Wall Castro Grabs One for the Home Team; Local Racer Wins Puerto Rico Grand Prix


SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico ‹ There were many pundits who didn¹t expect Puerto
Rican racing legend Wally Castro to have a chance at victory during Sunday¹s
Puerto Rico Grand Prix. Fortunately for Castro, no one told him that.
Castro, driving the No. 3 Puerto Rico Lottery Jaguar XKR, came from behind
after mid-race pit stop, during the season finale for the Motorock Trans-Am
Tour for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup, took the lead from Bobby Sak on a late
restart, and led the final four laps for his first Trans-Am victory in just
his second start.

Sak finished second in the No. 10 Revolution Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette,
ahead of Tomy Drissi, who posted his first podium finish this year in the
No. 5 Stuck on You Jaguar XKR. Dominican rookie driver Luis Mendez was
fourth in the No. 03 Manen Racing.Banservas.Dom.Rep Chevrolet Camaro, and
Bob Ruman turned in his best effort this season of fifth in the No. 23
McNichols/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette.

Jorge Diaz, Jr., who finished 12th in the No. 8 Don Q Rum Jaguar XKR,
clinched the Rookie of the Year title. Diaz finished just 11 points ahead of
Sak.

Castro, who started fifth, ran in the top 10 during most of the 55-lap race,
but pitted for tires on lap 31 under caution. He received a drive-through
penalty after exiting the pits on lap 34 for an unmanned-pit-equipment
violation, which left him 13th. Then, Castro became a man possessed,
cracking the top 10 on lap 40, and taking third from Michael Lewis (No. 12
Westward Tools Available at Grainger Jaguar XKR) on lap 48 to set up the
winning pass.
Castro said one of the keys to him winning his first Trans-Am event, was
taking four new BFGoodrich g-Force T/A tires on his pit stop.

³For us it was a super race,² said Castro, who finished 10th after an axle
failure in his previous Trans-Am start, in St. Petersburg in 1996. ³My team
here in Puerto Rico, joined with the Rocketsports team, and that was great.
We came in, we took new tires and that was the key to winning.

³We came back after the black flag, but at that moment I was worried,² added
Castro, who currently leads the points in the Puerto Rican GTS Series, which
uses similar rules to the Trans-Am Series. ³The car was so good, and the
tires held. The car really came back to me and we were passing people. The
brakes were great and the tires really held.²

Sak, who started second, took the lead from Pruett on a lap-15 restart.
Pruett took the lead back on lap 28, but Sak inherited the point on lap 50
when Pruett pitted with two sheared right-rear hub drive pins. However, as
Sak crossed the stripe on the restart, Castro motored to the inside and took
the lead for good.

³Revolution Motorsports has given me a great car all year,² said Sak. ³We
are working with older equipment. My car was built in 1994. These guys
worked their tails off all year long, and I think it showed since we have
finished on the podium in two straight races.

³I knew I was going to have to manage the car from the start,² added Sak.
³It was loose from the beginning. We knew we didn¹t have anything for Scott,
until that last restart. He got away on the first restart, but on the
second, I got a great run down the straightaway and took the lead.²

Drissi hit a tire wall early in the contest. He pitted, his team replaced a
damaged rear decklid on his machine, and changed four tires. He pitted again
under the race¹s fourth caution, and again changed four tires. He drove back
through the field, and brought a significantly damaged machine home for his
first podium this season.

³I lost a little bit of concentration,² said Drissi. ³We had a little
problem with the brakes off of the line. Thankfully, I caused my own yellow.
We changed the deck and we changed the tires. Then we changed tires again on
that fourth yellow. The guys were just so great today. I was focused on so
many things before the race, that I didn¹t get the car to brake better.²

Pruett, who finished 13th, won the BFGoodrich Tires ³Take Control Award² for
leading the most laps. Because he was unable to win the race, the Flowmaster
American Thunder Challenge Award, worth $2,000, will be rolled into the
season-ending points fund. Pruett also won the Jaguar Pole Award on
Saturday.

Sak, Lewis, Castro, Drissi, and Mendez each earned one bonus point for being
within five seconds of leader Pruett on the Fast Five Lap, lap eight here.
The timed race ran in one hour, 15 minutes and 45 seconds at an average
speed of 69.667 miles per hour. The race was slowed six times by the caution
flag for 14 laps.

Notebook:
n With his 29th career pole here, Scott Pruett (No. 7 Motorock/Jaguar R
Performance XKR) took sole possession of second on the all-time Trans-Am
pole list. Pruett came into this race tied for second with team owner Paul
Gentilozzi with 28 pole positions.

Pruett also gave Jaguar¹s new four-valve, overhead-cam, fuel-injected AJ-V8
its first pole. Pruett is running the new four-valve, overhead-cam,
fuel-injected stock-block engine for the first time in race trim this
weekend. 

