Pruett-Rojas Rally For Rolex Series Victory In Alabama

Leeds, Ala. – Championship drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas rallied from an early-race deficit to score an impressive victory in the Porsche 250 at the picturesque Barber Motorsports Park on a hot and humid Saturday afternoon in central Alabama. The third race of the 2011 Rolex Sports Car Series season took place on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile road course.

For the championship TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates BMW Riley team, they won for the third consecutive time this season and for the sixth time in a row going back to the 2010 campaign. Also, they scored their third victory at Barber.

For Pruett, he captured his 34th Daytona Prototype victory.

“We focused on racing the track,” Pruett said. “Our biggest challenge is in learning the new (Continental) tires – trying to find our way with them. You can only get so much speed out of tires and we concentrated on our set up, looking for speed and durability.”

Said Rojas, who started the race, “Our goal was on saving our tires. We started on our qualifying tires and it worked out for us. We got out of sequence for a while, and we had to work our way through the field. And it was pretty wild out there.”

The winning team led 38 of the 104 laps but the lion’s share went to the Spirit of Daytona Chevrolet Coyote with fast-qualifier Antonio Garcia and Paul Edwards driving. The pair led 50 laps until experiencing engine problems, finishing ninth one lap behind the winners.

Said Pruett about the early race leaders, “They were in the catbird’s seat and we could have seen a new winner today.”

Second place, 28 seconds behind the victors, was the GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Chevrolet Riley driven by Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney.

“It was important for us to get a good result today,” Gurney stated. “Toward the end, I thought for a moment that this race might just work out (win) for us, but my tires were gone at the end, plus we broke a pushrod with two laps to go.”

Third went to the unheralded Starworks Motorsport Ford Riley team of Ryan Dalziel and Mike Forest.

“We had a difficult race but a good result,” Dalziel said. “The team gave us a great strategy and quick pit stops, and we kept the car in one piece. Added Forest, “It was a struggle for us but we persevered.”

Fourth went to the AIM Autosport team of Mark Wilkins and Burt Frisselle and fifth went to the Action Express Racing Porsche Riley of David Donohue and Darren Law.

A strong effort from the SunTrust Racing Chevrolet Dallara went for naught when the car shed a wheel midway through the event. After a lengthy caution period to remove the car from the track, the wheel was replaced and drivers Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor motored on, but finished 23rd, 10 laps in arrears.

Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana garnered brought their Turner Motorsport BMW M3 first in the GT class after wrestling with numerous challengers throughout the race.

“I had to do with tire conservation,” Auberlen said. “The guys have done a good job with the car, and it handled well. The new Continental tire suits this car.”

Second place in class went to the Banner Racing Camaro team with drivers Oliver Gavin and Gunter Schaldach.

Third went to the Speed Source Mazda RX-8 team of Sylvain Tremblay and Jonathan Bomarito.

The Rolex Series races next at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va., on May 14.

Rojas started the race in the TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates BMW Riley and ran with the leaders in the early going before yielding to Pruett halfway

Y through the two-hour and 45-minute race. At the time, they trailed leader Antonio Garcia and Paul Edwards be some 20 seconds.

Shortly thereafter, the race scenario took a dramatic change when the lead car, the Spirit of Daytona Chevrolet Coyote, began slowing and an off-course excursion by another caused a full-course caution. The contenders all pitted, leaving Burt Frisselle in the lead.

With Pruett behind the wheel, he quickly reeled in the leader, assuming the lead on lap 78 with approximately 35 minutes remaining in the race.

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