Pontiac
Lexus
Bob Stallings/Gainsco
Krohn
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Pontiac
The No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Daytona Prototype (DP) driven by Michael Valiante and Max Angelelli won round 12 of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 at Infineon Raceway today. The No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac of Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney came home in second giving Pontiac a one-two finish.
The 2.47-mile, 12-turn Infineon road course proved to be the perfect location for the SunTrust team’s first win of the season. Michael Valiante started the race from pole position, which he inherited late last night when the original pole sitter was sent to the back following the post qualifying technical inspection. Valiante led every lap of his stint and then turned the car over to Angelelli. He reassumed the lead on lap 45 with a competitive pass on the leader and was never headed since then. The team lead every lap of the 102 circuit event except 22.
The win was a special one as the team, owned by 2005 series champion Wayne Taylor, and has endured a difficult season. The team was returning from the race at Laguna Seca in May when their trailer caught fire in Texas and destroyed their first Dallara and all of their support equipment. The team was quick to rebuild and showed the tenacity today to win their first race of the season.
“I am very happy, there couldn’t have been a better place for our first win,” Angelelli said. “We had a lot of our sponsors here today and all of the Dallara guys were here from Italy to watch the car run for the first time. It was great to get the win, set fast lap of the race and the pole position, the car was very fast all weekend.”
The GAINSCO team was a consistent front runner all day, but with only one caution period in the two-hour-and-forty-five-minute race they could never get close to challenge the 10 team. Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney still have a glimmer of hope in defending their 2007 championship with two races remaining.
“It was different from last year, we weren’t the fastest,” Gurney said. “The SunTrust guys set the pace pretty much all weekend. We made big changes for the race and we went faster. It was tough to keep that pace all race. I got a good jump on the restart after the caution and was able to get a gap to the 61 car. I miss all the winning from last year.”
Nic Jonsson and Ricardo Zonta finished the day in fifth at the wheel of the No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola. The team was sent to the back of the grid after their original fourth place qualifying time was negated due to the car being too low in post session scrutineering.
“We had an unlucky qualifying penalty and had to start from last place,” Zonta said. “All the strategy was to try to get back on position. It’s hard to overtake here at the Sonoma track because there are no straights. We had some problems with the rear tires also for a few laps and the car was very undriveable, but then the grip came back. It was difficult to overtake the other cars. The lap times we very close. I think fifth position was good for the championship. I had some fun trying to overtake the 59 car, but he was quite quick on the fast corners and it was difficult to try to pass him under braking.”
Jim Matthews started the No. 91 Riley-Matthews Pontiac Riley and ran consistent laps before turning it over to teammate Marc Goossens. Goossens was making up time until a noise came from the drivetrain. He pitted on lap 48 and the team took the Pontiac Riley back to the paddock for repairs. Jim Matthews returned to the action several laps latter to take the checker flag.
“I was exiting turn seven and shifted to third gear and then I lost power,” Goossens said. “I pitted and the team decided to take the car back to the paddock as they could not repair it in pit lane. It is too bad because we were very fast today in the warm-up and I think we had a car that could have challenged for at least a podium position today.
Tracy Krohn and Eric van de Poele had a good day finishing 11th in their No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola. Van de Poele was trying to break into the top 10 when he was hit by a car attempting pass and he spun as a result. The duo was able to improve significantly over their 16th place qualifying effort.
“The car was pretty good and had a very good setup, so thanks to the crew for that,” van de Poele said. “It’s always very important. Right at the beginning of my stint we decided to start with scrubbed tires, which was a good choice. Afterwards though the car was oversteering, but I could manage the car consistently, but it got worse and worse. I just kept my position and tried to pass a few cars under braking, which was quite good. Unfortunately during my fight to get tenth position, a car pushed me off and I spun, so I lost a few seconds and I couldn’t come back from it before the end of the race for tenth position.”
