The Ganassi team celebrating their Championship success
GM Racing
Lexus
Porsche
Ganassi Racing
Michael Shank Racing
Click a link to go directly to that story!
GM Racing
Banner Pontiac Wins Race and Grand-Am GT Championship; Collins and Edwards GT Champions
Tooele, Utah, September 21, 2008 -- Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards, driving their No. 07 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R, won the Grand-Am Rolex Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Sunrichgourmet.com 1000k race today and the GT championship. SunTrust racing was the top finishing Daytona Prototype in second.
In ever changing weather conditions at Miller Motorsports Park the duo of Edwards and Collins were able to defend their race win from last year as well as close the 2008 Rolex Series season as the GT champions. The race had plenty of drama including a rain storm that saturated the racing surface. Collins was caught in the downpour and pitted on lap 77 for a driver change and rain tires under caution. The team then had Edwards return to pit lane before the race went green on lap 81 for slicks and this gave the team nearly a lap advantage on the rest of the GT field and was the deciding moment of the race.
"A dream come true," Edwards said. "A championship is something you dream about when you first start racing. It has been a tough couple of weeks since New Jersey thinking about the last race. We had a strong start to the season and accumulated a lot of points. We led the series since Mexico City and then Davis and Liddell started to put a lot of pressure on us. We had a great car today. The team made an excellent call to go to slicks before the green came out and that gave us a big gap especially when a yellow did not follow. Also one of our pit stops gave us a lead of about 17 seconds on the 70 and about 10 on the 57, so that made our job on the track a little easier."
"The car was unbelievably hard to drive in the wet," Collins said. "We could barley go 25 mph and the thing was aqua-planning off of the track and cars were spinning everywhere. It was touch and go there for a while. I think that was the toughest four laps of the season just putting around in first gear under yellow waiting for the pits to open. It was a fantastic weekend. We took a conservative approach after we got the points lead early in the season. Paul and I just had to get back to what we do best and that is be aggressive and go for the win."
"The 70 and the 57 guys gave us a great run the second half of the season," Leighton Reese, Banner team owner said. "We had an uphill battle with the weight adjustment and some other things during the middle of the schedule. We have the best drivers, mechanics, engineers and overall team. We have a lot of fun people on the team which has made this that much more special. It was a big test of our character the second half of the season. But we came here to Miller and took it back with a big win and the championship for Banner Engineering."
"A great win and championship," Steve Wesoloski, GM Racing, road racing manager said. "Paul and Kelly drove aggressive yet smart all day. The team did a super job on car preparation and with the pit stops. Stevenson kept the pressure on all day and did a great job to finish second. The Stevenson guys really helped us to secure the GT manufacturers championship with their three wins and consistency all year. In DP the 99 and the 10 had a great race today. Although we did not have a lot of wins in DP the depth of our teams made the manufacturer championship possible."
Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis gave it their all in their No. 57 Stevenson Pontiac GXP.R as they came home in second place. The duo was able to lead four laps on the day and run consistently upfront. At the end the 07 had the legs and an excellent call in the pits to get the gap. The Stevenson team finished the year second in the GT series standings.
"We had nine podiums and three wins on the season," Davis said. "Congratulations to the Stevenson team for a great year. Congrats also to Pontiac and Paul and Kelly for their championship. We had a great year for a team that started the season with a new car and as well as a new group of drivers and technical staff."
"It is tough when you come to the last race in competition for the championship and you don't win it," Liddell said. "It is disappointing when you don't deliver the goods. However we did have a great season, we brought the Stevenson team to the fore. Kyle (Milay, team engineer) and Mike (Johnson, team manager) do an excellent job on the strategy. We had nine podiums and three wins, but we also had a couple of bad races which you can't have when the championship is this close. But I am ultimately happy with the way the season turned out."
In the Daytona Prototype race the No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Dallara driven by Michael Valiante and Max Angelelli finished second. The team had a strong race all day leading 12 laps. At the end Angelelli could not get a break to take the win.
