At the finish line, it was the Gainsco Pontiac Riley, coming back from a massive accident in Friday’s practice, that took the win, with the Telmex Lexus Riley right behind. Third across the line was the Shank Racing Ford-Riley, finally back on the podium after six races of bad luck.
“It was really slick out there at the end and I didn’t feel very good under breaking,” said Alex Gurney. “Great strategy by the team; it was just enough to hold it in front of Scott [Pruett] and he did a good job of racing me clean. So a great deal for Gainsco for the championship.
“We had a feeling we weren’t going to be so lucky to maintain that gap and when the yellow came out we knew we were going to have to fight for it,” said co-driver John Fogarty. “That’s the way it is with the 01 [Telmex Ganassi car] all the time.”
At the start of the race the championship was extremely close: three points covered the top three teams. After the race, it was closer. The win moved Gainsco-Stallings into a tie for the lead with Telmax Ganassi, with SunTrust Racing in third by a single point.
Scott Pruett was enthusiastic after the race. “That was another great race for Grand Am. The Gainsco guys ran good, and I can’t say enough for Memo [co-driver Memo Rojas]. The championship fight continues. It’s all tied up.”
The race started badly for the Penske Porsche, fifth in the standings, as driver Roman Dumas lost control just after the start, damaging the car which had already been rebuilt once over the weekend after crashing heavily in practice.
