Max Angelelli managed to hold off numerous attempts by Scott Pruett to win Saturday's Canadian Tire 200 at Watkins Glen International in the fastest race average speed in the history of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.
Ricky Taylor led the opening 33 laps in the No. 10 SunTrust Dallara-Chevy before turning the car over to Angelelli, who went on to lead 44 of the final 45 laps, averaging 122.308mph on the Watkins Glen 2.45-mile short course. It was their third victory of the season and second at Watkins Glen, coming off June's Sahlen's Six Hours on the 3.4-mile course.
Angelelli took the checkered flag 2.517 seconds ahead of Pruett, cutting the lead in the Daytona Prototype points to 26 points (327-301) over No. 01 TELMEX Riley-BMW drivers Pruett and Memo Rojas with only two races remaining. Ryan Dalziel and Alex Popow finished third in the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Riley-Ford.
"I had close calls a couple of times, said Angelelli. "Traffic was very unpredictable, and I had to adjust going through it. Scott's a master in traffic."
"We were knocking on the back door several times, but we just didn't have enough to get around," rued Pruett,
Bill Lester and Jordan Taylor regained the lead in the production-based GT championship standings with a second-place finish in the No. 88 Autohaus Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro. Andrew Davis and Leh Keen entered the race with a one-point lead, but finished seventh in the No. 59 Brumos Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and are now seven points behind (272-265).
Spencer Pumpelly and Steven Bertheau managed to coax just enough fuel out of TRG's No. 67 Sargent & Lundy Porsche 911 GT3 to take the GT victory in a thrilling finish. Pumpelly led the final six circuits as the lead changed hands five times in the final hour, taking the checkered flag 2.12 seconds ahead of Taylor. Craig Stanton and John Potter took third in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche GT3.
The race was slowed by one caution flag, coming early in the race when Jon Fogarty clipped a lapped car in Turn 11 only nine laps into the race. Fogarty and Alex Gurney, drivers of the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Riley-Chevrolet, fell from third to sixth in the DP standings.
| Pos |
Driver |
Car/Engine |
Laps |
Time/Delay |
| 1 |
M.Angelelli/R.Taylor |
Dallara/Chevrolet |
100 |
|
| 2 |
S.Pruett/M.Rojas |
Riley/BMW |
100 |
- |
| 3 |
R.Dalziel/A.Popow |
Riley/Ford |
100 |
- |
| 4 |
B.Frisselle/M.Wilkins |
Riley/Ford |
99 |
1 Lap |
| 5 |
O.Negri/J.Pew |
Riley/Ford |
99 |
1 Lap |
| 6 |
D.Donohue/D.Law |
Riley/Porsche |
99 |
1 Lap |
| 7 |
J.Barbosa/T.Borcheller/J.France |
Riley/Porsche |
99 |
1 Lap |
| 8 |
B.Frisselle/H.Richard |
Dallara/Ford |
98 |
2 Laps |
| 9 |
M.Blundell/Z.Brown |
Riley/Ford |
97 |
3 Laps |
| 10 |
P.Edwards/A.Garcia |
Coyote/Chevrolet |
96 |
4 Laps |
| 11 |
J.Bergmeister/E.Potolicchio |
Riley/Porsche |
95 |
5 Laps |
| 12 |
S.Bertheau/S.Pumpelly |
Porsche |
93 |
7 Laps |
| 13 |
B.Lester/J.Taylor |
Chevrolet |
93 |
7 Laps |
| 14 |
J.Potter/C.Stanton |
Porsche |
93 |
7 Laps |
| 15 |
J.Bomarito/S.Tremblay |
Mazda |
93 |
7 Laps |
| 16 |
B.Auberlen/P.D.Lana |
BMW |
93 |
7 Laps |
| 17 |
D.Cameron/J.Gue |
Mazda |
93 |
7 Laps |
| 18 |
A.Davis/L.Keen |
Porsche |
93 |
7 Laps |
| 19 |
J.M.Edwards/W.Nonnamaker |
Mazda |
92 |
8 Laps |
| 20 |
O.Gavin/G.Schaldach |
Chevrolet |
92 |
8 Laps |
| 21 |
E.Assentato/J.Segal |
Mazda |
92 |
8 Laps |
| 22 |
P.Dempsey/J.Foster |
Mazda |
92 |
8 Laps |
| 23 |
D.Ragan/R.Stenhouse Jr. |
Ford |
91 |
9 Laps |
| 24 |
E.Foss/P.Lindsey |
Porsche |
91 |
9 Laps |
| 25 |
T.Long/J.P.Mauro |
Mazda |
90 |
10 Laps |
| 26 |
D.Ende/A.Lally |
Porsche |
90 |
10 Laps |
| 27 |
J.Nonnamaker/W.Nonnamaker |
Mazda |
89 |
11 Laps |
| 28 |
J.Hand/M.Marsal |
BMW |
88 |
12 Laps |
| 29 |
W.Nonnamaker/J.Sahlen |
Mazda |
87 |
13 Laps |
| 30 |
M.Jensen/S.Rettich |
Porsche |
86 |
14 Laps |
| 31 |
R.Liddell/J.Magnussen |
Chevrolet |
76 |
24 Laps |
| 32 |
J.Logano/B.Said |
Chevrolet |
55 |
45 Laps |
| 33 |
J.Fogarty/A.Gurney |
Riley/Chevrolet |
9 |
91 Laps |