Max Angelleli said, “We were solid and lightning fast. My crew won the race.” When asked how he handled the pressure of the heat and the #99 Gainsco car on his bumper, Angelleli joked, “The pressure from the 99 in nothing compared to the pressure from [team owner] Wayne Taylor.”
The race started at 2 p.m., the height of the heat of the day, and hot it was, in the stands and on the track. Cars were banging and bashing like their NASCAR brethren which would run at the track later in the evening; while there were not many yellows, there were quite a few collisions.
The Daytona Prototype cars were set up with low downforce to get top speed on the tri-oval, so the drivers had their hands full in the tight infield section of the track. Some teams ran very low downforce; the Ganassi and SunTrust cars were examples of this. The Gainsco car was set up with just a little more downforce and a little less top end. In the end, the tiny edge in top speed made all the difference.
“It was a very eventful race for me,” Gurney told reporters. “It was very hot and very slippery out there. We were down one or two mph on the banking and maybe that hurt us. But Max drove a great race, nice and clean. We didn’t win, but we feel really good about the rest of the season after this.”
Ganassi vs. Stallings
The first third of the race was a duel between the Telmex Ganassi Lexus Riley of Memo Rojas and Scott Pruett and the Gainsco/Bob Stallings car of John Fogarty and Alex Gurney. The Ganassi car led from the start and held the lead comfortably for the first ten laps.
The first ten laps were filled with incidents. David Donohue’s day ended when the 58 Brumos Porsche’s electrical system went up in smoke, forcing Donohue to pull over and park.
Darren Turner in the 76 Krohn Racing Lola Ford bounced off another car and broke his rear wing, forcing him to pit for repairs. Andrew Davis put the 57 Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R into the tire barrier, and Mark Patterson spun the 60 Shank Riley Ford trying to keep ahead of Burt Friselle’s 61 AIM Autosport Ford Riley, forcing Friselle to go across the grass to avoid him.
The 06 Shank Riley Ford was lucky to be racing at all. John Pew crashed the car in morning practice, nearly destroying the front half of the car. A team of nine mechanics worked for three-and-a-half hours to rebuild the car and get it back into racing condition.
On lap 11, Kelly Collins in the 07 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R came together with Eric Lux in the 86 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3, bringing out the first full course yellow.
When racing resumed, Memo Rojas still held the lead over John Fogarty in the Gainsco car, but on lap 25, Rojas flat-spotted his tires under braking, and the resulting vibration slowed him down enough that by lap 30, Fogarty was able to take the lead.
Fogarty told reporters, “We had a pretty good opening stint and were able to get by the No. 01 car, which was obviously a main objective since they’re leading the points.”
Three laps later, the Ganassi car blew a tire, and had to limp back to the pits, dropping to thirteenth. The Ganassi car was never again a factor in the race.
Stallings vs. Orbit
The incidents continued.
Joao Barbosa in the 59 Brumos car knocked the 06 Telmex Ganassi off the track, earning himself a penalty for avoidable contact.
Five laps later Antonio Garcia crashed the Spirit of Daytona Racing Coyote Porsche. Shortly after, Oswaldo Negri’s 60 Shank Riley Ford got blocked by Joe Foster in the 40 Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8. Foster was issued a stop-and-go penalty.
The Gainsco/Stallings car continued to lead, closely pursued by Ryan Dalziel in the 45 Orbit Racing Riley BMW, a stranger to the front of the pack.
“Our car was good from the moment we unloaded it,” said Orbit co-driver Bill Lester. “We feel like we can be much more formidable, a force to be reckoned with. We’re really excited about what the future holds.”
Behind them came Brian Friselle in the SunTrust Dallara Ford, brother Burt Friselle in the Aim Autosport Riley Ford, Timo Bernhard in the Penske Riley Porsche and NASCAR star Kyle Busch in a third Ganassi Lexus Riley. Chip Ganassi fielded a second car for NASCAR drivers Kyle Busch and Scott Speed. The pair acquitted themselves well in their Grand Am debut, bringing home the car in tenth place.
The Porsches had been given an extra 200 rpm for Daytona. Unfortunately for the Penske team, they guessed wrong on the gearing, and the car was on the rev limiter before the end of the straights.
On lap 50, Guy Cosmo, in the 09 Spirit of Daytona Racing Coyote Porsche, chasing Michael Valiante’s 13 Shank Riley Ford, tried to squeeze past Valiante and a GT car, and didn’t make it. Cosmo hit the GT and spun, bringing out the race’s second yellow flag.