"We started off the weekend not as good right away as we had been in the last couple of races," said Valiante. "But the team did a really great job and Max and I worked really hard to give us a great race set-up once again today. Max drove a great first stint and then I was able to get us into the lead. Unfortunately, my radio stopped working at just the wrong time and we had to give up the lead. But Max got back in and had a really strong finish."
Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty finished third in their No. 99 GAINSCO Pontiac. The duo, who were the 2007 DP champions, also had a very competitive race at the front of the DP field. The team will accept second place honors for the DP championship at the banquet on Monday.
"It's not a bad way to end the season and every time you are on the podium it is kind of a good feeling," Gurney said. "We certainly wanted to win the race. Jon had a great stint and it was looking quite promising, but we really didn't have the ultimate pace. Once the other guys really stretched their legs it was a hell of a battle. All of the guys battling for that last podium spot for the last hour, it was really tough stuff and it was nice to come out on top of that."
Nic Jonsson and Ricardo Zonta led laps early in their No. 76 Krohn Racing Lola from the pole position. Some mid race drama involving Zonta and a GT competitor had him driving through pit lane to serve a penalty for avoidable contact. The duo brought their green 76 home in fifth place.
"I'm pretty pleased with my stint," Jonsson said. "Unfortunately the rain started coming down in the middle of my stint and it was very dangerous. Grand-Am, in my opinion made a call that was very dangerous. They left everybody out there an extra lap on slicks which I think was dangerous because people slid off left and right and couldn't come into the pits. I was going 20 miles per hour and was hydroplaning on slicks. But we got going again and I think we moved up from third to first. Then we decided to stay out two laps too long on the rain tires and we lost positions there. We also had a clutch problem and we didn't have a clutch for two stops which also delayed us a little bit in pit lane. I think the car had the performance today to put us on the podium at least but it didn't work out that way. We have to get home and try to work hard for next year and hopefully come back and run for the championship next year."
The trio of Marc Goossens, Jim Matthews and Ryan Hunter-Reay battled back from being down a lap early. Goossens was making a run at the top five when he just ran out of car and had to settle for a seventh place finish.
"The car was used up at the end," Goossens said. "I had no tires left. We didn't have the speed of the top guys so I really had to push to keep up with them. Then with one hour to go I was really out of car and was just trying to hang on. The rain caught us out as well and it was hard to get a rhythm back and then I had a lot of pickup on my tires."
The No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac of Tracy Krohn and Eric van de Poele showed some early speed. Van de Poele managed to lead two laps and had the 75 in the top five for most of the first third of the race. The car then lost the belt that drives the alternator forcing them to pit for repairs and settled for 12th place.
"I was lucky to have the car in good condition at the start," van de Poele said. "Our strategy played very well for us because fortunately we had a yellow, as we expected. So we stopped on the same lap just before the GT cars. It was perfect. The car was pretty good all the way through my stints. Everything was perfect so I could catch a few cars. It is always nice when you see your position go higher and higher. Then Tracy got in the car next and I think we were in a very good position, in fifth place. Unfortunately the rain came very hard. I think everybody did their best and then we had a problem with the belt in the engine. Unfortunately we didn't get any luck today. It was fantastic the team fixed the car in quite a short time and we could get back on the track. Tracy could finish the race and we finished 12th. We prefer to give them a better finish but we'll look forward to next year."
Lexus
TOELLE, Utah (Sept. 20, 2008) -- Needing just to complete the series mandated 30-minute minimum to score points, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas turned in a workman-like effort to place ninth in their #01 Telmex Lexus and win the Rolex Sports Car Series championship in today's SunRich Gourmet.com 1000 at the Miller Motorsports Park in Toelle, Utah. In wrapping up the title, both drivers achieved historic feats. For Pruett, it marks a record eighth American sports car championship, breaking the mark he previously held along with the late Peter Gregg. It's his second Rolex Series title to go along with previous championships in IMSA GTO (1986, 1988), Trans-Am (1987, 1994, 2003) and IMSA GT Endurance (1986).
