GRAND AM: Banana Joe's Takes Victory at U.S. Road Racing Classic
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
June 11, 2001LEXINGTON, Ohio -- Banana Joe's-sponsored Intersport Racing captured its second victory of the season on its home track at the ConAgra Foods U.S. Road Racing Classic today. Intersport garages its pair of SportsRacing Prototypes in Dublin, Ohio, only 60 miles from the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The stands and hillsides were filled with fans of the Banana Joe's #37 Judd-powered Lola today, as team owner Jon Field and Englishman Oliver Gavin drove to victory.
"This is great. We are from here, and there is nothing better than winning in front of your friends and family," said Field, who is the co-owner of the popular Banana Joe's nightclubs.
The Intersport Judd took the lead away from the Thetford/Norcold/Goodyear-sponsored #16 Ford Riley & Scott of the Dyson Racing Team when the Ford pitted for a driver change. Both cars pitted for fuel during a caution a short time later, leaving to up to the driving talents of Gavin and fellow-Englishman James Weaver to battle for the lead. Gavin pulled away in the Judd, while Weaver dropped back when he became caught in lapped traffic.
"The car was actually flying," said Weaver, who started from the X-1R pole position. "We just had a few bad laps where we caught some lapped cars."
Field's 17-year-old son Clint and twin-brother Joe finished fifth in the SRP class in the Banana Joe's #28 Ford Riley & Scott. The Lista/Yokohama-sponsored #27 Judd-engined Ferrari of Doran Lista Racing finished third for the second-straight race.
Andy Lally, of Northpoint, N.Y., and Paul Macey, of Oakville, Ont., earned their second-consecutive SportsRacing Prototype II victory in the Gemstar Communications/Tycoon Magazine-sponsored #21 Nissan Lola of Archangel Motorsport Services. Macey set a new track record for a racing lap in the class when he clocked a 1:22.024. The Kolter Property/L2 Metal/Goodyear/Hawk Brake-sponsored #89 Nissan Lola of Porschehaus Racing finished second behind Archangel for the second-straight race, as well. Newcomers to the Rolex Series, Multimatic Motorsports, took third in the class.
Celebrating their fifth-straight victory of the season were Doug Goad, of Farmington Hills, Mich., and Craig Conway, of Daytona Beach, Fla., who captured the American GT win in their X-1R Performance Lubricants/Goodyear-sponsored #09 Corvette. Despite blowing two engines in practice on Saturday, the team managed to endure with their 1992 back-up engine.
"The car was soft, but the whole trick is to run a slow steady pace and pressure the faster cars," said Conway, who saw several faster cars suffer from mechanical failure during the racing, giving him the break the team needed.
The Saleen S7R returned to glory today after suffering a disappointing finish in Lime Rock last month. Ron Johnson, of Laguna Beach, Calif., and Chris Bingham, of Kirkland, Wash., piloted the BASF/HCI/Yokohama/Park Place Ltd.-sponsored Saleen to Victory Lane with a two-lap lead over the second-place Schumacher Racing #99 Porsche GT1. Bingham grabbed his second track record of the weekend in the process, with his 1:24.685 lap.
The Yokohama/BBS/Castrol Oil-sponsored #54 BMW M3 of JET Motorsports earned its second-straight victory in the GT class. Toney Jennings, of San Antonio, and Terry Borcheller, of Phoenix, finished just ahead of The Racer's Group Porsche GT3 RS. The JET BMW is the only car to capture repeat victories in the class, and currently holds three wins on the season.
The Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series will return to action next month in the Road American 500 in Elkhart Lake, Wis., July 5-8.
Text provided by Christie Hyde
Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit
The Racing Photo Museum and the
Visions of Speed Art Gallery.