GRAND AM (THE GLEN) - PRE-RACE ADVANCE

A number of teams remain mathematically in contention with just three races remaining for the 2007 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve Daytona Prototype driver’s championship, but four drivers – two former champions and two first-time hopefuls – control still their own destiny in the race for the championship entering Friday’s Crown Royal 200 at The Glen.

Scott Pruett, the 2004 champion, holds a slim two-point lead over Max Angelelli (324-322), the 2005 Rolex Series titlist. Both drivers are gunning to become the first two-time Daytona Prototype champions since the class’s inception. Pruett has teamed with Memo Rojas, fifth in points, in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Racing TELMEX Lexus Riley for every race except for the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona. Pruett captured wins in the season-opener with Salvador Duran and Juan Pablo Montoya and at Iowa Speedway with Rojas.

Angelelli has used a number of co-drivers to climb into his championship position, and will team this weekend with Memo Gidley in the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley. Angelelli and co-driver Jan Magnussen battled for a hard-fought victory last week at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, the second win of 2007 for both drivers.

Like Pruett and Angelelli, the duo of Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty can still win the championship without help. Three consecutive wins to end the season, regardless of finish by any other competitor, would close the nine-point edge to tie Pruett and give the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley teammates the championship based on victories. The duo leads the series with five wins, one shy of the Rolex Series Daytona Prototype record of six in a season set by Terry Borcheller in 2003.

If history is any indication, Friday’s race may do little to separate the championship contenders. At the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen in June, all three championship contending teams finished on the podium – with the No. 99 GAINSCO duo edging Pruett and Rojas. The No. 01 crossed the stripe just ahead of Angelelli and then-teammate Jonathan Cochet.

That doesn’t mean others can’t win the title, but help will be needed. Sitting sixth in the championship standings is 18-year-old Colin Braun, who has teamed with Nic Jönsson for the past two races in the No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley after spending the first part of the season co-driving with Max Papis. The trio actually raced together at The Glen in June, finishing fifth. Papis sits 12 points behind Braun in seventh and will drive this weekend in the No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley with team owner Tracy Krohn.

The No. 58 Red Bull/Brumos Porsche Riley of David Donahue and Darren Law are currently riding a streak of 10 consecutive top-10 finishes. The duo currently sits eighth in the championship, seven points in arrears of Papis. The No. 58 team is also joined again this weekend by team car No. 59 Brumos Porsche Riley driven by Hurley Haywood and JC France.

Mark Patterson and Oswaldo Negri in the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Lexus Riley complete the current championship’s top-10, boosted by a podium finish earlier this season during the U.S. Sports Car Invitational delivered by Luggage Express at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and a string of five consecutive top-10 results. The No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Lexus Riley entry is piloted by John Pew and Ian James, whose successful ventures include a pair of fourth-place finishes, one coming at Watkins Glen. Both Michael Shank Racing cars led laps during the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and are looking for more success this weekend.

No. 23 Alex Job Racing Ruby Tuesday Porsche Crawford regular driver Patrick Long will team this weekend with Emmanuel Collard, as previous commitments will keep defending champion and regular driver Jörg Bergmeister from competing at Watkins Glen this weekend. The pair had a first lap incident during June’s trip to The Glen, but was able to rebound for an eighth-place finish.

Patrick Carpentier is coming off somewhat of a storybook weekend in front of his home fans at Montreal. The French Canadian drove the No. 11 SAMAX Pontiac Riley with Kris Szekeres to a 10th-place finish, and then followed that up with a pole position and runner-up finish in his first career NASCAR Busch Series appearance. The No. 61 AIM Autosport entry is another that found a bit of luck in their homeland, where Mark Wilkins and Brian Frisselle drove the No. 61 Exchange Trader Gold Lexus Riley to their best finish since the season’s first two races. Each team is searching for its first win of 2007 this weekend.

In the last Rolex Series appearance at The Glen, the No. 91 Riley-Matthews Motorsports Pontiac Riley of Marc Goosens and co-driver Jim Matthews led 25 laps of the six-hour race, and the duo is coming off its best finish of the season with a runner-up performance in Montreal. The No. 05 Luggage Express Team Sigalsport BMW Riley of Bill Auberlen and Matthew Alhadeff are also searching for a strong finish this weekend to accompany their early-season victory at the Linder Industrial Komatsu Grand Prix of Miami.

The No. 39 Cheever Racing Crown Royal Special Reserve Pontiac Fabcar of Christian Fittipaldi and Antonio Garcia seem to be just waiting for a win, finishing a season-best fourth a week ago after running with the leaders on a number of instances in the previous weeks. The No. 3 Southard Motorsports Preformed Line Products Lexus Riley of Shane Lewis and Randy Ruhlman also continue to find improvements as the season moves along, with just a bit of good luck separating the team from a great finish.

One team warranting attention is the No. 16 Howard Motorsports Thetford/Norcold Porsche Crawford, co-driven by Rob Dyson and defending Rolex GT Champion and current contender Andy Lally. Lally has not driven a Daytona Prototype since 2003, but has won five GT races and sits just five points behind leader Dirk Werner in that class.