While it was the latest in a long line of titles for Pruett, the championship was not only the first for Rojas, but the first major championship ever won by a Mexican driver. The Lexus-powered duo closed out the 2008 campaign 30 points ahead of their closest competitor. Pruett started today's race in second and the team, which included 2007 Indy Lights champion Alex Lloyd this weekend, ran in the top-five for much of the race, including Rojas taking a turn in the race lead. Pruett was contending for a top-five finish late in the race before he was spun around by the #58 car, which was subsequently penalized for the contact. For the second consecutive race, the team was forced to campaign their older back-up chassis after their primary car was destroyed in testing at New Jersey.
The Rolex Sports Car Series will resume again next season at the Rolex 24 at Daytona on Jan. 25 with the Chip Ganassi Racing team looking to win an unprecedented fourth consecutive Rolex 24.
Notes:
- With the driver's championship officially added to the team championship that was clinched at New Jersey, Lexus has now won six titles in Rolex Sports Car Series competition since 2004.
- The team championship won by Chip Ganassi Racing is their third since 2004, having previously won in 2004 and 2006 -- all coming with Lexus power. Scott Pruett co-drove to each of those championships while teaming with three different drivers, Max Papis in 2004, Luis Diaz in 2006 and Memo Rojas this season.
- For the season, Lexus-powered cars won six races and earned eight top-three podium finishes in 14 events.
- Lexus run of consecutive endurance victories was snapped at two today, but the manufacturer will be looking for a fourth consecutive Rolex 24 at Daytona overall victory when the series resumes in January. If a Lexus powered car registers the feat, it would mark the first time a manufacturer has won four straight Rolex 24s in more than 20 years.
Memo Rojas, #01 Telmex Lexus: b^0x001cIt's been a great season, from winning the Rolex 24 all the way to wrapping up the championship today. It's just been a privilege to drive for the Chip Ganassi Racing team with such great support from Lexus, Telmex, and of course, my teammate, Scott. It's also a great honor to become the first driver from my country to win a major racing championship -- and this is really for all the people back in Mexico. They love racing and they really support the Rolex Series."
Scott Pruett, #01 Telmex Lexus: "We hoped to finish a little higher today, but we were turned around late in race, but we did what we had to do. After three straight seasons finishing second in this championship, it's great to be back on top. To accomplish what we have all season is just a testament to everyone involved -- the entire Chip Ganassi Racing team, everyone at Lexus and TRD and we couldn't have done it without the support of a great partner in Telmex. The record is great, but I'll look back on that more at the end of my career. Right now, it's all about winning this championship and all the guys that have worked so hard. Nobody puts together a better effort than Chip Ganassi."
Porsche
TOOELE, Utah-September 20 -- Porsche teams competing in the 2008 Rolex Sports Car Series Presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 turned in strong performances in both DP and GT Class competition in the SunRichGourmet.com 1,000 Saturday at Miller Motorsports Park.
J.C. France of Daytona Beach, Fla., and Portugal's Joao Barbosa piloted the No. 59 Brumos Racing Porsche-Riley to a fourth-place finish in the season finale won by John Pew, Ian James and Raphael Matos in the Michael Shank Racing Ford-Riley. The fourth-place finish enabled France and Barbosa to finish third in the final point standings. France was also able to clinch the Jim Trueman Award for gentleman drivers.
The No. 67 TRG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup driven by New Yorkers Tim George Jr., Andy Lally and Patrick Long of Belleair, Fla., scored a podium finish for third place in the GT Class.
DP Class cars using Porsche power also scored top-10 finishes as Joey Hand of Sacramento, Cal., and Bill Auberlen of Redondo Beach, Cal., placed eighth in the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Alex Job Racing Porsche-Riley while the No. 58 Brumos Racing entry driven by Phoenix residents Darren Law and Buddy Rice and David Donohue of Malvern, Pa., finished 10th overall after employing clever pit strategy to lead the race early.
However, a broken rear sway bar would hinder Auberlen on the final 30 laps while a drive- through penalty took Law out of contention.
For the Porsche contingent, the day belonged to France and Barbosa, whose steady performances lifted them to third overall in the points. In the final eight races of 2008, France and Barbosa and their Brumos trademark No. 59 finished fourth no less than five times.
