Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney took their record seventh victory of the year Saturday in the Armed Forces Grand-Am 250, round thirteen of the 2007 Rolex Sports Car Series.  With the win, the drivers of the No. 99 Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley move into the Daytona Prototype points lead for the first time, with just one round remaining.

The penultimate round of the Rolex Series at Infineon Raceway started out in typical fashion, with Jon Fogarty starting from the pole and pulling out a small lead over the rest of the field.

The No. 99 Gainsco Pontiac Riley had a 7.5 second lead when the first round of pit stops approached on lap 27.  Darren Law, in the No. 58 Red Bull/Brumos Porsche Riley got around Nic Jonsson in the No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley before their respective pit stops to take second place.

After a hiccup in the pit and a perfect stop by the No. 01 Telmex team, Alex Gurney came out a few seconds behind Scott Pruett, in second place.  Gurney quickly ate into the lead and was hassling Pruett within a few laps.  On lap 60, Gurney made a rare mistake and went off in the Carousel.  He kept the car from spinning and rejoined the race in third place, behind Pruett and David Donohue.

The second round of pit stops occurred around lap 67 and would set-up a thrilling battle to the finish.  The Nos. 01 and 99 pitted first, taking on fuel and tires.  The Gainsco team put Gurney out ahead of Pruett, but Donohue had yet to come in. When the Brumos team brought the No. 58 in, they elected to only put on right-side tires.  Gurney was charging hard, but the No. 58 came out of the pits in the lead.

For the next 24 laps, Gurney was glued to Donohue’s bumper but could not get around, despite having the faster car. Help came Gurney’s way in the form of the race’s first caution with six minutes remaining.  The No. 76 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley spun off-course and was in need of a tow back to pit lane.

When the green flag waved there were two laps to go, and Gurney wasted know time trying to pass Donohue.  On that first lap, Pruett made a move to the inside and Gurney moved over to block him. That left the No. 99 on the inside of the No. 58 going into the corner, and Gurney was able to pull into the lead and go on to a 1.9 second victory. 

“When these cars get bunched up together, any little bobble will open up the opportunity to get by,” Gurney said. “I was just trying to be on the ball and be quick, and be in the right gear at the right time. I knew he (Donohue) was struggling a little bit with tires; hats off to him and his entire team, as they did an excellent job. I don’t think I would have gotten by him if it weren’t for that yellow. It was an awesome day for us.”

“It was just a good battle,” Fogarty said. “That restart allowed Alex to get into position and make a move. That was his one opportunity. It was crazy. I am very, very happy to finish up top, and the finish just tightens up the championship even more. It’s going to be pretty wild going into that last race.”

The No. 58 Red Bull Brumos Porsche Riley finished second, its best result of 2007.  Donohue explains the final moments of the race.   

“When I went through those first couple of turns, I was kind of sloppy,” he said. “I had to slow down a little bit to keep the car on the track, and that’s when the opportunity opened up for Alex. I didn’t want him to go under me in those corners, so I took a protective line, which continuously left me vulnerable. I was sliding around; I had a little bit too much pick up, so I wasn’t very good at that restart. I left one lane down on the inside, and I went in thinking I was in as deep as I could go and still keep the car there with the understeer we had. But he was able to go in harder and still get it turned. If I had tried to there on the outside of him, I would have gone off into the dirt and that would have been the end.”

The No. 01 Telmex Chip Ganassi Lexus Riley of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas completed the podium, followed by theNo. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Riley and the No. 75 Krohn Racing Pontiac Riley.

Fogarty and Gurney pulled into the championship lead for the first time this season, just one point ahead of Pruett and three ahead of Max Angelelli. The finish sets up a one-race showdown at the season finale, the Sunchaser 1000k at the Miller Motorsports Park in Utah in three weeks - Sept. 15. The Daytona Prototypes will be joined by the GT class in the season's final race.