Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(July 18, 2010)

MILLVILLE, N.J.—Alex Gurney caught and passed Scott Pruett with less than two laps remaining in the NJMP 250 and went on to win Sunday’s Grand-Am Rolex Series race at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

It was the first series victory of the season for defending Daytona Prototype champions Gurney and Jon Fogarty.

Pruett beat Gurney out of the pits following his final pit stop and led 45 laps in his quest for a record fourth consecutive victory in the No. 01 started by Memo Rojas. But Pruett brushed Ozz Negri with less than three minutes remaining in the 2-hour, 45-minute event, causing a slow leak in his right-front tire.

“My engineer told me that Scott had a cut tire, so I took my time and held back to make a clean pass,” said Gurney, who joined Fogarty in winning their 13th career Daytona Prototype race in the No. 99 Gainsco Auto Insurance Chevrolet/Riley. “Scott moved over for me, and it all worked out.”

With six victories in nine races, Pruett and Rojas lead fifth-place finisher Ryan Dalziel by 19 points with three races remaining in the Daytona Prototype championship.

Jonathan Bomarito and Sylvain Tremblay led a top-four sweep by Mazda in the production-based GT class. Jeff Segal and Emil Assentato finished third and now lead Tremblay by eight points in the GT championship.

Below are the final race results for Sunday’s race at NJMP (starting position in parentheses):

   1. (1) Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney, Chevrolet Riley, 116 laps.
   2. (4) Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, BMW Riley, 116.
   3. (2) Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor, Ford Dallara, 116.
   4. (3) Burt Frisselle and Mark Wilkins, Ford Riley, 116.
   5. (12) Mike Forest and Ryan Dalziel, BMW M6, 116.
   6. (8) Dion von Moltke and Matt Bell, Ford Dallara, 116.
   7. (6) Michael Valiante and Brian Frisselle, Ford Dallara, 116.
   8. (10) John Pew and Ozz Negri, Ford Riley, 116.
   9. (7) Darren Law and David Donohue, Porsche Riley, 115.
   10. (17) Sylvain Tremblay and Jonathan Bomarito, Mazda RX-8, 111.
   11. (18) John Edwards and Adam Christodoulou, Mazda RX-8, 111.
   12. (27) Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal, Mazda RX-8, 111.
   13. (24) James Gue and Leh Keen, Mazda RX-8, 111.
   14. (22) Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand, BMW M6, 111.
   15. (28) John Potter and Craig Stanton, Porsche GT3, 111.
   16. (16) Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis, Camaro GT.R, 111.
   17. (29) Dave Lacey and Jordan Taylor, Mazda RX-8, 110.
   18. (31) RJ Valentine and Andy Lally, Porsche GT3, 110.
   19. (25) Jim Lowe and Johannes van Overbeek, Porsche GT3, 110.
   20. (21) Joe Foster and Charles Espenlaub, Mazda RX-8, 110.
   21. (23) Wayne Nonnamaker and Andy Wallace, Mazda RX-8, 110.
   22. (14) Paul Edwards and Scott Russell, Corvette, 109.
   23. (26) Johnny O’Connell and Lawson Aschenbach, Camaro GT.R, 109.
   24. (32) Steven Bertheau and Spencer Pumpelly, Porsche GT3, 107.
   25. (30) Joe Sahlen, Will Nonnamaker and Joe Nonnamaker, Mazda RX-8, 105.
   26. (9) Antonio Garcia and Buddy Rice, Porsche Coyote, 99.
   27. (11) Terry Borcheller and Joao Barbosa, Porsche Riley, 96.
   28. (15) Gunter Schaldach and Jan Magnussen, Camaro GT.R, 90.
   29. (13) Bill Lester and Dane Cameron, BMW Riley, 89.
   30. (5) Tracy Krohn and Nic Jonsson, Ford Lola, 65.
   31. (20) Eric Lux and Kelly Collins, Corvette, 65.
   32. (19) Boris Said and Eric Curran, Corvette, 44.