France, who qualified and started 14th position, managed to dodge the first-lap melee and kept the car on the lead lap when he turned it over to Barbosa on Lap 29. When the mid-race rains fell, the Portuguese driver charged up to the lead pack before France took over for a second stint on Lap 58. Porsche legend Hurley Haywood of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., was supposed to be the third driver, but opted to sit out the race to ensure that France could capture the Trueman Award.
Barbosa took over for France on Lap 78 and remained in the car for the duration. With five laps remaining, he passed Ricardo Zonta for fourth and wound up half a second behind the third-placed Alex Gurney.
"The car was awesome today," Barbosa said. "The Brumos Porsche guys did an unbelievable job the whole year. The chemistry between all of us is really good. I'm really proud of all the Brumos crew. We fell off at the beginning of the weekend, but we finished strong-that's all that matters."
Haywood, the team director, was equally proud of the Brumos operation.
"The 59 car had some bad luck at the beginning of the season, but the guys hunkered down and fought like heck and we were third in the championship in the team standings." Haywood explained. "Joao and Jamie (J.C. France) did a helluva job. Overall, it was a pretty good show. After the first quarter of the season, we came on strong. Next year, we're going to run for the championship."
France certainly contributed to the effort and was understandably elated at the year-end accolades.
"I'm so proud of the whole team, especially my teammate Barbosa," France said. "I had a blast out there early racing with (Jim) Matthews and (John) Pew. I was having a lot of fun until the rains came down. Barbosa had another great performance out there and brought us home in fourth which gives us third overall in the team standings. It's something that we finished where we did (in the final standings) considering we never had a podium, but Barbosa got us up there with a lot of fourths so we're going to end up on the big podium at Las Vegas."
After running near the top of the charts the entire weekend, eighth was not quite the result team owner Alex Job envisioned.
"It was a real roller coaster for us," Job said. "Unfortunately, right near the end the rear sway bar broke and that affected our handling. We had been able to come back to the front, but unfortunately we weren't able to this time.
"We only had six races with this Riley (chassis). We had to build the car in six days and since then it's been flat out so we had no time with car and I'm really proud of the team, especially Greg Fordahl, my engineer, and the incredible they did to be this competitive."
When the green flag dropped, a tangle on the front straightaway involving brought out a full- course caution. Hand made a tremendous start and was third by the time the cars came around to complete Lap 1. Donohue used the yellow flag period to pit and satisfy the rule requiring a visit to the pits in the first 45 minutes of the race. The stop dropped him to 13th and more than a minute behind the leaders. By Lap 14, Donohue was leading the race and built a margin of nearly seven seconds over Hand before pitting on Lap 32.
Hand kept the Porsche name in P-1 and amassed a lead of more than 28 seconds over Gurney before pitting on Lap 39 and handing over the wheel to Auberlen. Auberlen rejoined in fifth place, immediately ahead of Donohue who would stay close for the next few laps.
A caution period on Lap 62 allowed the leaders time to pit and Donohue turned over the wheel to Rice after running a three-hour stint. Auberlen also pitted and had Hand take over. Hand would rejoin the race in third with Rice right behind him.
"I did a double stint and the first stint was much better than the second one," Donohue said. "I had some dirt in my eye and I didn't realize how bad it was until I got out of the car. It really did affect me during the second stint."
It took Hand only a few corners to take over second and for the next 10 laps, he hounded race leader Michael Valiante. Rice also battled Jonsson for third. By Lap 71, Valiante built a lead of more than seven seconds when the first major rain of the weekend washed the track. Shod with slick racing tires, cars from both classes spun all over the vast track.
Valiante mistakenly dashed into the pits (which were closed at the time) and rejoined in second behind Hand, who led the lead pack into the pit lane on Lap 78. Quick pit work from the Brumos crew vaulted Rice into the lead while a lengthy stop relegated Hand to sixth place. However, there was nearly three hours of racing to go.
