Saturday’s Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 season-ending Grand Prix of Miami ended in a delightful win by Joao Barbosa and Hurley Haywood while Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney drove home the winning title. They only needed a top-four finish to ensure their title win and that is exactly what they got when they indeed finished fourth to capture their second Daytona Prototype championship since 2007. Though the team had scored a series-high four victories this season, they had never finished better than a sixth in three previous outings at the 2.3-mile, 11-turn Homestead-Miami Speedway road course layout and so grabbing the winning title definitely proved to be all the more rewarding.
Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty really had to fight harder this year to regain their past glory of having won seven races during their 2007 championship run. The second Daytona Prototype championship for Fogarty and Gurney in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley was pretty challenging because of the heat. They still managed to finish six points ahead (337-331) of Pruett and Memo Rojas, who finished second in the No. 01 TELMEX Lexus Riley. Brian Frisselle and Max Angelelli, who had proved to be tough competitors, entered the race second in the standings but finished seventh in the No. 10 SunTrust Ford Dallara. However, they still finished the year third in the championship with 325 points.
The brilliance that the racers displayed was exactly what Rolex stands for and promotes. Since its association with several sporting events Rolex has been recognizing and providing a platform for the world’s sporting talent. With its aim of promoting human brilliance Rolex associates with events that really bring out the best in an individual. The world-class events that it sponsors not only bring forth world talent but also help polish them and give them the required finesse to emerge as winners in their respective categories. Jon Fogarty won his fifth consecutive pole and went on to win six of the seven races in Friday’s qualifier. He managed to lead twice for 45 of the 100 laps. Alex Gurney took over and ran in position to take the title throughout his run.
Mark Patterson and Ozz Negri teamed to finish third in the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley. It was their first podium and eighth top-10 finish of the season. The finish unofficially gave Mark Patterson the honor of becoming the first two-time recipient of the Jim Trueman Award as the top gentleman driver in the division. Following a multi-car spin on a restart with six minutes remaining when Jared Beyer was turned around in front of a pack of cars that eliminated him while damaging many of the GT contenders, the race ended cautiously. That gave the Acxiom GT victory to Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards in the No. 07 Team Drinkin’ Mate Pontiac GXP.R, while Leh Keen and Dirk Werner captured the championship with a third-place finish.
Saturday marked an exciting close to the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series that not only promised to be eventful but also showcased racing talent from all over the world.
Tags: Alex Gurney, Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, Jon Fogarty, Rolex
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