THIS WEEK

 

OUTSIDE MIRROR: MONTREAL

Up on “Mount Penske” (Penske Racing’s towering pit box having only slightly lower elevation than that of nearby Mont Real) sitting to “The Captain” Roger Penske’s right during the Rolex Series race was 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champ Rusty Wallace, headset and all. Wallace’s departure from Raymond Beadle’s Blue Max Racing Team at the end of 1990 signaled its end and the beginning of Penske South (of which present-day Verizon Wireless No. 12  Porsche-Riley team director John Erickson also owned a piece). Wallace retired from Sprint Cup Racing at 2005’s conclusion but soon thereafter jumped in a 2006 Rolex 24 At Daytona ride, co-driving Howard-Boss’ Callaway Golf-sponsored Pontiac-Crawford with Danica Patrick, Alan McNish and Jan Lammers. Finishing 50th of the 66 cars starting the 2006 race, it was Wallace’s last DP driving effort but who may yet become a team owner as he is among many NASCAR owners reportedly taking a hard look at the Rolex Series.

Former Penske South and present-day Rusty Wallace Racing driver Brendan Gaughan is a personable sort who tends to make newfound acquaintances quickly feel like lifelong friends. Gaughan hadn’t previously raced on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and decided to maximize his experience there by teaming with Andy Lally in Kevin Buckler’s TRG No. 66 South Point Porsche GT-class racer. Pulling his stint and keeping the car from bouncing off Circuit Gilles Villeneuve’s walls, Gaughan successfully handed off to Lally who drove the car home to a second-place finish. Finishing ninth the next day in his No. 62 South Point Casino Nationwide Car, Gaughan claimed his sixth 2009 top-10 finish in that series.

Three different engine manufacturers were represented on each of the Rolex Series’ DP and GT Montreal podiums. In finishing order, DP had Ford, Porsche and Pontiac (still in business) and GT had Pontiac, Porsche and Mazda.

“I didn’t let him pass, I just didn’t want to wreck him,” said Ricky Taylor, who with first-shift driver Mike Forest and their No. 13 Beyer Racing Chevrolet-Riley came within less than one lap of claiming their first DP podium. Closing fast on Taylor was the No. 99 GAINSCO car of Alex Gurney (at the wheel) and Jon Fogarty. “They’re in the points fight and I didn’t see any point in potentially wrecking both of us out and tearing up good equipment with so little time left in the race,” the 21-year-old Taylor added while at Dorval/P.E. Trudeau International awaiting his return-flight home Sunday.

Scoring their highest finish thus far in the 2009 Rolex Series Daytona Prototype class were Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard in the No. 12 Verizon Wireless Porsche-Riley. Finishing second at Montreal, the pair had previously finished with a third-best at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

Three drivers can now claim back-to-back Rolex Series wins at the 2.71- mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve: Andrew Davis, Robin Liddell and Brian Frisselle. Driving Stevenson Motorsports’ No. 57 BryanMark Financial Pontiac, Davis and Liddell teamed for the win both years, while Frisselle with Mark Wilkins won last year in the No. 61 Aim Autosport Ford-Riley, this year teaming with Max Angelelli (who won the inaugural Montreal race in 2007) in the No. 10 SunTrust Ford Dallara.

TELMEX Chip Ganassi w/ Felix Sabates’ team director Tim Keene unabashedly claimed blame for the retrospectively ill-advisable rain-to-dry-to-rain tires in and around the time No. 01 Lexus-Riley starter Scott Pruett handed off to Memo Rojas. “I made the call and I’ll take the blame,” Keene said Tuesday while appearing on WELE 1380 AM’s Grand-Am Weekly radio show. Pruett and Rojas held a four-point lead coming into the Montreal race but ceded nine points by race end, dropping the pair into a second-place points tie with Angelelli and Frisselle (269 pt.), five-points behind a first-place Fogarty and Gurney (274). Keene also related as to how he, at the time a Target/Chip Ganassi Racing hauler driver, nearly took out Chip Ganassi and father Floyd Ganassi. “I almost lost my job,” Keene understated. Nevertheless, it’s pretty clear the Ganassi operation likes to promote from within.

For all the conspiracy theorists out there: Why didn’t SunTrust car-owner Wayne Taylor order son Ricky Taylor take out Alex Gurney in that last lap? About the only people who didn’t see Gurney coming on like a freight train are somewhere in Papua, New Guinea

Four Rolex Series Daytona Prototype teams have won two or more races in 2009: Angelelli and Frisselle (2 races); Pruett and Rojas (2); Nic Jönsson and Ricardo Zonta (2); while Gurney and Fogarty teamed for three victories.