Cheever Racing’s woes continued in the race. The team did not take part in qualifying and retired their No. 16 Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Pontiac Coyote on lap 80 of the 102 lap race due to an electrical problem. Antonio Garcia and Christian Fittipaldi had been struggling with the handling of the black and gold car all weekend.
“We had a difficult time with the handling in practice,” Garcia said. “I was in the race and had the car go dark a couple of times on me. I pitted the car and the guys thought they had fixed it and I returned to the race and it shut down again. It just was not safe to continue.”
Today’s Armed Forces 250 from Infineon will be televised, tape delayed, tomorrow, Sunday, August 24 on the SPEED Channel at 12:00 p.m. ET.
Lexus
A controversial drive-through penalty dropped Scott Pruett from podium contention to an eventual sixth-place in today’s Armed Forces 250 at Infineon Raceway, yet, he and teammate Memo Rojas continued to inch closer to the 2008 Rolex Sports Car Series title.
Pruett was passing the #58 Porsche for fourth position on a late re-start when the two cars appeared to make slight door-to-door contact. Pruett then quickly closed on the third-place car. At that point, Pruett was issued the drive-through penalty by Grand-Am for avoidable contact and he fell back to 10th-place. He eventually drove back up through the field to finish sixth.
The Lexus-powered duo maintain a 42-point championship lead with just two races remaining – needing only to place 17th in each of season’s final two events to clinch the title. A championship would be an American record eighth major sports car title for Pruett, while Rojas would become the first Mexican driver ever to win a major U.S. championship.
Saturday’s race capped off a difficult weekend for the #3 Southard Motorsports Lexus. After a Thursday practice crash heavily damaged the team’s Riley chassis, the Southard squad worked through the night just to make today’s race. After an impressive 10th in qualifying, Shane Lewis had an off-course excursion on the opening lap, dropping him well back in the field. He would eventually retire with a broken axle in 17th-place.
The Rolex Sports Car Series will now make the long trek from northern California to the east coast for the inaugural race at the New Jersey Motorsports Park, Aug. 31.
Notes:
- Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas can now capture the Rolex Sports Car Series championship by finishing 17th or better in each of the season’s final two races. They could claim the title next weekend in New Jersey simply by finishing ahead of the #99 car or by placing fourth or better.
- With the current 17-car field, Chip Ganassi Racing can clinch the Team championship simply by starting each of the last two races. A title would be the third for the team since entering Grand-Am competition in 2004 – all with Lexus power.
- Today’s sixth-place finish is the 11th top-10 finish in 12 races this season for the Ganassi #01 Lexus. The team has now finished in the top 10 in 30 of the last 31 races.
Quotes:
Memo Rojas, #01 Telmex Lexus: "We had a good start and were able to pass the #23 early. We then battled with them for a bit, but they were running a little bit quicker than us and we decided to let them go rather than risk an incident there. The car was good, but we lacked a little bit of grip. We’re just running on the conservative side. If we can’t get the win, we’ll just run for the most points we can get. But with our lead in the points (49 points entering the race), the most important thing is we need to finish."
Scott Pruett, #01 Telmex Lexus: "Obviously, we’re disappointed with the outcome, but at the same time we’re still fighting for the championship. We only lost a few points to the #99 car, which is important. The Lexus engine was good, the car ran flawlessly. We received a stop-and-go penalty that I wouldn’t necessarily agree with, but Grand-Am decided they wanted to do that and that’s that. There’s nothing we can do about that. We just go to New Jersey next week and keep doing what we’re doing. I thought we might have had a shot for the podium before the penalty, but it was so difficult to pass here."
Bob Stallings/Gainsco
Reigning Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Champions GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing and drivers Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty overcame some early-weekend handling issues and scored a hard-earned second-place finish Saturday in the Armed Forces Grand-Am 250 at Infineon Raceway. The race can be seen in next-day coverage on SPEED tomorrow, Sunday, August 24 at Noon ET.
