IN CLOSE GENERAC 500 AT ROAD AMERICA

In a race that featured some of the closest finishes ever for three of the four classes in the American Le Mans Series, Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro drove their No. 2 Champion Racing Audi to victory for the third straight race.

The duo took a 3.239-second victory at the Generac 500 at Road America, Round 7 of the ALMS. Biela and Pirro finished ahead of the No. 20 Dyson Racing Lola of Andy Wallace and Chris Dyson, and 3.7 seconds ahead of the No. 1 Champion Audi of JJ Lehto and Marco Werner.

Biela and Pirro have extended their lead in the ALMS' LMP1 drivers championship to 15 points with three rounds left.

"We came in with a big lead in the championship, and our strategy was to do our best," Pirro said. "But we knew we didn't have to win races to win the championship. What really made me very happy is that coming here, we were kind of conservative. We were able to come in and win more points. That's why you could see some tears in my eyes when Frankie crossed the finish line. Just kidding!"

All joking aside, it was a toss-up for most of the day between the two Audis and the two Lolas. The pole-sitting No. 16 Lola of James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger ruined its chances when Weaver went into a gravel trap about an hour into the race. Then it boiled down to pit strategy between the two Audis and the No. 20 Lola, which the No. 2 team won in the waning moments when the No. 1 car was assessed a penalty.

Pirro and Biela excelled on the high-speed track, and said they expect to do the same thing two weeks from now at Mosport. Another victory would give them an even stronger hold on the championship.

"It looks a little better than three races ago, there is no doubt. Everyone in our team is very happy," Biela said. "We had three very good races, and it looks really good looking at the points and thinking of the championship. On the other hand, I think we saw three wins in a row from car No. 1 and then it ran into trouble. So we have to keep our focus. I hope that everybody knows that we'll try to do a good job. We do have a comfortable lead."

Despite suffering a minor damage in an early-race collision, the No. 10 Miracle Motorsports Courage of Jeff Bucknum and Chris McMurry took its third LMP2 victory of the season. McMurry and the No. 63 ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen made contact on the opening lap, causing slight rear-left damage that was mostly cosmetic but did slow the car down.

But the Courage was the main beneficiary when the No. 37 Intersport Lola, with Liz Halliday at the wheel, caught fire just shy of the 30-minute mark. Halliday was able to exit the car, but the damage already was done.

"I was coming through the Canada corner smelling smoke, then I lost the gears, and next thing I know the guys are radioing me that I'm on fire," Halliday said. "All I was worried about was getting off the track and not causing a 7 car pile up. I just wanted to stay out of everyone's way."

The misfortune also moved Bucknum and McMurry back into first place in the class driver championship standings by 6 points over Clint Field, Halliday's teammate. Miracle also holds the same margin over Intersport in the team standings.

"(The collision) broke the left corner of the diffuser and a little bodywork," Bucknum said. "It was a little scary as it was cutting into the tire, but fortunately it didn't cut the tire without getting deep enough to lose air. Once it was fixed, it drove great."

Corvette Racing clinched the GT1 team championship and manufacturers title Sunday in the Generac 500 at Road America. The No. 19 van der Steur Racing Lola of Ben Devlin and Gunnar van der Steur finished second. That matched its best finish of the season, which came at Lime Rock.

The No. 4 Corvette Racing Corvette C6-R of Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin held off the No. 3 sister car in a thrilling victory in GT1, a 0.142 margin of victory. The two-time reigning Le Mans class winners won for the third time in four races and climbed within 3 points of the class drivers championship lead, held by Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell in the No. 3 Corvette.

"I think things have fallen into place for Olivier and myself over the last few races," Gavin said. "We've seemed to jell and get things going. We had a little luck today, and we want to keep it up. Mosport is usually good for us. We know it's Ron home track, but we won there last year. We're looking forward to the rest of the year."

More important for all four drivers was clinching a fifth straight team championship for Corvette Racing and Corvette's fifth consecutive manufacturer's title.

"It's very impressive considering its the first year of the C6-R, still with three rounds to go," Gavin said. "And we had 25 extra kilos, so that says a lot."

The 1-2 finish for Corvette Racing also gave Michelin the GT1 tire championship, its second in a row.

"After the yellow, I knew Johnny is a good driver and is good on a restart," Beretta said. "The last thing I want is contact between the two yellow ‘Vettes. I didn't need to take any risks. I just tried to take care and pushing just a little bit to make sure I didn't overtake him. It was important to finish 1-2 again. It was a great show for the TV and the fans. It's perfect."

The No. 31 Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Porsche won in GT2 Sunday to tighten the class points race. The No. 31 Petersen Motorsports/White Lighting Racing Porsche of Patrick Long and Romain Dumas returned to victory lane for the first time since the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The victory meant Porsche claimed its fourth straight GT2 manufacturer's championship.

Patrick Long held off Romain Dumas and the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche during the last five minutes after Dumas was forced to make a late stop for fuel during a caution period with less than 10 minutes to go while leading.

That put Jon Fogarty in the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche in the lead, but Long passed Fogarty with about six minutes left on the first lap following the restart.

Dumas and Timo Bernhard maintained their lead in the drivers championship standings, but it was trimmed to 2 points over Long and Bergmeister. The difference is the same in the team standings, with Alex Job Racing over Petersen/White Lightning.

