| Two Pontiac factory-supported teams raced to success in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series 2009 season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway, one of them ironically bringing GM’s storied, discontinued nameplate a final, bittersweet championship. GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing drivers Alex Gurney (son of motorsports icon Dan Gurney) and Jon Fogarty brought the no. 99 Pontiac Riley Daytona Prototype home to a fourth-place finish to capture their second DP championship—Pontiac’s final racing championship, ending a tradition of victory that dates back to stock car and drag racing in the early 1960s. It was the second DP championship for Fogarty and Gurney in the no. 99. They finished six points ahead of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, who finished second in the no. 01 TELMEX Lexus Riley. Pontiac factory drivers Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards took the checkered flag in GT class, registering their first victory of the 2009 season in the no. 07 Team Drinkin’ Mate Pontiac GXP.R. There was no championship for Pontiac this year in GT class—that honor went to a Porsche team—but the Edwards/Collins victory was a fitting ending for a long string of triumphs for the GXP.R and its predecessor, the GTO.R. In the modern era, Pontiac-based racecars have captured championships and set records in several categories—NASCAR Sprint (Winston) Cup, NHRA Pro Stock, Grand-Am Rolex GT and DP classes, and Formula D drifting. The modern GTO has been a standout: Greg Anderson and Jason Line won Pro Stock championships in 2005 and 2006, respectively. In 2006, the no. 65 GTO.R campaigned by TRG and driven by Andy Lally, Marc Bunting and R.J. Valentine captured the Rolex Series GT class driver’s championship, and with sister TRG GTO.R no. 64 piloted by Paul Edwards and Kelly Collins, gave Pontiac the team and manufacturer’s championships. The GXP.R will be transformed into a Camaro-bodied racecar by builder Pratt & Miller Engineering for the 2010 Rolex Series season; it will compete with Ford Mustang- and Dodge Challenger-based cars. But there will be at least one Pontiac competing, and it will be a GTO: the no. 21 Matt Connolly Motorsports GTO.R (the former no. 64), the only one of its type remaining in competition. |
