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GRAND-AM: GAINSCO Wins Thriller At COTA
Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty return to victory lane in team's home race; Turner Motorsport (GT), BGB Motorsports (GX) take class honors in frantic GRAND-AM of The Americas...
GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing took a thrilling victory on home soil, as Alex Gurney held off a hard-charging Ryan Dalziel for top honors in Saturday's inaugural GRAND-AM of The Americas.
The closing stages of the two-hour and 45-minute race at the sprawling new Circuit of The Americas saw plenty of contact and penalties, which ultimately decided the winners in both the Daytona Prototype and GT categories.
A late-race accident involving then-race leading No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Riley-Ford of Brendon Hartley with 15 minutes to go put the No. 99 Corvette DP of Gurney at the point but under heavy pressure from a pair of other Riley DPs.
Gurney ultimately held off both Scott Pruett and Dalziel, the latter driver who used traffic to his advantage to slip by the Chip Ganassi Riley-BMW on the final lap.
The two-time series champion fended off the rapid Scot to eek out a 0.427-second win over the No. 2 Starworks machine, putting the Texas-based team back in victory lane for the first time since Montreal in 2011.
"That last half-hour seemed to last forever," Gurney said. "With Scott behind me for a long time, I knew how quick he was, even with some damage on the front end. But then Ryan got by him.
"It was real hectic there and I was just trying real hard not to make any mistakes and protect the inside when I could. What a battle... It was a perfect day to win at our home race. I couldn't be more stoked."
Gurney and co-driver Jon Fogarty, who started on pole, both celebrated their 16th career victories, but long-awaited first win in their Riley-chassied Corvette DP.
"It was an incredible GRAND-AM race, as they oftentimes are," Fogarty added. "I'm really happy to be on the top of the podium. It's been a while for the GAINSCO team. Ultimately, that was the best part of the day."
Dalziel and co-driver Alex Popow recorded a hard-earned second following early race contact between the Venezuelan and the No. 9 Action Express Racing Corvette DP of Burt Frisselle, which damaged the nose of the Riley-Ford and put the AXR car behind the wall.
The No. 01 Telmex entry of Pruett and Memo Rojas also charged back following drama of its own, when Pruett jumped a curb and destroyed the Riley-BMW's nose with one hour to go. A quick repair job and a timely caution put the defending champions back in contention.
8Star Motorsports claimed an unlikely fourth place finish, overcoming a pit lane infraction in the opening hour for contact between Enzo Potolicchio's Corvette DP and a crew member from the neighboring GAINSCO/BSR pit. Co-driver Stephane Sarrazin made an impressive charge in the final 15-lap run to the flag, moving up six positions.
Completing the top-five overall and in class was the No. 5 Action Express Corvette of Brian Frisselle and Christian Fittipaldi.
Contact between the once-leading No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP of Max Angelelli and Antonio Pizzonia's No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Riley-Ford with less than 20 minutes to go resulted in a stop/hold plus 60-second penalty for the Italian, which dropped Angelelli out of podium contention to 10th.
All of the late-race contact, carnage and penalties saw the No. 76 Krohn Racing entry of Tracy Krohn and Nic Jonsson finish a surprise sixth overall, in the team's first Rolex Series race in more than two years with its Gen-2 DP.
PHOTOS: GRAND-AM at COTA
The closing stages of the two-hour and 45-minute race at the sprawling new Circuit of The Americas saw plenty of contact and penalties, which ultimately decided the winners in both the Daytona Prototype and GT categories.
A late-race accident involving then-race leading No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Riley-Ford of Brendon Hartley with 15 minutes to go put the No. 99 Corvette DP of Gurney at the point but under heavy pressure from a pair of other Riley DPs.
Gurney ultimately held off both Scott Pruett and Dalziel, the latter driver who used traffic to his advantage to slip by the Chip Ganassi Riley-BMW on the final lap.
The two-time series champion fended off the rapid Scot to eek out a 0.427-second win over the No. 2 Starworks machine, putting the Texas-based team back in victory lane for the first time since Montreal in 2011.
"That last half-hour seemed to last forever," Gurney said. "With Scott behind me for a long time, I knew how quick he was, even with some damage on the front end. But then Ryan got by him.
"It was real hectic there and I was just trying real hard not to make any mistakes and protect the inside when I could. What a battle... It was a perfect day to win at our home race. I couldn't be more stoked."
Gurney and co-driver Jon Fogarty, who started on pole, both celebrated their 16th career victories, but long-awaited first win in their Riley-chassied Corvette DP.
"It was an incredible GRAND-AM race, as they oftentimes are," Fogarty added. "I'm really happy to be on the top of the podium. It's been a while for the GAINSCO team. Ultimately, that was the best part of the day."
Dalziel and co-driver Alex Popow recorded a hard-earned second following early race contact between the Venezuelan and the No. 9 Action Express Racing Corvette DP of Burt Frisselle, which damaged the nose of the Riley-Ford and put the AXR car behind the wall.
The No. 01 Telmex entry of Pruett and Memo Rojas also charged back following drama of its own, when Pruett jumped a curb and destroyed the Riley-BMW's nose with one hour to go. A quick repair job and a timely caution put the defending champions back in contention.
8Star Motorsports claimed an unlikely fourth place finish, overcoming a pit lane infraction in the opening hour for contact between Enzo Potolicchio's Corvette DP and a crew member from the neighboring GAINSCO/BSR pit. Co-driver Stephane Sarrazin made an impressive charge in the final 15-lap run to the flag, moving up six positions.
Completing the top-five overall and in class was the No. 5 Action Express Corvette of Brian Frisselle and Christian Fittipaldi.
Contact between the once-leading No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP of Max Angelelli and Antonio Pizzonia's No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Riley-Ford with less than 20 minutes to go resulted in a stop/hold plus 60-second penalty for the Italian, which dropped Angelelli out of podium contention to 10th.
All of the late-race contact, carnage and penalties saw the No. 76 Krohn Racing entry of Tracy Krohn and Nic Jonsson finish a surprise sixth overall, in the team's first Rolex Series race in more than two years with its Gen-2 DP.
PHOTOS: GRAND-AM at COTA
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