"I had the mentality that I wasn't going to give this one up. It would have been interesting if he would have made a run," Long said. "We've shown that we can run with them. For race victories, we've been chasing them. It was another great one. For a single car team from Las Vegas going against the guys from AJR, that's something else."

Founders Cup awards went to Ian Baas (first place), Justin Jackson (second place) and Chris McMurry (third place). The awards go to the privateers who best demonstrate the ideals of "Gentlemen Drivers" in the ALMS.

The next round of the American Le Mans Series is the Grand Prix of Mosport, set for 3 p.m. EDT Sept. 4 at Mosport International Raceway, with live coverage on SPEED Channel. Qualifying is scheduled for 2:45 p.m. EDT Sept. 3. American Le Mans Radio and IMSA Live Timing & Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.

Generac 500 at Road America - Sunday's race results

1. (4) Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Frank Biela, Germany; Audi R8 (1, P1), 72.2. (3) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Andy Wallace, England; Lola EX257 AER (2, P1), 72.3. (2) JJ Lehto, Finland; Marco Werner, Germany; Audi R8 (3, P1), 72.4. (8) Oliver Gavin, England; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Corvette C6-R (4, GT1), 71.5. (9) Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny O`Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6-R (5, GT1), 71.6. (6) Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Jeff Bucknum, Lake Havasu City, AZ; Courage C-65 (6, P2), 69.7. (7) Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Michael Lewis, San Diego, CA; Riley & Scott MRK IIIC (7, P1), 69.8. (11) Andrea Bertolini, Italy; Fabrizio de Simone, Italy; Maserati MC12 (8, GT1), 69.9. (17) Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (9, GT2), 69.10. (16) Timo Bernhard, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (10, GT2), 69.11. (18) Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Jon Fogarty, Palo Alto, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (11, GT2), 69.12. (1) James Weaver, England; Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Lola EX257 AER (12, P1), 68.13. (20) Wolf Henzler, Germany; Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (13, GT2), 68.14. (14) Ben Devlin, England; Gunnar Van der Steur, Chesapeake City, MD; Lola B2K/40 AER (14, P2), 67.15. (19) Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; Robin Liddell, Scotland; Panoz Esperante eGTLM (15, GT2), 67.16. (22) Ian Baas, Noblesville, IN; Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (16, GT2), 67.17. (24) Bryan Sellers, Centerville, OH; Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Panoz Esperante eGTLM (17, GT2), 67.18. (21) Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (18, GT2), 67.19. (23) Justin Jackson, Buford, GA; Tim Sudgen, England; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (19, GT2), 66.20. (15) Tom Weickardt, Whitefish Bay, WI; Michele Rugulo, Italy; Dodge Viper (20, GT1), 66.21. (12) Ryan Dalziel, Scotland; Alex Figge, Hollywood, CA; Corvette C5-R (21, GT1), 61, Rear Suspension.22. (10) Johnny Mowlem, England; Terry Borcheller, Gainesville, GA; Saleen S7R (22, GT1), 58, Lost Wheel.23. (5) Liz Halliday, Rancho Santa Fe, CA; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B05/40/AER (23, P2), 13, Fire.24. (13) Jamie Bach, West Palm Beach, FL; Guy Cosmo, Long Island, NY; Courage Mazda (24, P2), 2, Drive train failure.

Unofficial points

LMP1Emanuele Pirro 124Frank Biela 124Andy Wallace 109Chris Dyson 106Marco Werner 100JJ Lehto 100James Weaver 95Butch Leitzinger 95Tom Kristensen 26Allan McNish 22Michael Lewis 18Bryan Willman 18Guy Smith 16Tom Chilton 10Hayanari Shimoda 10

LMP2Jeff Bucknum 82Chris McMurry 82Clint Field 76Jamie Bach 65Guy Cosmo 65Ben Devlin 45Jon Field 36Gunnar van der Steur 32Ian James 26Liz Halliday 20Gregor Fisken 20Erik van der Steur 13

GT1Ron Fellows 130Johnny O`Connell 130Olivier Beretta 127Oliver Gavin 127Johnny Mowlem 65Terry Borcheller 65Alex Figge 65Ryan Dalziel 65Michele Rugolo 48Tom Weickardt 48Darren Turner 26Stephane Ortelli 26David Brabham 26Max Papis 22Jan Magnussen 19Ralf Kelleners 16David Empringham 12Jean-Philippe Belloc 10Stephane Sarrazin 9Pedro Lamy 9Peter Kox 9Fabrizio De Simone 0Mika Salo 0

GT2Romain Dumas 112Timo Bernhard 112Patrick Long 110Jorg Bergmeister 110Jon Fogarty 82Joh. van Overbeek 82Robin Liddell 59Tim Sugden 51Justin Jackson 41Wolf Henzler 41Bill Auberlen 39Mike Rockenfeller 33Ian Baas 29Nic Jonsson 28Marino Franchitti 28Darren Law 27Lucas Luhr 26Bryan Sellers 25Seth Neiman 24Lonnie Pechnik 24Randy Pobst 21Michael Cawley 17Marc Sluszny 16Martin Jensen 16Tracy Krohn 16Andrew Thompson 14Michael Vergers 14Juan Barazi 14Spencer Pumpelly 12Steve Ivankovich 12Andy Lally 12Tony Burgess 12Christophe Tinseau 8Michael Galati 6Scott Maxwell 5Sascha Maassen 4Rick Skelton 1