³It¹s been a challenging weekend,² said Pruett. ³Yesterday we cracked an oil
pan. You have to realize all of the work that goes into these engines. Many
of the parts are hand fabricated, and the oil pan was one of those parts. We
had to change engines, and couldn¹t get out in the second practice
yesterday. But everyone dug in deep, and we put the Jaguar on the pole, and
gave the AJ-V8 engine its first pole.

³It¹s actually very special to win the pole with the new engine,² said
Pruett. ³It¹s also special to win it in Puerto Rico. I was trying to get out
of the pit area and there were so many people there, I couldn¹t move and
that¹s great. Some events, we don¹t have that many spectators. This is going
to be one heck of a show

n Jorge Diaz, Jr. (No. 8 Don Q Rum Jaguar XKR) nearly missed Sunday¹s race.
In fact, the newly crowned Rookie of the Year arrived at his car just after
the ³Gentleman Start Your Engines Command² was given. He strapped in and
just made the start, but failed to hook up his cool suit. That error proved
costly, as he suffered the effects of the high heat, and was forced to pit
while in third on lap 23, after he started last. He was helped from the car
and his crew dumped ice water down the back of his firesuit, and placed him
back in the car. Diaz finished 12th, the first car one lap down, but still
clinched the Rookie of the Year Championship.

n Joey Scarallo (No. 06 ROH Wheels Chevrolet Corvette) suffered a
catastrophic engine failure during qualifying yesterday. The rookie driver
elected to scratch from today¹s race.

³We had some trouble in first practice with the battery and the alternator,²
said Scarallo¹s father and crew chief Joe. ³Then we had a radiator hose come
off in the second practice. We were really getting faster, and thought we
could have qualified at least 10th, but then the engine let go.²

n Johnny Miller didn¹t come to Puerto Rico to race, but the regular driver
of the No. 64 Eaton Cutler-Hammer Jaguar XKR didn¹t leave the Island of
Enchantment empty handed. One of two keys that Miller earned for winning two
Jaguar Pole Awards this season opened the door to a 2003 Jaguar XK8
convertible, earning Miller a one-year lease on the sleek red sports car.

The Jaguar Pole Award is a performance-based initiative that rewards drivers
who win the pole at each of the Trans-Am Series¹ events this season.
Polesitters received a key‹regardless of what type of car they race‹which,
at the culmination of the season, they used to attempt to open the door to a
2004 Jaguar XK8, during a formal ceremony. The driver whose key opens the
vehicle will win a one-year lease on the car.

Miller beat out 2003 Drivers¹ Champion Pruett for the honor in a ceremony
held just after qualifying at the Puerto Rico Grand Prix. Pruett¹s first key
didn¹t open the door, but Miller¹s key worked on his first try.
Interestingly, Pruett, who had won eight poles this year (and started on the
pole in Denver after qualifying was set by practice times), had a
four-to-one advantage on Miller, as he had eight keys.

³It¹s hard not being able to race this weekend, but this helps,² said Miller
with a laugh. ³I cannot believe it opened the car. I have to say this is a
pleasant turn of events. I can¹t believe it, and that¹s just being honest.

n Sunday¹s winner Wally Castro (No. 3 Puerto Rico Lottery Jaguar XKR), a
regular in GTS competition in Puerto Rico and the rest of the Caribbean,
admitted it¹s taken him some time to get up to speed with BFGoodrich Tires¹
spec g-Force T/A radial. Castro usually competes on bias-ply tires from
another manufacturer.

³Once the (BFGoodrich Tires) radial tire gets grip, it keeps that grip,²
said Castro. ³With the bias-ply tires I usually run here in Puerto Rico, you
have one or two hot laps and that¹s it. With the bias-ply tires, you will
have quick times for two or three laps. After two laps with the BFGoodrich
radial tires, it just gets more and more grip.²

Castro said he has also fought slick track conditions. As with many new,
temporary circuits, the early sessions were plagued by lack of grip.

³Our first practice, it was OK,² said Castro. ³We were just trying to get a
feel for the car, the tire, and the differences between my car and this one.
The second session was much better. We changed gearing, and we put on a new
set of tires. Those new tires gripped very well. The car was slippery, but
that was due to the condition of the track. It was covered in dust and sand.
During the early laps, you would go loose and it was due to all of the dirt
on the track.

³We¹re really looking for grip, and get more confident with the track.²

n Local flavor was in force here this weekend. Castro, along with fellow
Puerto Rican drivers Jorge Diaz, Jr. (No. 8 Don Q Rum Jaguar XKR), Edison
Lluch (No. 72 Don Q Rum Chevrolet Corvette), Felix Serralles (No. 88 Don Q
Rum Jaguar XKR), Axel Rivera (No. 22 ICEE Ford Mustang), Juan Vento (No. 38
Interstate Batteries Oldsmobile Cutlass), and Dominican hotshoe Luis Mendez
(No. 03 Banreservas.Dom.Rep Chevrolet Camaro all took part in the Puerto
Rico Grand Prix.