“We’ve been knocking on the door for a long time this season,” said Hunter-Reay, the IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year. “It’s been a long time coming, so this is great. This is just racing; you never know when your time is going to come. We were there in the right time and the right place. The race today was so much fun. It was a blast, thanks to these guys.”
Also tying its best finish of the season was the SAMAX team, who finished second in the season-opening Rolex 24. Of the three drivers in Saturday’s runner-up finish, only Ryan Dalziel competed at the twice-around-the-clock race. Kris Szekeres, who qualified and started the race in the #11, and Tomas Enge joined Dalziel in Utah.
“Every time I come and drive for SAMAX, it’s one of those weekends where we start slow but always end up battling for the win,” said Dalziel, who also ran with the team at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. “We didn’t have the best car, but we ran consistently.”
Enge climbed into second on the restart following Angelelli’s fire, sliding from fourth to second in the first turn. From there, Enge was able to hang on to the runner-up finish.
Completing a Pontiac sweep of the podium was the #75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley of Colin Braun and Nic Jönsson. Braun made his final full-time start in Rolex Series competition before embarking on a stock car racing career, making a podium finish even sweeter for the 18-year-old.
“We started the car off a little slower during the weekend and fell back a little at the start of the race, but we had a really good car,” Braun said. “Nic did a good job setting the car up. To finish third is a fantastic feat. I’ve just had a blast in these cars in the last couple of years.”
Jönsson claimed his second podium finish of the year in a Krohn Racing machine.
“It was a nice finish of the season to be on the podium,” Jönsson said. “I wish we could have won it, but the podium is nice. It was a pretty rough day in struggling to get the car right. We made some adjustments and everyone did a great job and got the car where it needed to be. Colin did a great job all day. It was nice for the team to end the season with a podium finish and it gives us something to build on for next year.”
![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)