Other teams making a return to Rolex Series Daytona Prototype competition at this weekend’s Crown Royal 200 at The Glen are the No. 8 Synergy Racing Porsche Doran is co-driven by Rick Knoop and David Murry, the No. 31 Matt Connolly Motorsports Pontiac Chase piloted by Matt Connolly, Mike Halpin and Shawn Price, and the No. 7 Tuttle Motorsports Pontiac Riley, with Brian Tuttle as the team’s lead driver.

Crown Royal 200 at The Glen Storylines

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 7, 2007) – Heading into Friday’s 200-mile race at Watkins Glen International, Round 12 of the Daytona Prototype class 14-round 2007 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve schedule (SPEED, Same Day at 8 p.m. ET Friday, Aug. 10), here are some pre-race notes, story angles and interesting trends to follow:

TIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE: With three Daytona Prototype races remaining on the schedule, four drivers still control their own destiny in the championship hunt, while a number of other drivers need the front runners to falter for a shot at the title. Scott Pruett and Max Angelelli are separated by just two points at the top of the standings, while teammates Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney sit nine points behind Pruett... With a three-point advantage over second place for every win, Fogarty and Gurney would finish tied with Pruett if the GAINSCO team captured wins in the last three races and Pruett – with co-driver Memo Rojas – finished second. The Rolex Series tiebreaking system rewards the team with the most wins, which would give the edge to Fogarty and Gurney… All three championship contending teams finished on the podium at the Sahlen’s Six Hours at The Glen in June… Pruett is the 2004 Daytona Prototype champion, while Angelelli captured the title in 2005.

STREAKS: Pruett has top-10 finishes in 16 consecutive Daytona Prototype races, including the final five races of 2006, and has won at least two Daytona Prototype races in each season since 2004… The No. 99 GAINSCO team has led at least one lap in eight straight Daytona Prototype races…

THE TRUEMAN SHOW: The Jim Trueman award honors the accomplishments of sportsman drivers in the Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype class, earning points based upon their car’s final finishing position as well as accumulating one point for each mile driven. With three races to go, Tracy Krohn leads Mark Patterson (3852-3633) for the award.

NASCAR NOTES: Patrick Carpentier will make his NASCAR Nextel Cup debut at Watkins Glen just one week after his making his first-ever Busch Series appearance in Montreal. The Quebec native captured the pole and finished second in the Busch Series race in front of his home fans… Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car regulars represented the series well in Montreal, with Max Papis finishing third in the race. Nic Jönsson, Scott Pruett and Andy Lally all ran near the front late in the Busch Series race before finishing 12th, 14th and 19th respectively.

MILESTONES: Andy Lally, who has won five of the last eight Rolex GT class races, will drive a Daytona Prototype this weekend at Watkins Glen…Darren Law is quickly approaching the century mark in overall Rolex Series starts. With 12 starts this season, Law has 94 career Rolex Series appearances… Jon Fogarty’s pole position at Montreal was the GAINSCO team’s seventh straight pole, tying a Daytona Prototype milestone set by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Pruett and Max Papis in 2004. A pole this weekend by Fogarty or co-driver Alex Gurney will give the duo their 12th straight front row starting position. GAINSCO is also only one victory from tying the single-season overall victory mark, which is shared by the Dyson Racing Team, Bell Motorsports and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates… Pruett earlier this season scored his record 14th overall Rolex Series driver win, while Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates posted its record 15th overall Rolex Series team victory.

Crown Royal 200 at The Glen Fast Facts

What: Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve

Who: Daytona Prototypes, featuring several top American and international sports car

driving stars

Where: Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, New York

When: Friday, Aug. 10, 2007 – 6:30 p.m.

TV: SPEED, Same Day, Friday, Aug. 10, 2007 – 8 p.m.

Schedule of Events (All times local, Eastern Time):

Thursday, Aug. 9

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Practice – Rolex Series Daytona Prototypes

12:45 PM - 1:45 PM Practice – Rolex Series Daytona Prototypes

3:45 PM - 4:30 PM Practice – Rolex Series Daytona Prototypes

4:30 PM - 4:45 PM Qualifying – Rolex Series Daytona Prototypes

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM Rig Parking – NASCAR

7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Final Practice – Rolex Series Daytona Prototypes

Friday, Aug. 10

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM Practice – NASCAR Nextel Cup Series

12:45 PM - 2:20 PM Practice – NASCAR Busch Series

2:30 PM - 3:00 PM Practice – NASCAR Busch Series Rookies

3:10 PM Qualifying – NASCAR Nextel Cup Series

5:30 PM Final Practice – NASCAR Busch Series

6:15 PM Driver Introductions – Rolex Series

6:30 PM START – Crown Royal 200 at The Glen

(200 miles/82 laps/2-hour time limit)

TIME CERTAIN SCHEDULE – All sessions to start and finish as shown

EVENT WEBSITES

Live Timing & Scoring is available for all Rolex Series practices, qualifying sessions and races on the official Grand-Am website – www.grand-am.com. A live audio webcast in English and Spanish is available at www.grand-am.com.