TOOELE — A victory in the Utah 250 was not necessary for Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas to wrap up the 2010 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series championship. The duo needed only to drive 30 minutes apiece to clinch their hold on the top spot.
Pruett and Rojas did much more than simply show up at Miller Motorsports Park, however. They capped a dominant season with another impressive win.
The pair scored their ninth victory of the season in 12 races. Pruett beat Max Angelelli and Alex Gurney out of the pits during the first caution period of the event and went on to lead the final 39 trips around the 82-lap race on the 3.048-mile perimeter course on Saturday.
Pruett beat Gurney to the checkered flag by 1.946 seconds, with Angelelli finishing another second behind to take third. Rojas led twice for three laps from the pole position, his fourth of the 2010 season.
"It's been a great season for us," Pruett said. "Even when we haven't had the fastest car we've been able to come up with a great result. It's just been one of those dream seasons."
It was Pruett's third Daytona Prototype title in the series. He previously won in 2004 with Max Papis and in 2008 with Rojas, and the fourth for Ganassi, who also took the 2006 team crown.
It was Pruett's record 31st DP victory and 18th co-driving with Rojas; it also marked the 32nd for the Ganassi team.
Pruett and Rojas had a trio of three-victory streaks to go with a pair of second-place finishes and a 13th place at Lime Rock Park when the No. 01 car was involved in an altercation on the opening lap. It was their record-setting 11th podium finish of the campaign. Their car has led 792 laps while Pruett has paced 560 circuits, both DP records.
Angelelli and Ricky Taylor combined to lead 44 laps in the No. 10 SunTrust Ford/Dallara to finish the year with seven podium finishes, including six in the final eight races.
Burt Frisselle and Mark Wilkins finished fourth in the No. 61 Pacific Mobile/BioSign Ford/Riley, while Mike Forest and Ryan Dalziel placed fifth in the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport BMW/Riley.
Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell led a 1-2 finish for Stevenson Motorsports in the production-based GT division driving the No. 57 Vin Solutions/Von Allmer Capital Partners Chevrolet Camaro, but it was Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal who captured the class championship with a sixth-place finish in the No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8.