Pruett and Rojas Six-Hour Endurance Win Start to Another Big Weekend

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 7, 2008)-Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas endured unseasonably warm weather at Watkins Glen International (WGI) in the No.01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) Lexus to score their fourth victory in six races. As a result of a shortened qualifying session the TELMEX team started from pit lane and relied on a flexible race strategy to lead 39 of the final 64 laps in the six-hour event.

Pruett started the race and maneuvered the No.01 TELMEX Daytona Prototype up to fourth place before a driver change at the end of the first hour. With a short rain during his stint, Rojas focused on working his way through traffic and consistently remained in the top-five through the half-way mark (hour three). With the final three hours remaining Pruett resumed the helm and capitalized on fast lap times and set the quickest lap of the race (1:43.151) to build his lead in the final 50 minutes of the race.

The TELMEX team’s victory marked Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Inc.’s (CGR) eighth win in 12 starts for its IndyCar and Rolex Series programs. Saturday’s win was the start to another noteworthy day at CGR as Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon won the evening’s IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway, the third time in the 2008 season the teams have scored back-to-back victories on the same day.

Pruett continues to extend his record Rolex Series career victories (18). Saturday’s dual win denotes CGR’s 96th and 97th career wins. The No.01 TELMEX team has now scored top-10 finishing positions and completed every lap for nearly two years (since June 29, 2006).

Pruett and Rojas currently lead the Rolex series driver and team championship race with 202 points, 36 points over the No.91 Goossens/Matthews car (166).

Next up for the team is the EMCO Gears Classic on Saturday, June 20th at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio (LIVE June 20th 5:00 PM ET, SPEED).

CGRFS Quoteboard:

Scott Pruett “Today was really a testament to how well the TELMEX team works together. Yesterday (qualifying) was very upsetting because we knew we had a car capable of sitting on pole, but we weren’t able to achieve that. We all knew the race was going to be long and we had to be smart, yet aggressive enough to make our way to the front. The last stint wasn’t that bad – I feel good right now. The heat has never been something that bothers me very much, so I knew what the job was at hand and we had a strong Lexus engine and Pirelli tires that held up well through the race. Today was a great win for the TELMEX Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates team and we couldn’t be more proud of our current points situation.”

Memo Rojas “Wow, today was great. I mean Scott just did a heck of a job by being in the car for the final three hours. At times I got a bit warm, but the cautions allowed me to catch my breath and drive hard for the remainder of the race. I enjoy racing at Watkins Glen and was glad to be on top of the podium here. We definitely faced some difficult times early in the weekend, but the race result shows how well the TELMEX and Ganassi team works to give us the best car possible every race.”