Despite the heavy rain, it was a short-lived and the high winds helped dry out the track. After the switch to rain tires, suddenly everyone was returning the pit lane for dry-weather slicks on Lap 84. At that point, Hand was leading, Barbosa had charged to second and Rice was fourth. Law took over the No. 58 car and by the time the three Porsche-powered DP entries returned to the track, Law was seventh, Barbosa was eighth and Auberlen (who took over for Hand) was ninth.
The trio of Law, Barbosa and Auberlen would each move up a position when a full-course caution on Lap 108 allowed them to close on the lead pack.
On Lap 113, Barbosa was able to pass Law for sixth, but Law's race would come apart shortly afterward when he tangled with Scott Pruett in Turn 14. The contact drew a drive- through penalty and Law rejoined the race in 10th position, 46 seconds behind the leader.
Suddenly, the hope for a top Porsche finish fell onto Barbosa, who moved up two more spots in the final 137 laps.
TRG Team Scores Another Podium Finish in GT Class
Although the Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsches would occupy the top three spots early in the race, it was the TRG entry of George, Lally and Long that wound up with the top Porsche finish in the GT Class. The Banner Racing Pontiac GXP driven by Paul Edwards, Kelly Collins and Kris Wilson finished 12th overall and first in GT. The finish also enabled George to earn "Rookie of the Year" honors. "I'm excited to lock up 'Rookie of the Year,' " George said. "It was really awesome to be running with Pat Long and Andy Lally here. The team did a great job. We had a couple of deals with the tires at the end, but it was a sweet run."
Porsche has won GT Manufacturers Championship seven times of the nine years the series has been in existence, with Pontiac winning twice, including 2008.
Porsche also continues to be the leader in the Rolex Grand-Am GT series since its beginning in 2000 (includes GT, and the former SGS, GTS, and GTU class designations). Porsche has the most class wins in the history of Grand-Am (all classes), the most wins in the GT class, GT poles, and the most GT podium finishes (by more than 100 finishes). More than 90 percent of these records have been set by Porsche 911 race vehicles - including the Porsche 911 Turbo, the Porsche 911 GT3 R/RS, and the current Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
The Farnbacher Loles team immediately took command of the GT Class with Germany'sWolf Henzler, a Porsche factory driver, in the No. 87 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup leading Leh Keen of Charleston, S.C. in the No. 86 entry. Early pit strategy and the full-course caution on Lap 12 vaulted Germany's Dominik Farnbacher into the lead in No. 88 and by Lap 16, the Farnbacher Loles team held the top three spots.
Farnbacher was on a different pit sequence and pitted on Lap 27, handing the lead back to Keen who had Henzler in tow. Keen would pit on Lap 42 (Henzler had pitted a lap earlier and relinquished to Bryce Miller of Summit, N.J.) and hand over to Eric Lux of Jacksonville, Fla., with the lead now going to Lally.
Lally briefly led, but Lux regained the top spot on Lap 44 with Miller in third. His lead would last until Lap 62 when he and France had a coming-together in Turn 10. Lux got the worst of it after spinning into the tire barrier. He briefly resumed only to come to a halt at the entrance to Turn 16 with a broken suspension.
The caution reshuffled the standings but when the green flag came out, Werner took over the lead with Patrick Long taking over the No. 67 TRG entry in fourth. Long, the only American Porsche factory driver, was making the most of his guest appearance, taking the lead on Lap 76 when Werner spun and got stuck in the infield during the rainstorm.
"The elements of rain and dry and strategy certainly played a big part in today's race," Long pointed out. "I think, all in all, it was a great result to be back up on the podium with TRG after being away for about four or five years. Running with Andy, Kevin (Buckler, the TRG owner)
and Tim, they're just a class act. I'm proud to be back. I think we had a car to win today, but the chips just didn't fall our way."
After pitting, Long would regain the lead on Lap 106, but he surrendered the lead and his car to Lally on Lap 109. Lally would move up to third by Lap 120 and remain there for the rest of the race.
"We had an excellent car, and I had some bonehead run into me," Lally lamented. "That kind of set us back for the race, and unfortunately, I'll take the blame for that. It was silly. But we had a really strong car, and TRG just gave us the solid stuff. We had the fast race lap, we had a great car and we were coming through at the end. We picked up something on the tire. The tire was going down or we blistered it, and we just couldn't make that last spot."
