Team TELMEX Rebounds and Finishes in Ninth Place at New Jersey Motorsports Park

MILLVILLE, N.J. August 31, 2008- A single-car accident involving No.01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) driver Scott Pruett during Thursday’s promoter test day at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) saw the racing veteran and team recover in a rapid manner to score a top-10 finishing position (ninth) in Sunday’s race after missing Friday and Saturday practices and a qualification run.

Pruett was evaluated and released from a regional hospital after the accident on Thursday afternoon; he was later cleared to drive in Sunday’s race after being released from a specialist on Friday morning. Meanwhile, the No.01 team flew back to their Indianapolis shop to rebuild the No.01 TELMEX/Target 2008 Rolex 24 At Daytona winning car since the primary car was retired after the accident. After a 16-hour turnaround on Friday, the team returned to the east coast on Saturday and turned the first laps in the back-up car during Sunday morning’s final practice.

The No.01 Daytona Prototype (DP) started the race from pit lane in the timed two hour, forty-five minute event with Pruett at the helm and pitted under yellow on lap 2, which enabled the team to advance to second place by lap 20 when the leaders made their first stop. Pruett maintained a top-five running position during laps 20 through 54 as he avoided contact with a GT car and navigated through traffic. A caution on lap 54 pulled the TELMEX team off of their driver change pit strategy. Rojas got in the car on lap 57 and maintained a consistent top-10 running position and inherited positions as other drivers made errors throughout the remaining 48 laps and crossed the finish line in ninth place.

Pruett and Rojas will enter the 1,000K season-closer at Miller Motorsports Park (MMP) with a 38-point lead in the Rolex series driver and team championship race with 386 points, over the No.99 Fogarty/Gurney car (348).

The team will visit MMP in Tooele, Utah on Saturday, Sept. 20th for the Discount Tire Sunchaser at 11:00 AM MT. The race will air on SPEED at 1:00 PM ET on Sept. 20th.

CGRFS Quoteboard:

Scott Pruett: “I can’t say enough about the TELMEX team, we overcame a huge obstacle this weekend and I’m thankful I’m able to be back in the car and the guys worked so hard to have the back-up car ready to race today. Everyone on this team pushed their limit this weekend and the result is great. Besides the soreness that’s expected after an accident, I feel good and wanted to be back in the car. We finished strong today, we got our points and for that, we all have reason to be proud of our accomplishment this weekend. I’m looking forward to closing out the season in winning fashion in Salt Lake City.”

Memo Rojas: “Naturally, I wanted to finish better than we did today. The track felt very loose to me, and I always want to finish on the top of the podium. I know today was successful in the big picture of things because we scored necessary points and we have a very strong lead going into Salt Lake City and we just need to do a few more things right and then we’ll have achieved our year-long goal.”