The runner-up showing was the team's second consecutive second-place finish and fourth of the season in the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Pontiac Riley. It was the first time this season that GAINSCO scored back-to-back podiums after finishing second in the Crown Royal 200 at Watkins Glen one race ago. The team's lone victory of the year came in June's EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Gurney drove the final stint and was rapidly closing on Max Angelelli in the pole-winning No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Dallara when the checkered flag flew. After being over 11 seconds behind just a few laps earlier, Gurney crossed the finish line 3.646 seconds behind Angelelli, who won his first race of the season with teammate Michael Valiante. The No. 99 was also well clear of the third-place finishing AIM Autosport Ford Riley of Mark Wilkins, who co-drove with Brian Frisselle.
"It was definitely a little bit different than last year," said Gurney, who co-drove to a convincing victory at Infineon in 2007 with Fogarty and the No. 99 GAINSCO team. "I think we were the fastest car last year and this year the SunTrust guys set the pace most of the weekend and definitely in the race. They had us scratching our heads and definitely a little worried. We worked on the car and made some pretty big changes throughout the weekend and it was the best it was in the race. SunTrust's pace was just a little bit too much, but I was happy we were able to pull away from the No. 61 car. It was a good finish but I miss the wins for sure. I don't like finishing second."
Second was the position Fogarty jumped to as the green flag flew for the race start.
"I had a pretty good start," said Fogarty, who moved from third on the grid to second in the race's first turn. "I was right up there behind Michael (Valiante) and was able to stay on his bumper and that allowed me to get alongside the No. 58 and make a move and come out of there in P2. We pushed really hard but the No. 10 SunTrust car was really quick today and hats off to them. It was pretty difficult for me as we started on the set of tires that we qualified on and I kind of abused them a little bit in qualifying. But I was able to maintain my position and hand the car over in good shape."
Fogarty led four laps (23 – 26) when Valiante pitted before the GAINSCO team. Gurney took over when Fogarty came to the pits on Lap 27 and the GAINSCO team stayed in second when the field cycled through its stops within the same time span. Gurney set the team's two fastest race laps – including a top lap time of 1:27.742 (101.343 mph) on Lap 75 – but didn't have enough horsepower to completely catch Angelelli and SunTrust.
The second-place showing, however, was a great result after the issues the team encountered earlier in the weekend. After practicing seventh Thursday and ranking a distant 11th overall in Friday's only practice session, the GAINSCO crew and drivers turned things around with a full round of adjustments last night. The team was third fastest in this morning's warm-up session and proved they were ready to race at the drop of the green flag.
The GAINSCO team and drivers remain second in the Rolex Series championship but closed the gap to 42 points (364 – 322) behind leaders Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley, who finished sixth. With two races remaining in the Rolex Series, the GAINSCO squad has a mathematical but remote chance to catch the point leaders.
Next up for GAINSCO and the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series is the Supercar Life 250 at the debuting New Jersey Motorsports Park, next Sunday, August 31. The race can be seen live on SPEED at 1 p.m. ET.
Noteworthy
A full complement of family, friends and GAINSCO business associates and agent partners were in attendance at Infineon Raceway to cheer on Gurney, Fogarty and the GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing team. Nearly 60 GAINSCO guests and several friends and family members of the team's California-based drivers were part of the full entourage. "It is good to have all of the GAINSCO Auto Insurance people out here plus Alex's family and my family too," Fogarty said. "After last year's race, this may be just a little bit of a let down but we are very happy with second and everyone else seemed to be too. I am glad everyone was here." … Although Fogarty qualified fifth on Friday, the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Pontiac Riley started third after both the No. 61 AIM Ford Riley and the No. 76 Krohn Racing Lola failed post-qualifying inspection and were moved to the back of the starting field … With Fogarty's four laps at the front of the field today, the No. 99 GAINSCO team has now led laps in 10 of 12 Rolex Series races this year.