The #6 took their first win in the series
Ganassi Racing
TOOELE, UT (September 22, 2008)- TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates' (CGRFS) drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas paired with Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR) teammate Alex Lloyd at the timed six hour forty-five minute season finale at Miller Motorsports Park (MMP) to score a top-10 finish (ninth) which clinched the 2008 team and driver championships. Pruett and Rojas fulfilled the thirty minute per driver stipulation and kept the No.01 TELMEX machine out of harms way enabling them to clinch the championship.
With a second place starting position, Pruett drove the No.01 Daytona Prototype (DP) for the first 33 laps while he reached his time requirement and consistently maintained a top-five running position. Rojas took over the helm on the team's first driver change (lap 34) and encountered light rain by lap 53 and spun four laps later after contact was made with the No.76 DP. Officials drew a yellow flag for rain on lap 60 and the team made their second driver change three laps later giving the helm to Lloyd. After the restart on lap 66, the Manchester, England native persevered through more rainy conditions while running among the top-eight positions and scored lap times rivaling race leaders. The rain became more intense by lap 78 when the team made another driver change and put Rojas back at the wheel.
In the final half of the 137-lap event, Rojas began with rain tires and advanced to first place on lap 82 before putting on slick tires one lap later as the sky cleared and the track dried. Rojas ran among the leaders from before reaching lap 93 when he eventually pitted for the team's final driver change on lap 107 in eighth place. With a full tank of fuel, Pruett ran the last 30 laps of the race which saw him running as high as eighth place before the No.58 made contact resulting in that team's drive through penalty with Pruett and set the Californian to ninth place, the position he ran to the checkered flag.
The TELMEX duo rewrote record books after Saturday's championship win. Pruett is the first two-time Grand-Am Series driver champion and is the first American to score eight major sports car championships, breaking a record he previously held with the late Peter Gregg. Pruett's titles include one Daytona Prototype championship (2004), two IMSA GTO titles (1986 and 1988), one IMSA GT Endurance (1986) and three Trans-Am championships (1987, 1994 and 2003). Rojas became the first Mexican driver to win a major racing championship in the United States.
With six wins in 2008, including an unprecedented three-straight Rolex 24 At Daytona victories, the TELMEX team added to CGRFS' mantle of Rolex Series successes. In 2004 Pruett and Max Papis clinch the driver and team championship with five wins and won the team championship in 2006 with five wins. Just two weeks prior, Scott Dixon amassed TCGR's sixth open wheel crown after winning the IndyCar championship.
CGRFS Quoteboard:
Scott Pruett: "I can not say enough about the entire TELMEX team and the organization that Chip and Felix have put together. It was great having everyone here today from Mexico to celebrate this special moment. We worked hard and had our highs and lows this season and I just can't say enough about how great this feels."
Memo Rojas: "I am so proud to represent Mexico with this championship. Everyone back home follows this series closely and I know they are extremely excited. I have to thank Chip, Felix, and Carlos (Slim) for giving me an opportunity to work with this TELMEX team for two years. Today is so special to me and we fought hard all season and our efforts and attitude was shown with what we achieved this season. Last year was disappointing and today is so special."
Michael Shank Racing
Michael Shank Racing Wins Again at Miller Motorsports Park; Closes out 2008 Rolex Sports Car Series Season with two wins in a row
(Tooele, UT) 20 September 2008- After making the commitment to upgrade to the new Daytona Prototype Riley design and making the move to Ford power prepared by Roush Yates Engines for the 2008 Rolex Sports Car Series season, Michael Shank Racing got a fast start to the year by putting both team cars on the front row of the Rolex 24 At Daytona grid.
On Saturday, just weeks after No. 60 Ford-Riley of Mark Patterson and Oswaldo Negri won the penultimate Rolex Series round at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Labor Day weekend, the team closed the season out on an even stronger note by winning the final Rolex race of 2008 as the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford-Riley of John Pew, Ian James, and Raffa Matos scored a convincing win in the SunRichGourmet.com 1000 at Miller Motorsports Park. The win marks the second Miller race victory in three years for Michael Shank Racing.
