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Angelelli-Jordan Taylor Cop Porsche 250 At Barber

Leeds, Ala. – Mad Max Angelelli and second-generation driver Jordan Taylor scored a hard-fought victory in the Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park on Saturday afternoon. The two-hour race was run on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile road course, and it was the third of the season for the Rolex Sports Car Series.

For Angelelli, he won for the 22nd time in Rolex competition and Taylor scored his first-ever Daytona Prototype victory, which complements the two he has won in GT competition. In the 2005 edition of the race, Angelelli paired with Wayne Taylor for the victory.

Leading 38 of the 84 laps, the victors drove the Velocity Worldwide/Toshiba/Chevrolet fielded by Wayne Taylor Racing.

“For me, it was kind of easy as the car was great,” Angelelli said. “Jordan (Taylor) put the car into such a good position at the start that it really helped me. Also, the team made a good call for two pit stops when I wanted only one. They over-ruled me, and we won the race.’

Added Taylor, “It was a pretty exciting day. The first 15 minutes before that first yellow wasn’t too good for me, as I got caught up with Memo Rojas. But we were also saving fuel but we lost a lot of track position. The car was super-strong, and we were able to pick off guys. It was exciting and when you are in the car, you don’t know what is going on around you, but sitting in the pits at the end was nerve-wracking.”

Stated Wayne Taylor, “It has been a good year for us. We ran out of luck at the last race, and you always need a bit of luck. Today, everything just came together. Both drivers and the team did an amazing job. It is extra special seeing my son win, and the last time this team won here was in 2005 with Max and me. And with Ricky on the podium, it is a great day.”

Alex Gurney hounded Angelelli in the last 20 laps but couldn’t quite catch up. The Californian and teammate Jon Fogarty put the GAINSCO Auto Insurance Corvette DP into second place at the end, 4.1 seconds behind the victors.

Noted Gurney, “I thought I had a chance to get him, as it went from zero to three seconds depending on the traffic. It is tough to pass here, but I was trying to put as much pressure on him as I could. We used more fuel than we anticipated, and I had to go to the reserve with four laps to go, so I dropped back at the end.”

Third went to the VISITFLORIDA.com/Go Pro Corvette DP with Ricky Taylor and Richard Westbrook driving.

Scott Pruett and Rojas pushed the Chip Ganassi Racing BMW Riley to a fourth-place finish.

The GT race went down to the wire with Robin Liddell and John Edwards in the Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R edging Jeff Westphal and Alessandro Balzan in the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458. The margin of victory was less than a second.

Third in class was the Marsh Racing Corvette of Boris Said and Eric Curran.

In the new GX class, Spencer Pumpelly and Jim Norman drove their Mazda 6 GX to victory.

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