by Lynne Huntting
Scott Pruett is 'living the dream'. He makes his living as a professional race car driver and, in his spare time, works his own family vineyards, which he started five years ago.
This Saturday, he and co-driver Memo Rojas will race the Telmex Lexus Riley
Daytona Prototype in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series at Infineon Raceway in Northern California's wine country. But, come win or lose, by 6am Sunday morning, Pruett will be harvesting his first crop of Syrah grapes. Timing is everything.
Pruett and Rojas, who race for Chip Ganassi Racing, are leading the Grand-Am drivers' championship by 49 points, with six wins and nine podium finishes behind them this season. Statistically, they only have to finish twelfth or better in the remaining three races to win the 2008 championship.
As such, it looks to be a great weekend for Pruett, as he stands to take another step towards winning a record eighth American sports car championship, and starts harvesting what, next March, will become 25 cases of Lewis Cellars Syrah, Pruett Vineyard.
Pruett notes the contrast between the 'instant gratification' of winning a race and waiting five years for the reward of his first harvest. He's not used to waiting. He made a 'practice run' last year, using some surplus Grenache grapes from his neighbour, and made his first wine this spring. The olive-drab label says 'Section 8 First Shot - 2007 Grenache' and shows the 1942 US Army Military Police Willys Jeep owned by Pruett. You have to a fan of
M*A*S*H to get the joke.
Pruett got started on his vineyard with the help of a former
IndyCar rival, Randy Lewis, who has his own winery but has no land or vines - he buys his grapes. Pruett, who considers Lewis his mentor, will soon be selling
his grapes to Lewis in search of the goal of 'high-end, spectacular wine'.
Lewis, meanwhile, will be at the track Saturday to watch Pruett race - and hopefully take a step towards adding to his first championship in
Daytona Prototypes, as well as three Trans-Am Championships, two IMSA GTO titles, and one IMSA GT Endurance championship. He currently ties with Peter Greg for seven titles.
The 48-year old Pruett also writes children's books with wife Judy. All have a racing theme and are based on things which happened in Pruett's long and varied career. As they wanted to maintain creative control, the Pruetts formed their own publishing company - Word Weaver.
The fourth-generation California boy isn't sure how long he'll continue racing, but he wants to retire when he's on top and has hinted that he like to do more TV work. He likes the Grand-Am schedule, which allows him lots of time with his wife and three children, and is currently enjoying a good fit with Ganassi - setting records and winning a championship, although he doesn't tend to dwell on records.
