Seven Championships To Be Decided At Champions Weekend in California
Seven of 10 championships in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series - including a tight Daytona Prototypedrivers battle - will be decided in the season-ending Lexus Grand AmericanChampions Weekend, October 29-31 (SPEED Channel, October 31 at 4 p.m. ET).
Daytona Prototype championship points leaders Max Papis and Scott Pruett inthe No. 01 CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley have battled with the No.10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley of Wayne Taylor for the majority of theseason. Only three points separate the top trio (327-324), and it is likelyeither the Ganassi teammates or Taylor will leave the California finale asthe 2004 Daytona Prototype Champion.
Both the Ganassi duo and Taylor have three wins this season. Taylor mostrecently won the VIR 400 presented by SunTrust at Virginia InternationalRaceway two races ago, while Pruett and Papis' claimed their last victory inthe EMCO Gears Mid-Ohio Road Racing Classic at the Mid-Ohio Road RacingClassic.
No. 2 CITGO Howard-Boss Motorsports Pontiac Crawford driver Andy Wallace -who has two wins this season both at Homestead - stands in fourth with 309points and is still alive for the championship. Taylor's teammate Angelelliis fifth with 301 tallies and Wallace' teammate Milka Duno is sixth (292points). Both are still mathematically eligible, but once their teammatestake the green flag, will be eliminated from contention.
No. 02 CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley driver Jimmy Morales isseventh (277 points). No. 27 Doran-Lista Racing Lexus Doran driver DidierTheys is eighth nine points back. Elliott Forbes-Robinson and ButchLeitzinger - drivers of the No. 4 Howard-Boss Motorsports Pontiac Crawford -move up to ninth with their first victory of the season two weeks ago in thePorsche 250 presented by Bradley Arant at Barber Motorsports Park.
The team and manufacturer championships are also still too close to call.The No. 01 CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing team leads the No. 10 SunTrust Racingteam by three - the same amount as the driver standings - with the No. 2CITGO Howard-Boss Motorsports entry in contention 24 points back. Themanufacturer championship has developed into a two-horse race as Pontiac andLexus are separated by only 13 points heading to California (369-356). TheDaytona Prototype chassis constructor championship will also be decided withRiley holding a 24 point lead over Crawford (356-332).
Among the championships that have already are both team titles in the GT andSGS categories and the manufacturer crown in SGS. The No. 21 PrototypeTechnology Group BMW M3 clinched the GT team championship with its seventhclass victory of the season in the Porsche 250, while TPC Racing team willhave the distinction of being the only SGS team champion. Porsche claimedthe manufacturer title following the VIR 400.
Although the team championship has been clinched in GT, the driverchampionship battle isn't over yet. No. 21 PTG BMW driver Bill Auberlenleads fellow PTG driver Boris Said by seven points (348-341). Because thetwo have such a healthy lead, PTG will be guaranteed to claim the top twospots as long as each driver takes a green flag lap in California.
Auberlen's co-driver Justin Marks is third with 315 points, and with hisclass win at Barber, increased his lead to 17 points over No. 66 The Racer'sGroup Porsche drivers Chris Gleason, Ian James and RJ Valentine. Thethreesome finished 12th in class in the race and will need a strong finishin California to reclaim the third-place spot and avoid the PTG sweep.
No. 67 The Racer's Group Porsche driver Kevin Bucker is seventh with 293points. Close behind is Said's co-driver of the No. 22 PTG BMW Joey Hand. Hetrails Buckler by nine. No. 33 Scuderia Ferrari of Washington drivers EmilAssentato and Stephen Earle round out the top 10 with 269 points each.
The 2004 GT team championship has been decided, but the race for secondisn't over. The No. 22 PTG team has moved into second after it'ssecond-place finish last weekend and have 305 points. The No. 66 The Racer'sGroup team dropped to third, but trail the No. 22 team by only three points.BMW still leads Porsche heading into the final race (357-344), whileMaserati is third with 280 points.
In addition to the team SGS championship for the No. 38 TPC Racing team,drivers Andy Lally and Marc Bunting have a healthy points lead heading intoCalifornia. The twosome added three points to their lead over TPC team ownerand driver of the No. 36 TPC machine Michael Levitas heading to Californiawith their class win last weekend at Virginia (345-329). No. 37 TPC Racingdriver John Littlechild is fourth with 301 points. Like GT, because of theirpoints lead, a TPC driver will be guaranteed to win the SGS driverchampionship after they take the green flag.
Orison-Planet Earth Motorsports Porsche driver Joe Nonnamaker is fifth with282 points, Levitas' teammate in the No. 37 Porsche is sixth with 276points, while No. 47 Michael Baughman Racing Porsche Bob Ward andOrison-Planter Earth Motorsports driver Wayne Nonnamaker are tied forseventh with 260 points. Wards's co-driver of the No. 47 Michael Baughman isninth two points back, while No. 86 G&W Motorsports Porsche driver Mae VanWijk rounds out the top ten with 210 points.
With the SGS team champion already determined - the No. 38 TPC RacingPorsche - the battle for second isn't over. The No. 36 TPC Racing team leadsthe No. 41 Orison-Planet Earth Motorsports team by only six points headingin to the last race of the season (297-291). Porsche continues its dominancein manufacturer standings with its win at Virginia. The manufacturer leadsChevrolet by 160 points (382-202). Ferrari is third with 42 points.
Next weekend's Lexus Grand American Champions Weekend at California Speedwaywill air live on SPEED Channel at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 31. Ticketsare available by calling 1-800-PIT-SHOP or by visitingcaliforniaspeedway.com.