SunTrust vs. Stallings
After the pit stops and restarts, Max Angelleli, in the SunTrust Riley Ford, opened a seven-second lead over Alex Gurney in the Gainsco car. Ryan Dalziel held onto third, with Michael Valiante on his tail.
Gurney, who lost a very close race here last year, seemed determined not to have it happen a second time. He ran down Angelleli at over a second a lap, cutting through traffic, maneuvering through the infield turns with precision.
Speed vs. Handling? Angelleli Votes Speed
With fifteen laps to go, Gurney was right on Angelleli’s tail, fighting to pass.
Angelleli’s SunTrust Dallara Ford was set up for speed. It was sketchy under hard braking and slower through the infield, but along the NASCAR sections of the track, the car was very fast. Gurney’s Riley Pontiac had a bit more downforce, and was very quick through the infield and rock solid under hard braking, but lost two car lengths through the high-speed portions of the track.
The SunTrust and Gainsco cars pulled away from the rest, running their own race for the overall win. Gurney tried to get inside Angelleli, tried to outbreak Angelleli, tried to squeeze past Angelleli anywhere he could, but the SunTrust car’s straight-line speed was just too much. Angelelli opened a two-car gap going into the infield, and Gurney couldn’t get by.
With four laps to go, Gurney nosed ahead briefly coming onto the tri-oval, but Angelleli repassed him. On the next lap Angelleli ran wide at the end of the straight, but was able to cut in front of Gurney. With two laps to go, Gurney once again got a nose ahead but again Angelleli held him off. Gurney never got another chance; Angelleli took SunTrust Racing’s first win of the season, by a margin of only .27 seconds.
Ryan Dalziel earned Orbit-Racing’s first podium position in Rolex Grand Am, running a fast, error-free race. Michael Valiante brought the 06 Shank car home in fourth.
The Championship Race
Scott Pruett, while never able to challenge for the lead, drove an amazing race, making up six places in the last several laps to keep the Telmex Chip Ganassi car in the lead in the drivers’ and team standings by a single point. Had Pruett made on less pass, he would have lost the lead.
The win moved SunTrust into second place, and Friselle and Angelleli into third and fourth. Shank Racing, though plagued by bad luck all season and never yet winning a race, managed to squeeze into the top five, while Brumos Porsche dropped out of the top five.
The top three teams are within three points of each other going into the eighth round of the season, the Porsche 250 presented by Legacy Credit Union at Barber Motorsports Park on July 19. Please visit the Barber Motorsports Park Web site for ticket information.
| Rolex Grand Am Daytona Prototypes Drivers Championship |
| Team Championship | ||||||
|
| # | Driver | Team | Pts |
|
| Team—Car | Pts |
| 1 | 01 | Scott Pruett | Chip Ganassi Racing | 199 |
| 1 | Chip Ganassi Racing | 199 |
| 1 | 99 | Memo Rojass | Chip Ganassi Racing | 199 |
| 2 | SunTrust Racing | 198 |
| 3 | 58 | Brian Frisselle | SunTrust Racing | 198 |
| 3 | Gainsco/ Bob Stallings Racing | 196 |
| 4 | 12 | Max Angelleli | SunTrust Racing | 182 |
| 4 | Penske Racing | 182 |
| 5 | 10 | Jon Fogarty | Gainsco/ Bob Stallings Racing | 172 |
| 5 | Michael Shank Racing | 172 |
Grand Touring: Porsche’s Domination Continues
Grand Touring was a race-long battle between the 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 of Dirk Werner and Leh Keen, and the 70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 of Sylvain Tremblay and Nick Ham. The Porsche had the edge in handling and braking, while the Mazda had the top speed. In this case, handling triumphed, if only because, when the race wound down, the better handling Porsche was in front.
With only a few laps left, Sylvain Tremblay decided to make his move at the end of the straight. Tremblay pulled up even on the outside, but Dirk Werner was ready for him. Werner waited so late to brake, Tremblay couldn’t wait; Tremblay was moving faster and needed more braking room.
Tremblay ran out of track and rode over the grass, fighting to keep control, while Werner opened up a big gap. Tremblay never got another chance; Werner drove a smart, defensive race and brought the e Porsche home first in class, the team’s third win in a row and fourth in the past five starts.
“He [Tremblay] was planning to stay until the end of the race and then show us what he really had,” Dirk Werner said after the race, “and he had a little more than us in the Porsche, because he closed right up on us in two laps. Then he tried us on the outside. Sometimes it works; this time it didn’t work for him. I could see and, I knew he couldn’t make the turn.
