The race’s fourth full-course caution after contact between the #23 Alex Job Racing Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Porsche Crawford and the #61 AIM Autosport Exchange Traded Gold/Barrick Gold Lexus Riley on Lap 124 sent the Ruby Tuesday machine spinning and set up the final showdown for the championship, now down to just two contenders. Gurney restarted in fifth on Lap 127 with Pruett two spots behind, and five laps later Oswaldo Negri in the #60 Michael Shank Racing Lexus Riley slipped past Gurney – leaving the battle for the championship nose-to-tail.
With only six laps remaining in the season, the sun was setting on both the race and Pruett’s championship aspirations. While attempting to get by Gurney on Lap 132, Pruett made contact with the rear of the GAINSCO machine, with Gurney falling to 11th and Pruett climbing to eighth.
Race officials ruled the contact avoidable and assessed Pruett a drive through penalty for the incident. Pruett served the penalty at the end of Lap 136, returning to the track in 10th place – two slots behind Gurney. Pruett improved to ninth position when the chequered flag flew after Lap 139, one spot behind the GAINSCO car.
”We were racing coming around the back and Negri got around him and I was going inside of him, and he ducked down on me a little bit,” Pruett said. “We touched just briefly and got up on the line. No spin or nothing, he just got off the line. This team has a lot to be proud of. We worked hard all year and raced clean all year.”
With the finish, Gurney and Fogarty become the fifth different
Daytona Prototype champions since the class was introduced in 2003, joining Terry Borcheller (2003), Pruett and Max Papis (2004), Angelelli and Wayne Taylor (2005) and Jörg Bergmeister (2006).
![GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing duo Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney celebrate a long-awaited Rolex Series win in Mexico City [pic credit: Grand-Am media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/294493.jpg)
