SCC: California Speedway ready for close racing

ANGELELLI AND TAYLOR RIDING WAVE OF MOMENTUM WITH TWO CONSECTUTIVE WINS: GRAND AMERICAN HEADS TO CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY

FONTANA, Calif. (March 7, 2005) --- In the second-closest finish in Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series history, Wayne Taylor and Max Angelelli picked up their second-straight Rolex Series triumph at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday. The Daytona Prototypes head to California Speedway, along with the rest of the Grand American competition field, for the Grand American race weekend on April 1-3, 2005.

Driving the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley, Angelelli claimed the lead from the No. 8 Rx.com/Synergy Racing BMW Doran of Burt Frisselle on Lap 43 of the 109-lap race and held off a hard-charging Butch Leitzinger in the No. 4 The Boss Snowplow Pontiac Crawford by 1.198 seconds to secure the victory.

With the victory, Angelelli and Taylor also became just the second set of co-drivers to win the first two races of a season in Rolex Series history. Mauro Baldi and Didier Theys were the only other teammates to sweep the first two races of a season, which they accomplished in 2002. That streak was extended for Theys when the series visited to California Speedway for the third event of the season and he found himself in Gatorade Victory Lane with co-driver Fredy Leinhard Jr.

Angelelli and Taylor travel to California Speedway early next month for the Grand American race weekend with a slim Daytona Prototype point's margin of six points (70-64) over Leitzinger and Elliott Forbes-Robinson.

Forbes-Robinson and Leitzinger finished second for the third-consecutive time, dating to a second-place showing in the Lexus Grand American 400k at California Speedway to close out the 2004 season.

In just the team's second Daytona Prototype start, the Krohn Racing/TRG team placed both its cars in the top four. Finishing third was Jorg Bergmeister and defending Daytona Prototype co-champion Max Papis in the No. 66 Pontiac Riley. The other defending Daytona Prototype co-champion, Scott Pruett, finished fifth alongside co-driver Luis Diaz in the No. 01 CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley.

Papis and Pruett are the defending race winners at California Speedway where they claimed the race pole position, race win and drivers' championship on the same weekend last October.

Andy Lally and Marc Bunting, who claimed the Rolex Series Super Grand Sport (SGS) driver championship in 2004, returned to their winning ways in Miami on Saturday. Lally, co-driver of the No. 65 Auto Gallery/TRG Porsche GT3 Cup, claimed the class lead when Joey Hand made a pit stop in the No. 21 BMW Team PTG M3 on Lap 70 and cruised the rest of the way to the victory by one lap over the No. 36 TPC Racing Porsche GT3 Cup of Michael Levitas and Randy Pobst.

TPC Racing placed two cars on the GT podium, as John Littlechild and Spencer Pumpelly brought the No. 37 Porsche GT3 Cup home in third place. David Murry and Craig Stanton finished fourth in the No. 80 Synergy Racing Porsche GT3 Cup, while Leh Keen and Cory Friedman filled out the GT top five with a fifth-place performance in the No. 14 Autometrics Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup.

While the Grand-Am Cup Series didn't race over the weekend, they head to the Dominican Republic for the Miller Grand-Am Cup 200 this coming weekend. Both the Rolex Sports Car Series and the Grand-Am Cup Series advance to California Speedway for the third race of the season on April 1-3, 2005.

General Admission tickets for the road course event are available for $30 on Sunday (Rolex 400k event), $20 on Saturday (Grand-Am Cup 200 event and Rolex qualifying) and $10 on Friday (practice). A three-day pass is also available for $45. Children 12 and under, when accompanied by a paying adult, are free. Every ticket is general admission with infield seating and access into the garage area.

For ticket and event information, call 800-944-RACE [7223] or log on to www.californiaspeedway.com.

-cs-