Brumos/Red Bull # 58 gets podium at Infineon
Fogarty, Gurney Leap to Grand-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype Championship Lead With Record Infineon Win
SONOMA, Calif. (August 25, 2007) -- A hard-fought weekend by the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley team has given Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty a Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve single-season win record and placed the duo in the Daytona Prototype championship lead with a win Saturday during the Armed Forces Grand-Am 250 at Infineon Raceway.
Fogarty and Gurney battled through a tight but cleanly fought race to capture a 1.937-second win over David Donohue and Darren Law in the No. 58 Red Bull Brumos Porsche in the 97 lap race - a margin of victory that was not representative of the pace of the race.
Although the majority of the focus entering the weekend was on the tight championship battle of Fogarty, Gurney, Scott Pruett and Max Angelelli, Donohue and Law inserted themselves into a late race battle for points and the win. Donohue climbed into the lead on Lap 72, and spent the next 22 laps with Gurney glued to his tail. Despite the constant hounding, Donohue was able to keep the championship contender at bay.
Donohue's efforts went for naught when a spin by Tracy Krohn in the No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley brought out the race's only full course caution period on Lap 93, setting up what became a green-white-checker dash to the finish between the two second-generation drivers. Gurney, who has been quick on restarts in the No. 99 machine all season long, seized the opportunity and passed a defensive Donohue under braking entering Turn 4.
"When these cars get bunched up together, any little bobble will open up the opportunity to get by," Gurney said. "I was just trying to be on the ball and be quick, and be in the right gear at the right time. I knew he (Donohue) was struggling a little bit with tires; hats off to him and his entire team, as they did an excellent job. I don't think I would have gotten by him if it weren't for that yellow. It was an awesome day for us."
Donohue was searching for the Brumos Porsche team's first win since 2003, which may have been possible until the yellow flag.
"When I went through those first couple of turns, I was kind of sloppy," Donohue said. "I had to slow down a little bit to keep the car on the track, and that's when the opportunity opened up for Alex. I didn't want him to go under me in those corners, so I took a protective line, which continuously left me vulnerable. I was sliding around; I had a little bit too much pick up, so I wasn't very good at that restart. I left one lane down on the inside, and I went in thinking I was in as deep as I could go and still keep the car there with the understeer we had. But he was able to go in harder and still get it turned. If I had tried to there on the outside of him, I would have gone off into the dirt and that would have been the end."
Law saw the effort as a positive for the team, as it marked the team's highest finish of 2007.
"It's a huge boost for all of us," Law said. "We've been close, or closer, all year, and struggled a bit at the beginning but have come on toward the end of this season. We made a few mistakes which I think we could have finished higher up this season. The team has done a great job and the car was good this weekend. We gambled there at the end with the last pit stop. We were probably within half a gallon. But we're proud to be on the podium. I'm happy for everybody."
Article posted on: 07-Aug-27