James opened the race up from eighth on the grid for the nearly seven-hour event, and got off to a top-ten race pace before turning the car over to Pew, who also kept the car in the top ten through his stint on the 4.468-mile track before turning the controls back over to James. The race deviated from plan, however, as James was then momentarily caught out with a spin as a sudden and comprehensive downpour enveloped the track nearly four hours into the race.
While he sat stranded for a moment, the sister No. 60 machine fell victim to the same slippery conditions and spun off directly into the path of the 6 machine.
Fortunately, the Englishman was able to continue back to the pits with just a modest bit of body damage before returning to battle and then pitting for the final driver hand off to Raffa Matos. The rain and contact meant that all the telemetry and data systems were not working properly, robbing Matos of nearly all information in the car. Despite that challenge, and a lack of radio communication, the recently crowned Indy Lights Champion worked his way forward up to fifth in the order in his first Daytona Prototype race.
For the second race running, the Michael Shank Racing crew delivered an outstanding and race-making pit stop, but this time it was the Darin Pigg-led No. 6 car crew's time to shine. The final refuel and tire change saw Matos leave the pits in the lead with 28 laps remaining. On the ensuing restart, Matos held the lead and then assumed control, growing his gap over the field to nearly 30 seconds at the finish as Michael Shank Racing made it two in a row to close out the 2008 season.
"I'm so proud of this team to finish the season like this with wins for both cars, and to have the pit stops be so important shows how vital great teamwork is," said team owner Mike Shank. "Ian did a great job in some really tough conditions, and John kept the car in contention exactly where we needed it to be through the middle stages of the race. And then Raffa just took control of this race--I can't say enough about the job he did. We showed how fast we were right off the bat this year at Daytona and we've been strong all season long, but it took until now to get our guys on the top like this. This is a great way to close out the year. We're going to celebrate a little bit tonight, but the 2009 season starts tomorrow for us, and we are really looking forward to coming back next year even stronger."
The Miller event marked the final race of the first full season of Rolex competition for Pew, who also collected the Trueman honors for the race outing.
"We thought this was going to happen quite a while ago with the strong run we had going at Daytona to start the season, but we had to wait until now to get the win," said Pew. "Michael Shank Racing is an amazing team, and the crew did a fantastic job to get Raffa out in front and then he just did a great job from there to pull out the lead that he did. This is the best possible way to close the year out, and I couldn't be happier for the team."
"It's just brilliant to be up here on the top of the podium," said James, who has now won in every current class of Grand-Am competition with the Daytona Prototype victory. "I thought it was going to be a long day because the car wasn't great early in the race and then when we spun off, I thought it was over. But the conditions changed for us and the car just came to life, so even though we lost some bodywork, I think the car got better! We've been knocking on the door for this all season long, so to win the final race of the season is just fantastic."
"Mike Shank Racing did a phenomenal job," said Matos, who opened the 2008 season with a GT Class win in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. "Ian James and John Pew were fantastic and then the guys did such a great job with the pit stop to put me in the lead, and then I was able to put a gap on everybody. The car had a great balance and got better as the race went on. I just want to thank Mike Shank Racing and Ford and Pirelli for all the support, and this is such a happy moment for everyone in this program, it's a great way to finish the season."
Mark Patterson was quick to offer his congratulations to JC France for winning the 2008 Jim Trueman Award after the sister No. 60 of Mark Patterson, Oswaldo Negri, and Ryan Dalziel posted the fifth quickest time of the morning practice session and then ran as high as third before an oil pressure warning forced the team to retire from the event.
"It was great to have it all come down to the final round with JC, and my hat's off to the Brumos guys, they've had a great season and I don't doubt that they will be in victory lane soon enough," said Patterson. "It was a shame not to be able finish this race with Ozz and Ryan, but it was fantastic to see John take his first win with Ian and Raffa so congratulations to them for this tremendous result."