Krohn
The Krohn Racing two-car team captured a fifth and 11th place finish in Saturday’s Armed Forces 250 race at Infineon Raceway Sears Point. It was Round 12 of 14 on the 2008 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and a Prototype only format event of 102 laps.
Nic Jönsson and Ricardo Zonta finished fifth and had to move up from 17th, after starting their No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola from the last place on the grid when their qualifying time was disallowed by officials when the car was declared too low. It was their fifth Top Five finish of the season, including two podium placements.
Tracy Krohn and Eric van de Poele drove their No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola to an 11th place finish, starting from 14th on the grid.The No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Dallara of Max Angelelli and Michael Valiante was a new Grand-Am winner this year in today’s race which only saw one caution period.
Tracy W. Krohn, team owner/driver, No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola:
“We got a pretty good result out of our car with 11th. It was unfortunate that Eric got hit from behind towards the end of the race by the Ruby Tuesday car. I know Joey (Hand) is a better driver than that, but stuff happens on the race track. We finished maybe one position less than we should have but all-in-all we got the most out of the car that we could get today.
The car was a little bit shaky on the start to drive. It took a little while longer to come in than I thought. After that we did okay. I got pushed around a little bit at Turn 7 and that cost us quite a bit on the track. The 76 car did a great job finishing fifth. They had to conserve fuel the whole race and ran it accordingly and still got a Top 5 finish out of it. I thought they did very, very well. Nic and Ricardo both drove very well. I think it was difficult to get around the Porsches. They are a little bit lighter by about 75 pounds or so and it’s pretty hard to get around them. They’ve got quality drivers too. It’s fun! It’s fun to watch!”
Eric van de Poele, driver, No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola:
“The car was pretty good and a very good set-up so thanks to the crew for that. It’s always very important. Right at the beginning of my stint we decided to start with scrubbed tires, which was a good choice. Afterwards the car was oversteering, but I could manage the car consistently. It got worse and worse. I just kept my position and tried to pass a few cars under braking, which was quite good. Unfortunately during my fight to get tenth position, a car pushed me off and I spun, so I lost a few seconds and I couldn’t come back from it before the end of the race for tenth position.”
Nic Jönsson, driver, No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola:
“We had a very good car this weekend and qualified up in fourth place. Unfortunately we got DQ’d (disqualified) because the car was twenty- thousandths of an inch too low, which is almost impossible to really measure. But we had to start from the back. We had good strategy from the guys. The car was pretty good. We had to work a little with the sway bars because the car was a little loose in the middle of my stint. We brought it up from starting 17th to fourth during my stint. Ricardo did a very good job maintaining in the top Five. It was a good result for the Proto-Auto Lola. We just have to keep working at it. I think the car is coming along better and better. Hopefully in the next couple of races we can get the win this year. It would be very rewarding for all the guys that have been working so hard. If not, we have to keep our head down and keep working hard and come back next year and run for the championship.”
Ricardo Zonta, driver, No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Lola:
“We had an unlucky qualifying and had to start from last place. All the strategy was to try to get back on position. It’s hard to overtake here at the Sonoma track because there are no straights. We had some problems with the rear tires also for a few laps and the car was very undriveable, but then the grip came back. It was difficult to overtake the other cars. The lap times we very close. I think fifth position was good for the championship. I had some fun trying to overtake the 59 car, but he was quite quick on the fast corners and it was difficult to try to overtake him under braking.”
David Brown, Team Manager, Krohn Racing:
“The drivers did very well and under difficult conditions. It was quite a challenge going from 17th on the grid to fifth. We tried a different strategy which worked to an extent. The drivers had to deal with a lot of traffic and overtaking which they did successfully. The car wasn’t as quick as we would have liked. It didn’t have quite as good of balance as we wanted for the race, so we left some lap time on the table there. But off to New Jersey with a new track and new challenges. We’ll have another go.”