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Team TELMEX Finishes Sixth at Infineon Raceway, Keeps Championship Lead


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SONOMA, Calif. August 23, 2008- In the caution-scarce 102-lap event at Infineon Raceway, No.01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates drivers Memo Rojas and Scott Pruett started fifth and finished in sixth place as they overcame a mid-race penalty to score a top-10 finish to maintain their lead in the 2008 Rolex Series Driver and Team points championship.

Rojas maintained a fifth place running position until he turned the car over to Pruett on lap 23. After the driver change Californian Pruett advanced from 11th to fourth place while managing loose handling conditions through certain areas on the track. With the race’s first and only caution (lap 58), Pruett scored the team’s race-high running position (third) until officials deemed unnecessary contact with the No.58 car which resulted in a drive-through penalty for the TELMEX team. Pruett methodically worked his way through traffic for the remaining 35 laps and finished in sixth place.

Pruett and Rojas continue to lead the Rolex series driver and team championship race with 364 points, 42 markers over the No.99 Fogarty/Gurney car (322).

Next up for the team is the inaugural Supercar Life 250 at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Sunday, August 31st in Millville, New Jersey. (1:00 PM ET, SPEED).

CGRFS Quoteboard:

Scott Pruett: “It’s always nice to race in Sonoma since Judy (wife), the kids and I have so many friends and family in town. There’s no doubt we came here to win and had a car capable of finishing on the podium. The drive-through cost us that podium, but we did what needed to be done to get another consistent finish. That’s what it takes to win the championship – we can’t give up anything and we have to constantly be smart with every move on the track. There’s no doubt these last two races (New Jersey and Salt Lake City) will be exciting.”

Memo Rojas: “Today was a bit tough because I always want to finish a race on top. We worked hard through practice to make the car as fast as possible and I wanted to make sure I kept a high running position during my time in the car. It’s good that we still have the championship lead, but we all know that the last two races have to be strong to achieve our goal.”