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Pruett-Rojas Dazzling At Watkins Glen

Watkins Glen, N. Y. – In the 29-year history of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas became the first drivers to win the prestigious race three consecutive times. Overall, Pruett has won on four occasions to become the all-time leader at The Glen.

And the team’s victory was particularly remarkable as the car was wrecked five days ago at Lime Rock Park and the crew worked non-stop to rebuild it.

The race marks the halfway point of the GRAND-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season and Pruett and Rojas exit Watkins Glen with a sizable 18-point lead in their run for the coveted championship.

Driving the TELMEX BMW Riley owned by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, the winners started from the pole position and dominated the long race, leading 121 of the 191 laps around the historic 3.4-mile road course at Watkins Glen International. Their margin of victory was 1.6 seconds.

For the renowned Ganassi team, which won the Daytona 500 and most recently the Indianapolis 500, it adds yet another victory to the team’s many laurels.

Said Pruett about the victory, “If you had seen our car last week, everything from the bulkhead forward was gone, the engine included. The guys turned it around and put an incredible car on the track. The car just seems to adapt to Watkins Glen. Again, we had to get that incident from last week into our mirrors.”

Rojas said, “We had to put last week in the past as we knew in the long run it could hurt us. We knew the best way to get back was with a win, and we did everything we could to win it. The car was really wicked.”

About becoming the all-time winner at The Glen, Pruett stated, “I love coming here to race, even though it got a little bit scary when the rain came down. To run like we have done at this historic race track and to get my own little piece of history is an honor.”

Lime Rock Park winners Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor battled gamely but came up short in their SunTrust Ford Dallara.

“We didn’t have anything for Scott (Pruett),” Angelelli said without hesitation. “The pace was incredible and I gave it everything I had.”

Youthful Taylor stated, “I am really excited about our finish. We had a second-place car today and we finished second, which is all you can ask for.”

Third place went to the Spirit of Daytona Porsche Coyote driven by Spain’s Antonio Garcia and Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice. Their solid run put the team on the podium for the first time.

“We are steadily making progress with this Porsche package and we are getting closer and closer to the front,” Rice said. “Today, we were one of the better cars of the B group of cars, and we have to keep striving to catch the front runners.”

Added Garcia, “Everyone ahead of us is pushing very hard, but our strategies made the difference.”

The AIM Ford Riley of Burt Frisselle and Mark Wilkins had a consistent run to finish fourth with the Brumos Porsche Riley of Darren Law, David Donohue and Butch Leitzinger fifth.

Until the closing laps, the GAINSCO Chevrolet Riley was in third place but Alex Gurney had a harmless spin dropping them to sixth place. Gurney’s co-drivers were Jon Fogarty and NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, who drove approximately one hour following Fogarty’s three-hour opening stint.

Michael Valiante’s Ford Riley burst into flames on the 170th go-around. Realizing the car was on fire, Valiante steered the car low on track and tried to make it to the pits, but fire erupted entering pit lane. Valiante was uninjured but the Michael Shank car was badly damaged.

The potent TRG Porsche GT3 Cup team of Andy Lally, Spencer Pumpelly and Bob Doyle started 28th but powered forward to take GT honors. Kevin Buckler’s team was a last-minute entry, but their effort proved fruitful.

“This was a special win for me as it is my 10th consecutive Sahlen’s six-hour race and it comes in my home state,” Lally said. “Four days ago we weren’t going to run this race. I got my energy amped up and we went for it, to make this last-minute thing come through.”

The SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 of Sylvain Tremblay and Jonathan Bomarito took second place followed by the Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8 of James Gue and Leh Keen.

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