Grand-Am, Sahlen's Six Hours, Watkins Glen - Race Report
Two In A Row For SunTrust

Qualifying

Ricky and Jordan Taylor led their respective classes qualifying for the 30th running of the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen, becoming the first brothers to win pole positions for both Daytona Prototype and GT classes at the same Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series event.

Ricky Taylor won his second consecutive Daytona Prototype pole, running a lap of 1:40.691 in the #10 SunTrust Chevrolet/Dallara, while younger brother Jordan took his third career pole and first of the season with a lap of 1:51.939 in the #88 Autohaus Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro.

"It's tremendous, and I can't get my arms around it yet," said their father, racing veteran Wayne Taylor. "They've both won poles in the past, but to get them at the same time - and especially at Watkins Glen.  This is such a big event, because they qualified here against the fast guys. This was the first time Ricky's qualified against Scott Pruett - and it's a big thing for him - and it was fantastic for Jordan against the top GT guys."

The SunTrust team was seeking its second-consecutive victory, after winning the Memorial Day Classic at Lime Rock Park in dominating fashion the previous weekend.

Antonio Garcia was second in DP qualifying with a lap of 1:40.909, giving the #90 Spirit of Daytona Chevrolet/Coyote co-driven by Paul Edwards its fourth straight front row start.

Scott Pruett qualified third in the #01 TELMEX BMW/Riley with a lap of 1:41.011. He and Memo Rojas were seeking their fourth consecutive victory in the event.  Alex Gurney - who joined co-driver Jon Fogarty in winning the 2007 Sahlen's Six Hours - qualified fourth with a lap of 1:41.787 in the #99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Chevrolet/Riley.

Jordan Taylor's pole - the first for Autohaus Motorsports - continues a torrid streak for the team which has moved he and co-driver Bill Lester to second in the production-based GT championship. Lester became the first African-American to win in the Rolex Series when the team scored its first victory at Virginia International Raceway last month, followed by a second-place finish Monday at Lime Rock Park. Tommy Milner joined the team for the Sahlen Six Hours.

Camaros swept the top three positions in GT qualifying. Robin Liddell joined Jordan Taylor on the front row after running a lap of 1:52.189 in the #57 Stevenson Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro co-driven by Ronnie Bremer. Oliver Gavin timed in third fastest with a lap of 1:52.304 in the #07 Chevrolet Camaro co-driven by Gunter Schaldach and Mike Skeen. He was joined on the second row by Wayne Nonnamaker, who shared the #42 Team Sahlen Mazda RX-8 with Memo Gidley.

Eric Curran, who ran 1:53.016 in the #31 Whelen Engineering Corvette co-driven by Boris Said, originally qualified fourth but would start last after his time was disallowed due to an improper throttle body.

Race

Ricky Taylor held off Scott Pruett by 3.839 seconds to win the 30th Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen, ending one winning streak while continuing another. Taylor was joined by Max Angelelli in the #10 SunTrust Chevrolet/Dallara, winning his second consecutive Rolex Series race from the pole.

Pruett and Memo Rojas were seeking their fourth consecutive victory in the event - the second-longest race on the Grand-Am Rolex Series schedule. An off-track excursion by Paul Dalla Lana in the closing minutes led to the fifth and final caution, setting the stage for a three-lap sprint to the checkered flag. Running as the closing driver for the first time with SunTrust Racing, the 21-year-old driver from Apopka, Florida, was able to pull away from Pruett to take his third career DP victory - and the 17th for Angelelli.

"This is the best car I've ever driven," said the Italian. "It's much better (than it was at Lime Rock). We've been improving ourselves and everybody is going a great job. You saw what Ricky (Taylor) did today, but he does it every race."

"When that last caution came out, I was pretty nervous in there," admitted Taylor. "Whenever you have Scott Pruett behind you, that's as tough as it gets."

Pruett and Rojas failed to win for the third consecutive event, after the drivers of the #01 TELMEX BMW/Riley had won 12 of 14 races over a two-year stretch. They retained the points lead, while Taylor and Angelelli continued to gain ground by moving up to second, 19 points back (193-174).

"We couldn't pace them," said Pruett. "We were trying all kinds of things. We were changing wickers and changing the car up and trying to get more speed out of it as the race unfolded. It started out pretty wet, pretty nasty early on, but it was just kind of business as usual. We just had to look at the back of the 10 car today."

Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty finished a solid third in the No, 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Chevrolet/Riley, followed by Ozz Negri and John Pew in the #60 Crown Royal XR Ford/Riley.

Burt Frisselle joined Action Express Racing and helped David Donohue and Darren Law finish fifth in the #5 Porsche/Riley. It was the team's fifth-straight top-five finish.

Leh Keen and Andrew Davis led Brumos Racing to its first victory in the production-based GT class, co-driving the #59 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. It was the team's first victory at Watkins Glen since 2003, when David Donohue helped the team win in the debut of the DP class in the Sahlen's Six Hours.

Davis described the win as an emotional one, saying, “Growing up watching Hurley race and seeing Brumos win championships, I always dreamed of being able to win the Six Hours of the Glen, one of the crown jewels of sports car racing. To follow in Hurley’s footsteps and to be a Brumos driver in the #59 Brumos Porsche means the world to me.

“We couldn’t have done it without our crew. Each and every member of this team has worked tirelessly - days, nights, in the shop and on the road. For our new Jacksonville-based squad to win a race this quickly, it just shows how dedicated and hard-working this group really is. I have to thank Dan Davis and everyone at Brumos, and also all of our fans who believe in us and keep pushing us along. I am so happy to get that #59 Brumos Porsche here in Victory Lane!”

Keen, who led the race for 22 laps, also found this victory an emotional one. “I started my career in a Porsche, so now to be in a Brumos #59 Porsche and win here at the Glen is really special,” he said. “This is one of the biggest races of the year, so to get our first win for Brumos and our GT program today in the Six Hours of the Glen - that’s as good as it gets! After we ran at Lime Rock, I knew we had a car that could win here. This #59 Porsche is fast and it does everything right.  We came here and had a good car off the truck, and Skip and the guys worked really hard to make it even better. In the race the car just came alive - the team was already alive - they nailed it every time. I only realized I was in the lead in the closing lap, I was focusing on conserving fuel and never realized we were in front! The full course caution really played in our favor, so we had a little bit of luck and a whole lot of talent from a great team to get us here.”

The final caution helped Keen gain nearly a lap on Tommy Milner - co-driving with Jordan Taylor and Bill Lester in the #88 Autohaus Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro - and Jeff Segal, who teamed with Emil Assentato in the #69 FXDD Mazda RX-8.

Milner held off Segal to finish second, allowing GT pole winner Jordan Taylor and Lester to score their third consecutive top-two finish. That boosted Taylor and Lester to a three-point lead in the GT points standings over Keen and Davis (165-162). Dalla Lana and Bill Auberlen held the lead coming into the event but finished 11th in the #94 Turner Motorsport BMW M3, and are now third in the points.

Robin Liddell's car was badly damaged in a Lap 5 incident when a car spun directly in front of him. The team managed to repair it so that he was able to return in order to score championship points.

TRG came to The Glen with victories in the last two Rolex Series endurance races - winning the 2010 Sahlen's Six Hours and the 2011 Rolex 24. However, Steven Bertheau was involved in an early incident and the car was retired early.

The next round is the Rolex Sports Car Series 250 at Road America on June 23rd-25th.