Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell ended a year long victory drought with a well judged GT1 class win in Sunday's Generac 500 American Le Mans Series race at Road America as they finally caught a large slice of good luck.

Fellows and O'Connell eventually ran out with a one-lap margin of victory over their Corvette teammates Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta for what was the 25th career ALMS victory for both drivers. The pair broke a yearlong drought with their first ALMS win since July 2005 and their first victory at Road America.

"I first raced here since 1986, and I've had more second place finishes than they have bratwursts," O'Connell laughed. "It's been a long time for us, and it's great to be back on the top step of the podium. Since our last win together, there have been many races that could have gone our way but didn't. We had a beautiful race car today and a lot of good competition."

Fellows agreed: "It was great fun," said the Canadian ace. "I hated to get out of the car; the longer we ran, the better it got. We've been in position to win and then got unlucky with track position and cautions. This time a caution went our way. The guys never gave up, and Johnny did a fantastic job as always."

The race was essentially decided at 2 hours and 16 minutes when the third full-course caution period of the race began. The two Corvettes had adopted different pit strategies, with the #3 car making its second pit stop at 1:12 and the #4 pitting at 1:41. When the pace car came out for the final caution, the #3 Corvette C6.R had a one-lap
lead on its sister car and the #007 Aston Martin.

O'Connell then pitted under caution and completed his run to the chequered flag in the final half-hour without pressure. Beretta conserved fuel and ran his final one-hour, three-minute stint without a stop.

"When the No. 009 Aston Martin went into a gravel trap early, we were essentially in a situation with two cars versus one," explained Corvette Racing programme manager Doug Fehan. "We had an opportunity to put our cars on different strategies in case there was an inopportune yellow flag or one car got caught behind the pace car. We covered our bets, and it worked out well for us today.

"I suggested after qualifying that this race would depend on good strategy, smart driving, great pit stops and perfect execution," Fehan noted. "That's about the way it turned out."

"The engineers did a great job with the strategy, and with the luck of the caution it could have gone either way for either car," said team manager Gary Pratt. "We don't care which car wins as long as it's a 1-2 Corvette finish. The Astons fought hard, and it was tough for us here with the extra weight our cars are carrying. Our tyres held up perfectly, the engines ran flawlessly, and all of the drivers did a fantastic job."