Grand American Rolex

Rojas, who had been ill all weekend, started the race in third and was able to hold a top-five position when he turned the car over to Pruett just past the 30-minute mark of the race. The two-time series champion maintained that position until a full-course caution on Lap 30. Under caution, he was able to gain two positions in the pits.

Unfortunately, third was all Pruett could muster on the tight track that proved almost impossible to pass on. He pulled up side-by-side in an attempt to overtake for second place on a number of occasions, but just was unable to pass as the top three cars exiting the pits on the race’s first full-course caution remained in that order the rest of the event.

The 2009 Rolex Sports Car Series concludes on Saturday, October 10 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. The race will be televised live on SPEED at 1 p.m. EDT.

Lexus Race Results, Start/Finish
#01 Pruett/Rojas, Telmex Lexus 3/3

Notes:

• With today’s third-place finish, Scott Pruett extends his Grand-Am record for podium finishes to 47, it’s also the seventh for he and Memo Rojas this season.


• In finishing third today, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas fall to third-place in the Rolex Series title hunt, 10 points behind the leading #99 car and two points behind the #10 with just one race remaining.


• Today’s result marks the 10th top-10 finish for the #01 Lexus in 11 races this season. It also marked Chip Ganassi Racing’s best-ever finish at Miller Motorsports Park in four events.

Quotes:

Memo Rojas, #01 Telmex Lexus: “I just tried to work through it (his being under the weather) , but it wasn’t real easy to breathe out there. I’m still not feeling real well. Obviously, it was a podium finish today, but it’s not the result we were hoping for. It was really the worst-case scenario for our championship hopes. “

Scott Pruett, #01 Telmex Lexus: “Memo really did a great job out there to overcome how he was feeling. He’s been sick all weekend and still toughed it out. Unfortunately, we had to pit a little earlier than we would have liked. This race was all about track position and we did all we could to try to get past out there. The crew did a great job and got us two positions in the pits, but that was really the only way you could get them today. Unfortunately, we don’t hold our championship destiny in our hands anymore. We’ll just have to do our best at Homestead.”