GRAND-AM: Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas score another win - AutoWeek Magazine

Scott Pruett's win at Homestead kept alive a streak started at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.
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By CURT CAVIN

You might wonder if Scott Pruett will lose another Rolex Grand-Am Sports Car Series race.

Yes, his win at Homestead-Miami Speedway was only his second in succession, but he is undefeated this season and shows every sign of being the best Daytona Prototype driver.

Pruett backed up his Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona win by joining co-driver Memo Rojas in victory lane. It marked the record-extending 16th series win for the former CART standout.

The duo combined to lead 51 of the race's 99 laps, but Pruett led 41 of them in Ganassi Racing's Riley-Lexus, and he was terrific in traffic. In fact, he was so good at managing congestion and accidents, particularly late in the race as he sailed by with better-managed tires, that he barely realized any trouble existed.

"I could go in, out, high, low, to the very top, to the bottom," he said. "It was one of the best cars I've driven in quite a while. I could literally put that car anywhere I wanted."

The win gave Rojas his third triumph in the series. He and Pruett stretched their points lead to 13 after two races.

Chip Ganassi's team, which also won the IndyCar Series race at Homestead with Scott Dixon, has now won a record 17 Grand-Am races and 92 total across all of the major series in which it participates.

Pruett joked that job security is always his motivation to win for the no-nonsense team owner. "You either get the job done or you don't," he said. "I guess we've got a job for another week."

Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand of Alex Job Racing finished second in their Crawford-Porsche. They were 1.645 seconds in arrears but arguably that close only because of a late full-course caution, one of nine in the messy race.

Hand lost the lead to Pruett on lap 42, when he found himself caught behind a GT-class Mustang. "I was on the bottom, and by the time I got by him, [Pruett] was by me," he said.

Oswaldo Negri and Mark Patterson finished third for Michael Shank Racing in a Riley-Ford.

In GT, Paul Edwards and Kelly Collins led 51 laps from the pole in their Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R. Edwards led the final 30 laps after getting by Jan Heylen on lap 70. They finished 10th overall but only 1.118 seconds ahead of second-place Spencer Pumpelly and Tim George Jr. in a TRG Porsche GT3.


RESULTS
TRACK: HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY

2.3-MILE ROAD COURSE

DATE: MARCH 29

1. S. Pruett/M. Rojas, Riley-Lexus, 99 laps at 82.246 mph avg. speed (DP winner); 2. B. Auberlen/J. Hand, Crawford-Porsche, 99; 3. M. Patterson/O. Negri Jr., Riley-Ford, 99; 4. J. Matthews/M. Goossens, Riley-Pontiac, 99; 5. M. Plumb/G. Sigal, Riley-BMW, 99; 6. J. Fogarty/A. Gurney, Riley-Pontiac, 99; 7. J. France/J. Barbosa, Riley-Porsche, 99; 8. B. Frisselle/M. Wilkins, Riley-Ford, 99; 9. S. Lewis/B. Lester, Riley-Lexus, 99; 10. P. Edwards/K. Collins, Pontiac GXP.R, 99 (GT winner);

11. T. George Jr./S. Pumpelly, Porsche GT3 Cup, 99; 12. J. Magnussen/L. Reese, Pontiac GXP.R, 99; 13. D. Farnbacher/D. Werner, Porsche GT3 Cup, 99; 14. S. Tremblay/N. Ham, Mazda RX-8, 99; 15. L. Aschenbach/T. Lewis Jr., Pontiac GXP.R, 99; 16. J. Farano/D. Empringham, Ford Mustang, 99; 17. E. Assentato/J. Segal, Mazda RX-8, 99; 18. R. Valentine/B. Sellers, Porsche GT3 Cup, 99; 19. T. Nastasi/J. Dumoulin, Ford Mustang, 99; 20. H. Zogaib/R. Dalziel, Riley-BMW, 98;

21. N. Jonsson/R. Zonta, Lola-Pontiac, 98; 22. T. Krohn/E. van de Poele, Lola-Pontiac, 98; 23. J. Seyffarth/D. Alessi, Pontiac GTO.R, 98; 24. E. Lux/L. Keen, Porsche GT3 Cup, 98; 25. G. Cosmo/M. Camirand, Coyote-Porsche, 97; 26. B. Miller/T. Ballou, Porsche GT3 Cup, 97; 27. J. Foster/P. Dempsey, Mazda RX-8, 97; 28. R. Garcia/S. Gabel, Porsche GT3 Cup, 97; 29. M. Forest/T. Merrill, Pontiac GXP.R, 96; 30. M. Angelelli/M. Valiante, Dallara-Pontiac, 96;

31. D. Skea/J. Safina/A. Lazzaro, Porsche GT3 Cup, 96; 32. D. Lacey/P. Long, Porsche GT3 Cup, 94; 33. Jerome Jacalone/Joe Jacalone, Porsche GT3 Cup, 94; 34. Will Nonnamaker/Wayne Nonnamaker/J. Nonnamaker, Chevrolet Corvette, 90; 35. A. Garcia/M. Bobbi, Coyote-Pontiac, 89; 36. J. Pew/I. James, Riley-Ford, 89; 37. M. Gidley/ B. Jaeger, Dallara-Ford, 87; 38. S. Johnson/J. Heylen, Porsche GT3 Cup, 81; 39. B. Tuttle/D. Smith, Riley-Pontiac, 80; 40. J. Sahlen/Will Nonnamaker, Chevrolet Corvette, 71;

41. S. Tucker/E. Zabinski, Ferrari F430, 59; 42. D. Law/D. Donohue, Riley-Porsche, 59; 43. R. Liddell/A. Davis, Pontiac GXP.R, 56; 44. C. de Quesada/C. Stanton, Porsche GT3 Cup, 55; 45. R. Thorne/C. Stone, Mazda RX-8, 44

TIME OF RACE: 2h 46m 6.684s

MARGIN OF VICTORY: 1.645s

FAST QUALIFIER: Donohue, 1m 13.022s (113.390 mph)

NEXT: Mexico City, April 19 (4 p.m. Eastern, Speed)

 

Was at the race this weekend, Great race.
Here are a few pictures from that race and the Indy race.
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