Grand-Am History

Fourteen years after Chip Ganassi established a world-class IndyCar operation, he and Felix Sabates expanded their Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates NASCAR operation with the addition of the No.01 TELMEX Dinan-Prepared BMW Riley in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype class.  Scott Pruett, the 2004-2006-2008 GRAND-AM Rolex Series Champion and 2007-2008 Rolex 24 At Daytona winner, will compete in his seventh consecutive season for CGRFS in 2010.  Mexican driver Memo Rojas joins Pruett for his fourth season in Rolex competition, after becoming the first Mexican driver to win a US-based championship in 2008.

The GRAND-AM Rolex Series team burst onto the sports car scene in 2004 as an immediate contender, taking 11 poles in 12 races, and winning four times en route to the Daytona Prototype Team and Driver Championship with pilots Pruett and Max Papis.

In the team’s sophomore season, Mexican driver Luis Diaz joined Pruett at the helm as the team continued their partnership with Mexican business mogul Carlos Slim and their Mexican driver initiative.  In 2006, Target Chip Ganassi Racing IndyCar drivers, Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon with CGRFS NASCAR teammate, Casey Mears, scored CGRFS’ first Rolex 24 At Daytona victory.  Starting from the top for the 2006 season in the No.01 TELMEX Daytona Prototype, Diaz and Pruett led the team to its second Team Championship.

History repeated itself in January 2007 when Pruett, Mexican driver Salvador Duran and CGRFS NASCAR teammate Juan Pablo Montoya took the checkered flag at the Rolex 24 At Daytona.  Pruett teamed with Rojas, for the duration of 2007 competition.  Pruett tallied 14 career victories, becoming the winningest driver in GRAND-AM Rolex Series history; likewise, CGRFS shared the same honor for a team with 15 wins.

In 2008, the team won an unprecedented third consecutive Rolex 24 At Daytona with Pruett, Rojas, Montoya and Dario Franchitti in the No.01 car. Pruett and Rojas also went on to claim the team’s third GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype Championship.

The 2009 season saw the team field two entries at the Rolex 24 At Daytona with Montoya joining Pruett and Rojas in the No. 01 TELMEX/Target Daytona Prototype for a second place finish – just 0.167- seconds behind the race winner. Target IndyCar teammates Franchitti and Dixon were joined by Alex Lloyd in the No. 02 Target/TELMEX Daytona Prototype and drove to a fifth place finish. With two wins, four poles, nine top-fives, 13 top-10 finishes and 452 laps led, Pruett and Rojas contended for the team’s fourth GRAND-AM Rolex Series title only to finish just six points shy of the championship.

Pruett and Rojas will unite to contend for the Rolex 24 At Daytona title as well as the championship title for 2010 behind the wheel of the No. 01 TELMEX/Target Dinan-Prepared BMW Riley. CGRFS will run a two-car effort for the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series’ 48th running of the prestigious Rolex 24 At Daytona, featuring eight drivers representing some of the best talent the motor racing world has to offer. Pruett and Rojas along with IZOD IndyCar driver Justin Wilson and American Le Mans Series driver Marino Franchitti will form the lineup in the No. 01 TELMEX/Target Dinan-Prepared BMW Riley, while Team Target IndyCar pilots Dixon and Franchitti will join Team Target NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Juan Pablo Montoya and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammate Jamie McMurray in the No. 02 Target/TELMEX Dinan-Prepared BMW Riley.