“The Porsche ran awesome. This is the third win in a row for Leh and me; we are the most competitive driver pairing right now, and the car is just awesome.”
| Rolex Grand Am Grand Touring Drivers Championship |
| Team Championship | ||||||
|
| Driver | Team | Pts |
|
| # | Team—Car | Pts |
| 1 | Dirk Werner | Farnbacher Loles Racing | 199 |
| 1 | 87 | Farnbacher Loles Racing | 199 |
| 1 | Leh Keen | Farnbacher Loles Racing | 199 |
| 2 | 07 | Banner Racing | 198 |
| 3 | Kelly Collins | Banner Racing | 198 |
| 3 | 86 | Farnbacher Loles Racing | 196 |
| 4 | Paul Edwards | Banner Racing | 182 |
| 4 | 66 | TRG | 182 |
| 5 | Eric Lux | Farnbacher Loles Racing | 172 |
| 5 | 170 | Speedsource | 172 |
| Brumos Porsche 250 Final Standings | ||||||
|
| # | class | Place in class | Driver | laps | Team/Car |
| 1 | 10 | DP | 1 | Max Angelelli | 70 | SunTrust Racing Ford Dallara |
| 2 | 99 | DP | 2 | Alex Gurney | 70 | GAINSCO/ Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley |
| 3 | 45 | DP | 3 | Ryan Dalziel | 70 | Orbit Racing BMW Riley |
| 4 | 6 | DP | 4 | Michael Valiante | 70 | Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley |
| 5 | 61 | DP | 5 | Mark Wilkins | 70 | AIM Autosport Ford Riley |
| 6 | 60 | DP | 6 | Oswaldo Negri Jr | 70 | Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley |
| 7 | 01 | DP | 7 | Scott Pruett | 70 | Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley |
| 8 | 59 | DP | 8 | Joao Barbosa | 70 | Brumos Racing Porsche Riley |
| 9 | 75 | DP | 9 | Eric van de Poele | 70 | Krohn Racing Ford Lola |
| 10 | 02 | DP | 10 | Scott Speed | 70 | Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley |
| 11 | 12 | DP | 11 | Romain Dumas | 70 | Penske Racing Porsche Riley |
| 12 | 13 | DP | 12 | Ricky Taylor | 69 | Beyer Racing Pontiac Riley |
| 13 | 2 | DP | 13 | Andy Wallace | 67 | Childress-Howard Motorsports Pontiac Crawford |
| 14 | 09 | DP | 14 | Scott Russell | 66 | Spirit of Daytona Racing Porsche Coyote |
| 15 | 87 | GT | 1 | Dirk Werner | 66 | Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 |
| 16 | 70 | GT | 2 | Sylvain Tremblay | 66 | SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 |
| 17 | 67 | GT | 3 | Andy Lally | 66 | TRG Porsche GT3 |
| 18 | 5 | DP | 15 | Beyer/ Taylor | 66 | Beyer Racing Chevrolet Crawford |
| 19 | 69 | GT | 4 | Jeff Segal | 66 | SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 |
| 20 | 86 | GT | 5 | Wolf Henzler | 65 | Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 |
| 21 | 66 | GT | 6 | Spencer Pumpelly | 65 | TRG Porsche GT3 |
| 22 | 68 | GT | 7 | Scott Schroeder | 64 | TRG Porsche GT3 |
| 23 | 64 | GT | 8 | Johannes van Overbeek | 64 | JLowe Racing Porsche GT3 |
| 24 | 07 | GT | 9 | Paul Edwards | 64 | Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R |
| 25 | 65 | GT | 10 | Craig Stanton | 64 | TRG Porsche GT3 |
| 26 | 40 | GT | 11 | Joe Foster | 64 | Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8 |
| 27 | 30 | GT | 12 | Sutherland/ Cameron | 64 | Racers Edge Motorsports Mazda RX-8 |
| 28 | 21 | GT | 13 | Shane Lewis | 62 | Battery Tender/ MCM Racing Pontiac GTO.R |
| 29 | 85 | GT | 14 | Daniel Graeff | 62 | Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 |
| 30 | 76 | DP | 16 | Nic Jonsson | 59 | Krohn Racing Ford Lola |
| 31 | 34 | GT | 15 | John McMullen Jr | 59 | Orbit Racing Porsche GT3 |
| 32 | 58 | DP | 17 | Darren Law | 41 | Brumos Racing Porsche Riley |
| 33 | 90 | DP | 18 | Antonio Garcia | 32 | Spirit of Daytona Racing Porsche Coyote |
| 34 | 57 | GT | 16 | Andrew Davis | 6 | Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R |
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