Grand American Rolex

FRONT RUNNING – With a pair of runner-up finishes in four races, Lexus-powered duo Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas are eager to capture their first win of the season at the Six Hours of The Glen. The Chip Ganassi Racing team, via the #01 Telmex Lexus, is one of only three teams to have led every race this season.

ENDURANCE KINGS - Lexus has now won five of the last 10 Grand-Am endurance races, in addition to three seconds and a pair of fourth-place finishes. The current stretch includes three Rolex 24 victories, last year’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen win and a nine-hour triumph at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah.

LAST RACE - Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas combined to lead 65 laps on the way to a second-place finish at Laguna Seca Raceway. The #01 Telmex Lexus dominated much of the action, but a late-race full-course caution bunched the field together, eliminating the team’s nine-second lead. Shortly after the re-start, Pruett was bogged down in traffic and it slowed him just enough that Jon Fogarty was able to squeeze by for the victory.

LAST YEAR’S SIX HOURS – Scott Pruett took the lead with 45 minutes remaining as he and Memo Rojas drove the #01 Telmex Lexus to 3.033-second victory in the 2008 Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen. The victory was anything but easy. After starting last from pit lane after Saturday’s qualifying session was abbreviated to just four minutes of track time, Pruett and Rojas had to charge through the field almost non-stop until taking the lead for the first time on Lap 115. After pitting and dropping back to fourth on Lap 130, Pruett quickly moved up to second and then finally took the lead for good on Lap 156 of the 179-lap event. The win was the fourth of the season for the Lexus-powered duo.

LEXUS IN THE SIX HOURS - In the Watkins Glen six-hour events, Lexus powered cars have two wins, a second, a third and a fourth place result. In addition to last year’s victory by Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, the Ganassi team also won the Six Hours in 2004 with Pruett and Max Papis.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS – The Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus team enters into this weekend’s race as the winningest team in Rolex Sports Car Series history with 21 victories since entering the series in 2004. Lead driver Scott Pruett has won more races than any driver in Rolex history with 20, while also holding the record for most podium finishes with 42, including two in four races this season. Despite its relatively late entry into the series, Lexus is second among manufacturers in all-time wins with 23.

Pruett, the most decorated sports car racer in American history, set another record last season by earning his eighth major sports car title in winning the Rolex Series crown. Amazingly enough, Pruett established that record despite having spent eight full seasons in Indy cars and one in NASCAR, as well as missing a full season due to injury (1991). Pruett’s titles include two Daytona Prototype championships (2008 and 2004), two IMSA GTO titles (1986 and 1988), one IMSA GT Endurance (1986) and three Trans-Am championships (1987, 1994 and 2003).