Scott Pruett beat Alex Gurney in a sprint to the chequered flag to win Thursday's Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway by just 0.081secs, the closest finish in the history of the Grand-Am Rolex Series.
It was the fifth - and most dramatic - victory of 2008 for Pruett and co-driver Memo Rojas, who kept the #01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates entry at the head of the points table with an improved 40-point margin over the field after their seventh podium finish of the season.
"That Pruett's the man," Chip Ganassi said, "This track rewards great drivers, and it did that tonight. Winning felt good here in Daytona [when Ganassi won his third consecutive Rolex 24], but it felt even better tonight."
The final margin of victory bettered a mark already held by Pruett who, along with former co-driver and Luis Diaz, edged Wayne Taylor and Max Angelelli by 0.096secs at California Speedway in 2005.
"I had just enough to get by Alex at the start/finish line," said Pruett, who extended his Rolex Series record to 19 victories, "but I've got to give it to Grand-Am for putting on a great show."
Gurney and co-driver Jon Fogarty were aiming for their second consecutive triumph at the wheel of the #99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley, and thought it was possible as Gurney passed Pruett for the lead with 22 laps remaining, and led through to the final 100 yards of the race. However, as the 70-lap, 250-mile, race ended with a one-lap sprint to the finish following a fifth and final caution - caused when Jeff Segal flipped the second-place GT class SpeedSource FXDD Mazda RX-8 after an altercation with a Daytona Prototype - Pruett proved to have just enough in the tank to snatch victory.
"This is pretty big for us because we've never won this specific race in
Daytona," the veteran commented, "Memo did a great job and the crew did a great job. Lexus gave us a good engine package and we got the most out of it - but I really didn't think we'd see green after that crash - and it was a horrific crash.
