Thursday, October 9, 2008

Grand Am Champions

Recently, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas made history in Endurance racing, as teammates of the #01 Telmex/Lexus/Riley Daytona Prototype, became winners of the 2008 Grand Am Team and Driver Championships, along with giving TCGR team owner Chip Ganassi another racing crown, as “The Cheepster” now has a total of eleven Championship trophies on display... Six Open Wheel titles; Four CART, (1996-99) two IRL, (2003, ’08) to complement his two (2004, ’08) Grand Am Driver’s and three Team titles,

With Pruett claiming this year’s Driver’s and Team titles,, these achievements see the Californian collecting his eighth major road racing Championship, which surpasses the tally of the late Peter Gregg’s record seven titles, as “Scooter” has a long, diverse and distinguished career in Sports Car racing. Pruett captured three titles for Jack Roush behind the wheel of a then dominant Lincoln Mercury product known as the Merkur XR4T , Collecting two IMSA GTO crown’s,(1986, ‘88) with his first Trans Am title sandwiched in-between, (1987) also in the wicked XR4T(i), which I’m assuming utilized Roush Racing’s tube frame Mustang engineering... (Pruett also collected the ’86 IMSA Endurance championship with co-driver Bruce Jennings, behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang)

Pruett then collected a further two Trans Am Championships in 1994 and 2003, first behind the wheel of a Pratt & Miller(?) Chevrolet “Works” Camaro and then later for Rocketsports Racing in a Jaguar, before graduating to the Grand American Road Racing series and becoming the series first repeat Driver’s Champion..

Meanwhile, Memo Rojas, although perhaps not as accomplished as his mercurial co-driver Scott Pruett, nevertheless, has just become the very first Mexican to win a major racing championship in the United States.

Now I've gotta start watching my 5+ hours of Petit Le Mans tape delayed coverage...