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'.
![Scott Pruett celebrates pole position in Mexico City [pic credit: Grand-Am media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/197858.jpg)
