Watkins Glen II: Riley Technologies race report

Riley Technologies Wins Fastest-Ever Daytona Prototype Race
1-2 in GT Class for Double-Victory at Watkins Glen

MOORESVILLE, NC (10 August 2010)-- After winning the 100th Daytona Prototype race at Daytona International Speedway last month, Riley Technologies once again returned to victory lane this weekend as the firm's design won the fastest-ever Daytona Prototype race when the Telmex/Ganassi machine took a dominating victory at Watkins Glen.

The race clicked off at a furious clip before being slowed by two cautions late in the two-hour sprint event. But even with the laps behind the pace car slowing the race pace, the Ganassi-campaigned Riley machine crossed the line first after running at an average speed of 120.679 mph. The win is the seventh of the season for the No. 01 BMW-powered Riley, which tied the mark set for wins within a season by the No. 99 Riley of Gainsco Racing in 2007 when the organization took the Rolex Series championship.

"Overall, the car was solid," said Pruett after scoring his sixth Glen victory. "We just seem to have a good setup for the Glen. The traffic was tough, and you could lose two seconds a lap, easily. We just tried to cut our way through traffic the best we could, run smart and run clean."

With nine wins from ten races run to date Riley Technologies now holds a 31-point lead in the Manufacturer Championship standings with two rounds of racing yet to go.

It was a double-dose of champagne for Riley Technologies (a division of SEA STAR GROUP, INC. Stock Symbol SGQZ) at the classic New York track, as the GT Podium once again saw the firm taking the top two spots after a fierce fight on the 'short course' at Watkins Glen.

James Gue and Leh Keen scored a maiden victory for Dempsey Racing in the Speedsource Engineering-built Mazda RX-8. The win is Keen's seventh in Rolex GT competition and was the first career top result for Gue in Rolex competition as the 2010 season races to a close.

"It's coming near to the end of the season, so we were running out of time to do it, but I just always knew we were going to get a win this season," said Keen, who passed the No. 70 Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8 GT of Jonathan Bomarito with four laps to the checkered flag. "It just feels so great, and almost like we finally got the monkey off our backs, because we could have got a win before now. This was a tough race and we got the job done today and had a great car."

Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal just missed a return to the Rolex Sports Car Series podium with their run to fourth place at Watkins Glen, but the duo still retain a four-point lead in the championships standings over fellow Mazda pilot and SpeedSource principal Sylvain Tremblay, who made it a Riley Technologies 1-2 on the GT podium as he and Jonathan Bomarito scored second at the finish.

The SpeedSource-built Riley Tech designed Mazda now holds the top three positions in the Rolex GT Team Championship battle.

"Congratulations to Dempsey Racing on their first win, it was a really exciting race in GT right up to the end," said Riley Tech Vice President Bill Riley. "It was a big weekend for Ganassi, and they are having an incredible season with seven wins already and still two races to go this year. It is fantastic to see our customers hard work paying off. That hard work shows in the records that the teams are setting and we are very proud to see our designs have that kind of success."

Next weekend will see the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge racers in action north of the border as the series makes the annual visit to Quebec for the Grand Prix du Trois Rivieres. The Riley Technologies Chevrolet Camaro, which has qualified on pole and led laps in recent rounds, will look to break through for a victory on the tight street circuit.

-source: riley technologies