Grand-Am

Pruett's Richmond Wednesday notes

Inverted Draw Gives Pruett Pole Position for Richmond IROC INDIANAPOLIS (September 7, 2005) -- The Crown Royal IROC Series heads to Richmond International Raceway's daunting 0.75-mile oval for Round 3 Thursday night under the lights with CompUSA ...

Edited: Sep 8, 2005, 8:50 PM

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Inverted Draw Gives Pruett Pole Position for Richmond IROC

INDIANAPOLIS (September 7, 2005) -- The Crown Royal IROC Series heads to Richmond International Raceway's daunting 0.75-mile oval for Round 3 Thursday night under the lights with CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates' driver Scott Pruett once again representing the team in his familiar no.01 Gold IROC machine. The likeable IROC expert will make his 31st series start from pole position for 90 tours (67.5 miles) of the Virginia short track against 11 others representing the top dogs from the sports car, open wheel, stock car and sprint car ranks.

After being taken out of Rounds 1 and 2 at Daytona and Texas while running in the lead group, Pruett hopes to rebound and get back up to speed after spending the past few months in the no.01 CompUSA Lexus-Riley defending his 2004 Rolex Sports Car Series title with Ganassi co-driver Luis Diaz.

"We've been out doing the sports car thing, so it's just a matter of getting used to the (IROC) cars again," said Pruett, who received an eighth IROC nod in 2005 after last year's Rolex Series title run which included 11 team poles and four wins. "The cars feel good, but the driver needs a little more time."

Pruett will be starting from the pole for the second time in his IROC career (Talladega, 1992 with CART), but experience tells the California native that it really doesn't make a difference once the green flag drops on the 115th event in series history.

"That's not going to help much because that's what IROC is all about-- they make the cars as equal as they can, so you've got to contend with the other guys having the same deal," said Pruett. "It's been a pretty rough season for me in IROC-- I wound up in a crash at Daytona and got taken out in Texas, so I'm just hoping with only two more to go I can make up a little ground."

Tune in Thursday night, September 8th at 7:00 pm ET on SPEED Channel to watch CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Pruett vie for a third career IROC win in Round 3 of the Crown Royal IROC Series at Richmond International Raceway.

Scott Pruett IROC History

Scott Pruett is no stranger to the Crown Royal IROC Series with 30 career appearances under his belt (1987-'96,'05) and having represented the likes of IMSA, SCCA, CART and Grand American. The California native has two career wins to his credit after taking the checkers at Riverside International Raceway in 1988 and pacing the 1991 season-opener at Daytona International Speedway. He has one pole at Talladega (1992), eight top-three finishes, 15 top-fives, four front-row starts and 51 laps led. His average IROC starting and finishing position is sixth, and he's collected 314 total points and earned $347,600 in prize money.

Chip Ganassi Racing IROC History

Last season, IndyCar Series driver Scott Dixon represented Target Chip Ganassi Racing on the heels of his 2003 championship campaign, finishing 11th in the standings with 26 points. Other drivers to compete under the Chip Ganassi Racing banner through the years include CART Champions Jimmy Vasser (1997-98) and Alex Zanardi (1997), and Sterling Marlin (2002) who currently drives the #40 Coors Light Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup.

-cgr-

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