Pruett/Papis Rally From Two Laps Down to Give Lexus Second Straight GrandAmerican Rolex Series Win

WATKINS GLEN, New York, June 23 -- After a dominating win from the pole in the last Rolex Series race at Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, the #01 CompUSA Lexus-Riley driven by Scott Pruett and Max Papis had a much more difficult time this weekend at the Sahlen's 6 Hours of The Glen, but the end result was the same -- another Daytona Prototype victory for the team and Lexus.

After seeing the team's streak of four consecutive pole positions snapped on Saturday after suffering a broken axle, the team's fortunes worsened when the green flag fell on Sunday. Just a handful of laps into the event, Papis was forced to pit when the #01 car suffered throttle problems. The early mechanical woes dropped the team two laps down and well back in the pack.

The duo was down, but certainly not out. After Papis started climbing his way back up through the grid, a combination of a thrilling drive, well-planned strategy and strong fuel mileage put the team back on the lead lap. Finally, Pruett took the lead with just under an hour left in the six-hour event and went on to win by more than 30 seconds.

"The way it started was crazy and we didn't know if we could get the two laps back," said Pruett. "That was just a great effort from the whole CompUSA Ganassi team and Lexus gave us a great engine today."

The Pruett/Papis effort wasn't the only highlight of the day for the CompUSA team. After leading the event in the early going, Luis Diaz and Jimmy Morales combined to put their #02 CompUSA car on the podium with a third-place finish -- their top showing of the 2004 season.

All four Lexus-powered entries finished in the top-eight today. Jan Magnussen, Didier Theys and Fredy Lienhard placed fifth overall in the Doran- Lista Racing Lexus-Doran, while Oswaldo Negri and Burt Frisselle combined to place eighth in the Michael Shank Racing (MSR) Lexus-Doran. In addition, three of the four Lexus entries also led today's race with Doran-Lista joining the two CompUSA Ganassi cars in taking a turn at the point position. MSR ran as high as second.

With their second straight victory, Pruett and Papis have opened up a commanding lead in the driver's championship, while their CompUSA Ganassi team continues to lead the team points race.

The Rolex Series returns to action on July 20 for the Paul Revere 250 at Daytona International Speedway. PEE will provide coverage.