogarty, 3.646 seconds behind at the finish. The pair cut the lead of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas to 42 points with two races remaining in the 2008 campaign.

The Doran car leading a snake of cars, mid race

Pruett and Rojas finished sixth in the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley. Pruett had been running fourth on lap 65 when he was assessed a stop-and-go penalty for contact with Darren Law on the first restart of the event. That dropped the six-time 2008 winners to 10th, but Pruett was able to pass four cars before the finish.

Mark Wilkins and Brian Frisselle finished third in the No. 61 AIM Autosport Exchange Traded Gold Ford Riley, giving the team its third consecutive podium finish. Frisselle started 16th after his apparent pole-winning qualifying run was nullified due to a technical infraction. He was able to lead 24 laps before pitting, with Wilkins running third throughout most of his run.

Joao Barbosa and JC France gave the No. 59 Brumos Racing Porsche Riley its third fourth-place finish of the season, followed by Ricardo Zonta and Nic Jonsson in the No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola.

The lone caution period came on Lap 59, when Shane Lewis came to a stop due to a broken axle on the No. 3 Southard Motorsports Lexus Riley. Moments before the full-course caution waved, Angelelli pitted, assuring him track position when the full-course caution waved.

Angelelli pulled away on the restart and led the rest of the race, although Gurney was able to shave more than eight seconds off the lead in the waning laps of the event.

The Cheever team had a disappointing race retiring from the race

The Grand-Am Rolex Series crosses the country to race at New Jersey Motorsports Park next Sunday in the Supercar Life 250, featuring the Daytona Prototype and GT classes.

Pos	Class	Drivers	Team	Car	Laps
1	DP	M.Angelelli, M.Valiante	SunTrust Racing	Pontiac Dallara	102
2	DP	J.Fogarty, A.Gurney	Bob Stallings Racing	Pontiac Riley	102
3	DP	Br.Frisselle, M.Wilkins	AIM Autosport	Ford Riley	102
4	DP	J.Barbosa, JC.France	Brumos Porsche	Porsche Riley	102
5	DP	N.Jonsson, R.Zonta	Krohn Racing	Pontiac Lola	102
6	DP	S.Pruett, M.Rojas	Chip Ganassi Racing	Lexus Riley	102
7	DP	M.Gidley, B.Jaeger	Doran Racing	Ford Dallara	102
8	DP	B.Auberlen, J.Hand	Alex Job Racing	Porsche Riley	102
9	DP	D.Donohue, D.Law	Brumos Porsche	Porsche Riley	101
10	DP	Bu.Frisselle R.Taylor	Doran Racing	Ford Dallara	101
11	DP	T.Krohn, E.van de Poele	Krohn Racing	Pontiac Lola	101
12	DP	O.Negri, M.Patterson	Michael Shank Racing	Ford Riley	101
13	DP	M.Plumb, G.Sigal	Sigalsport Rum Bum Racing	BMW Riley	101
14	DP	I.James, J.Pew	Michael Shank Racing	Ford Riley	94
15	DP	A.Gracia, C.Fittipaldi	Cheever Racing	Pontiac Coyote	80
16	DP	M.Goossens, J.Matthews	Bob Stallings/Riley-Matthews	Pontiac Riley	70
17	DP	B.Lester, S.Lewis	Southard Motorsports	Lexus Riley	56