Rolex Grand-Am Series Canadian Tire 200 at The Glen

Max Angelelli held on to defeat hard-charging Scott Pruett to give the SunTrust Racing team of Angelelli and Ricky Taylor the Daytona Prototype and overall victory in the Canadian Tires 200 at The Glen. Pruett and his Chip Ganassi Racing partner Memo Rojas drove aggressively throughout the two hour "sprint" race but could never quite get past the leaders on the twists and turns of Watkins Glen.

Spencer Pumpelly kept Jordan Taylor at bay as fuel mileage played a role in the results. The team of Pumpelly and Steven Bertheau stayed near the front the whole race and it paid off with a victory in the GT class. The race officially ran 2 hours, 2 minutes and 2 seconds and 100 laps on the 2.450 miletrack, with a single caution for 3 laps. There were 3 overall leaders including Ricky Taylor (laps 5-33), Burt Frisselle (laps 34-55), Max Angelelli (laps 56-64), Ryan Dalziel (lap 65), Max Angelelli (66-100).

Some NASCAR regulars competed in the GT class. Joey Logano teamed with Boris Said, and Roush-Fenway drivers David Ragan and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. joined to gain more experience in road-course racing and to gain familiarity with the track. Sunoco Rookie of the Year Candidate Andy Lally returned to his home track partnered with Duncan Ende.

Logano, who almost snagged the GT pole until he crashed during qualifying, spun early in the race when the car leaked fluid and he ran over it but kept going, dropping back to 20th, but moving back up as high as 10th place, After the driver change that liquid proved to be power steering fluid, which kept Boris Said at the back of the pack, finishing 32nd overall.

Ragan and Stenhouse started in 11th, and David Ragan soon powered to third place in the class, holding that position and even briefly sitting in second until the driver change. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., took over in 17th place and moved up gradually, finishing 12th in the GT class, 23rd overall.

Andy Lally's partner Duncan Ende began the race in 15th and never really moved higher than 11th in the GT class. Lally wasn't able to improve much on that position and the pair ended up 15th in class and 26th overall.

Overall finishing order for the Canadian Tire 200 at The Glen, with the class finishing position numbered beside the name of the driver finishing the race.

1 Max Angelelli

2 Scott Pruett

3 Ryan Dalziel

4 Mark Wilkins

5 Oswaldo Negri, Jr.

6 Darren Law

7 Joao Barbosa

8 Brian Frisselle

9 Mark Blundell

10 Antonio Garcia

11 Jorg Bergmeister

1 Spencer Pumpelly

2 Jordan Taylor

3 Craig Stanton

4 Jonathan Bomarito

5 Bill Auberlen

6 Dane Cameron

7 Leh Keen

8 John Edwards

9 Oliver Gavin

10 Jeff Segal

11 Joe Foster

12 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

13 Eric Foss

14 Tom Long

15 Andy Lally

16 Wayne Nonnamaker

17 Joey Hand

18 Will Nonnamaker

19 Mark Jensen

20 Jan Magnussen

21 Boris Said

22 Jon Fogarty

Race coverage included interviews with various NASCAR personalities, including Jack Roush who started the broadcast by saying, “I’ve forgotten more about GT racing than these guys know,” and was noncommittal about fielding a team in the 50^th Anniversary 24 Hours of Rolex.

Jeff Gordon was in the winner’s pit box watching as the team he raced with in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in 2007 dominated the race. When asked when he’d be back in a Daytona prototype, Gordon indicated he would love to do it but said that such an undertaking required a great deal of scheduling to do it properly and that’s difficult with the commitments he currently has, especially his two children.

The Grand Am series will be in Montreal next weekend at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the Montreal 200. For more coverage of the Rolex Grand Am series, visit www.grand-am.com.