With two events remaining on the Rolex Series 12-race 2009 schedule, the two 2009 Rolex Series season’s rain races - New Jersey Motorsports Park and Montreal - produced the two largest victory margins (47.752-seconds at NJMP and Montreal’s 1:01.264). The rest of the MOVs, added together, are less than either of the rain race margins. Well less.

Finishing fifth at Montreal and thus claiming their first top-5 since NJMP were David Donohue and Darren Law in their No. 58 Brumos Racing Porsche-Riley – after being sent to the field’s rear at race start for being 4-lb. underweight after qualifying.

Six drivers in four cars led laps at Montreal: Romain Dumas (20), Timo Bernhard (18), Jon Fogarty (15), Max Angelelli (12), JC France (1), Alex Gurney (1).

Saturday's race marked the ninth-time in 10 races thus far in the 2009 season that a car has won after having started in one of the two front rows.

Joe Foster and Charles Espenlaub captured their second fourth-place finish of the season in the No. 40 Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8. Espenlaub led one lap before yielding the lead with a hairpin-turn spin but moved back into the top five by race end. Owner Patrick Dempsey said he’ll be back in the seat for the Sept. 17-18 Miller Motorsports Park race.

Eight drivers in seven cars led laps in GT: Tom Sutherland (20), Robin Liddell (18), Leh Keen (17), Sylvain Tremblay (3), Nick Ham (2), Eric Lux (2), Charles Espenlaub (1), Andy Lally (1).

Montreal was the third Rolex Series victory of the 2009 season for Liddell and Davis in the No. 57 BryanMark Financial/Stevenson Automotive Pontiac GXP.R. The team also won at Virginia International Raceway and Barber Motorsports Park.

In a matter of irony, Montreal was Pontiac's third GT victory of the season BUT 25th in Rolex Series GT competition all-time, tying the marquee with BMW for third all-time.

Coming off a victory earlier this month at Watkins Glen and sealing another podium at Montreal were a third-place Jeff Segal and Emil Assentato in the No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8 out of the SpeedSource stable.

 

THROUGH THE WINDSCREEN: INDY

Nine Rolex Series teams will participate in the historic test Thursday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway: five Daytona Prototypes and four Acxiom GT cars.

On familiar ground is 2004 Indianapolis 500 and 2009 Rolex 24 At Daytona winner Buddy Rice (who scored his Rolex 24 win with David Donohue, Darren Law and Antonio Garcia in the No. 58 Brumos Porsche-Riley). Rice will drive the No. 90 AMA PRO RACING Porsche-Coyote.

Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, currently second in the Rolex Series championship points, will drive their CGRwFS No. 01 TELMEX Lexus-Riley.

Drawing the short straw for the test date was Jon Fogarty, who will share test duties with car-owner Bob Stallings – the latter having taken a few spins in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley a couple of weeks ago  in Texas.

“Alex and I had an agreement to alternate test dates and I’m making him stick to it,” Fogarty said, noting that usual co-driver Alex Gurney tested in a short-notice Barber Motorsports Park July test.

“Huh!? Are you kidding? I’m driving Indy, man,” Stallings said in answer to the obvious.

Wayne Taylor and oldest son Ricky Taylor will test the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Ford-Dallara while Michael Valiante, John Pew and Michael Shank will share honors and duties in the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley.

Coming off their Circuit Gilles Villeneuve win in Montreal, Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell and their No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R lead the Acxiom GT teams, which include class points-leader Leh Keen and co-driver Dirk Werner in the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3; Spencer Pumpelly and Kevin Buckler in the No. 66 or 67 TRG Porsche GT3; and, Sylvain Tremblay in the No. 70 SpeedSource Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8.

Fogarty could’ve been at Indy years ago when he was offered but turned down a Letterman Rahal Racing ride for 2004 – the same team for whom Rice drove in the former’s victory there. Funky, huh?

In a dream-come-true for Shank, he’ll finally drive at-speed at a place where he’s wanted to go fast for a very long time.

“I can’t tell you what it means to me to do this,” Shank said, who recently said he’s thinking of fielding a IndyCar Series team for some or all of the 2012 season.

“And, no, I’m not leaving the Rolex Series,” he said. “I’m just doing what a few others like Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi already are doing. The Rolex Series has been good to my bottom line; I’ll be there forever.”

The test, originally scheduled for Aug. 18, went from a super-secret three-car DP test to a “happening,” where IRL, NASCAR and still other Rolex Series and sportscar stars and players are seeking entree.

“We’ve been deluged with credential requests,” Grand-Am president Roger Edmondson said earlier this week. “It’s looking like quite the place to be but, wouldn’t you know it, I’ve got to be at the AMA Pro Racing’s final (2009) race and championship ceremony at New Jersey (Motorsports Park).”

Heck, I ain’t missing it.

Later,

DC