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AIM Autosport Wins Again In Rolex Action

Watkins Glen, NY – The AIM Motorsport Ford Riley team powered its way to victory in Rolex Sports Car Series action for the second time in six days. For drivers Brian Frisselle and Mark Wilkins, their newest win came Friday evening in the Crown Royal 200 on the short-course at Watkins Glen International.

A week ago, the team won the closest finish in Rolex Sports Car Series history but this time around, the potent team was the standard bearer from start to finish, leading 78 of the 82 laps around the 2.45-mile course. Although they only had a two second advantage when the checkered flag dropped, they almost effortlessly built up commanding leads during the one hour and 48 minute event.

For Wilkins and Frisselle, they scored their second career victories. And they drove one of the oldest cars in the race, the Riley chassis No. 1 that carried the Chip Ganassi team to the 2004 Rolex Series championship.

Light rain prevailed at the start of the race and although it abated soon after the start, there were periodic showers over various parts of the track during the first half of the race. With the uncertainty of the weather, teams had to guess whether to rely upon slick or rain tires, and the teams that stayed with slick tires were the strongest performers.

“By looking at the track, I knew we had to start on slick tires, but it made the first few laps tough,” said Brian Frisselle, who started the race. “When the rain came back again, those with rain tires had the advantage. There were a lot of close calls because whenever you drive in the rain on slick tires, it is a recipe for disaster.”

Added Wilkins, “The car was awesome and Brian (Frisselle) did such a spectacular job in the wet. It would have been so easy for him to make a mistake. My job was a little bit easier as I ran in the dry. We just pushed and pushed, and we never wanted to give up.”

Second place went to reigning champions Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty in the GAINSCO Auto Insurance Pontiac Riley fielded by Bob Stalling/Riley-Mathews. They had an eventful race as Fogarty slid off the track on the reconnaissance lap.

“I was too eager with the throttle and I just looped it,” Fogarty said. “But I was happy to go with the slick tires. At times it was raining on pit road but the sun was out on the backstretch. Even with all of that, it was fun at the same time.”

Gurney said, “The conditions were mostly dry when I got in. It was a really tough race, and I had nothing for the winners. They were just too quick.”

Third went to the Brumos Porsche duo of David Donohue and Darren Law.

“Staying with slick tires made my start really difficult,” Donohue noted. “You couldn’t tell whether it was raining or not, and I am some anxious moments during the race.”

Law stated that he ran as hard as he could during the last half of the race. “I was catching the GAINSCO car at the end but I couldn’t get by them,” he said.

Fourth went to the Porsche Riley of Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand. They pushed the Brumos Porsche hard for position toward the end.

Nic Jonsson and Ricardo Zonta pushed their Pontiac Riley to fifth place with the Pontiac Riley of Antonio Garcia and Christian Fittipaldi gaining a sixth-place finish.

Seventh place went to the Pontiac Dallara of Max Angelelli and Michael Valinate.

Rolex Series point leaders Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas had a miserable race, finishing one lap behind in 13th place.

Three full-course yellow flags slowed the race for 10 laps. Ricky Taylor spun in the first corner and was struck by Jim Mathews.

In a serious appearing accident, Eric van de Poele nearly turned his Krohn Racing car over when he clobbered a wall during a restart on the 53rd lap. He was not injured.

The Rolex Series moves to the Infineon Raceway for its next race on August 23.

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