 LONG
BEACH, Calif. (April 8, 2006) – Carrying
the momentum of three successful events to open the 2006 Grand American Rolex
Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve season, the Daytona
Prototype class ran its first-ever street race in Saturday's Crown Royal Grand
American Challenge of Long Beach, part of the 32nd Annual Toyota Grand Prix of
Long Beach weekend.
This
is the first Daytona Prototype street race; there are a host of drivers in the
field with experience and race victories on the streets of Long Beach. No. 01
CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley driver Scott Pruett and No. 12 Lowe's
Fernandez Racing Pontiac Riley driver Adrian Fernandez are the Rolex Series
drivers with the most experience, having each driven in 11 previous races at
the famed seaside circuit.
The
two-day schedule saw the Daytona Prototypes turn their first laps ever on the
1.97-mile, 11-turn circuit for a 45-minute practice session beginning at 8:00
a.m. PT on Friday, April 7. Friday's schedule concluded with an hour-long
qualifying session from 3:55 to 4:55 p.m. PT.
Saturday's
schedule had a 20-minute warm-up session beginning at 8:00 a.m. PT, and the
green flag dropped on the Crown Royal Grand American Challenge of Long Beach at
4:00 p.m. PT Saturday afternoon.
The
format for Saturday's race differed somewhat from the normal in the Rolex
Series. It is just the second stand-alone Daytona Prototype race in class
history, and will be a 90-minute timed event. Teams were required to make a pit
stop and driver change.
In
front of a huge and enthusiastic crowd, No. 01 CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing
Lexus Riley co-drivers Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz claimed victory.
Luis
Diaz handed the car over to Scott Pruett in the pit stop, and the 2004 Daytona
Prototype co-champion managed to win the race off pit road. Pruett led the
field to the green flag on the Lap 23 restart and held off Mike Rockenfeller in
the No. 23 machine by 3.989 seconds to claim the second victory of the season
for himself and Diaz.
"It's
awesome to be here in Long Beach and in Victory Lane," Pruett said.
"It's always fun and it's always exciting that's for sure. The No. 23 car
kept us on our toes, but this win was all teamwork. Lexus gave us a great motor
with increased drivability, Hoosier gave us great tires. And for the first time
coming here to Long Beach, I think Grand American put on a pretty great
show."
Mike
Rockenfeller and Patrick Long who led a total of six laps, earned their third
podium result in as many tries this season with their second-place performance
in the No. 23 machine for Alex Job Racing/Emory Motorsports.
Shane
Lewis and Bill Auberlen combined to finish third in the No. 3 Southard
Motorsports BMW Riley.
Andy
Wallace and Butch Leitzinger matched their best performance of the season to
date with a fourth-place run in the No. 4 The Boss Snowplow Pontiac Crawford to
make it four different engine manufacturers in the top four.
Mark
Patterson and Oswaldo Negri Jr. completed the top five in the No. 60 Flight
Options Lexus Riley with a fifth-place run for Michael Shank Racing.
Hoosier
Racing Tire is proud to be the sole tire supplier for the Grand American /
Rolex Road Racing Series.
For
more information about Grand American Road Racing, the official web site of the
Grand American Road Racing Association is, www.grandamerican.com.
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