Trans-Am

Miami: Rocketsports Racing race notes

Scott Pruett: 2003 STATS -- Has eight wins and eight poles in 10 starts...One third place and 12th place finish...Two Winston Cup starts with a career-best second place finish at Watkins Glen...First season of full-time competition since ...

Edited: Sep 30, 2003, 4:24 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Scott Pruett:

2003 STATS -- Has eight wins and eight poles in 10 starts...One third place and 12th place finish...Two Winston Cup starts with a career-best second place finish at Watkins Glen...First season of full-time competition since 2000.

NOTE 1 -- BACKGROUND STATS... Has two previous Trans-Am Drivers' Championships (1987, 1994)...In 2002, did not compete in the Trans-Am Series...Competed in Winston Cup Series in 2000... Competed several seasons in CART Champ Car Series, scoring two wins...Has two IMSA GTO Drivers' Championships (1986, 1988).

On winning his third championship today... "Paul and I have always talked about doing something together. He asked me about Champ Car and I said no, those day were done when I walked away in 1999. Then he said 'I think I'm going to retire'. I told him if you do, then I'd be excited to be part of the team.

"This is a perfect place for me to be and it turned out to be even better than I expected. We had the surprise win in St. Pete and we really started to jell as a team at Infineon Raceway. The only problems we had this year were driver problems. I messed up at Lime Rock and parked it in the mud and overdrove it at Long Beach. But we came back, I learned a lot, and we overcame it.

"This is really a team effort. The driver is the focal point, but it takes their hard work and dedication. We've had zero mechanical problems this year.

"My approach this season was different. In the past, this was a stepping stone to something else. Now, I'm here because I want to be. It's a whole different mindset this time. It's been a dream season. It's been a lot of fun. Paul, my guys, Jaguar - and now Motorock -- they've all been great."

On his race today ... "The car was really quick, it would just take off. It would just jump...you know, leap like a cat. It stayed underneath me all day today. Johnny (Miller) ran strong, just like he has all season. It was a mirror race of Trois-Rivieres -- some places he was better and some places I was faster. In the end, it came our way.

On the possibility of running the Jaguar AJ-V8 engine in the last race... "We thought very seriously about running it here. But Jaguar decided that it needed more miles first. They've got the heritage, knowledge, and understanding to make a decision like that. I applaud them for that. That's what makes them true champions.

Johnny Miller:

NOTE 1 -- The Motorock Miami 100 marked Miller's 100th career Trans-Am start.

NOTE 2 -- BACKGROUND STATS...Has one win (Lime Rock) and nine podium finishes in 10 starts this season...Has two wins, 40 top-five finishes, 67 top-ten finishes, and four poles in 99 starts...Made his Winston Cup debut in Infineon Raceway, finishing 24th...Raced in the Watkins Glen Cup race, finishing 36th.

On his race today... "It took awhile for the car to come in. I was struggling with it being a little loose off the turns. The important thing for me was just to be here. I have to thank Rocketsports and Motorock for coming on board to make it possible for me to be here to continue the run for the championship and at least take a swing at it. This was my 100th start which also made it special and I really enjoyed it.

"That bump was a wake-up call with a full fuel load. That last restart hurt us some. It was a great day, a good car, and I could have gone another 20 laps. I had my plan, but it just didn't quite work out."

Tomy Drissi:

NOTE 1 -- BACKGROUND STATS...Has one career Trans-Am win, in 2000 at Long Beach...In 2003, has two top-ten finishes...Voted "Most Improved Driver" in 2000...Won "Rookie of the Year" title in 1999.

On his race today... "I really thought this was going to be our day. The car ran so well this weekend. We got tagged early on and came in under caution to change tires. Then I was the last caution. The incident tore up the right side of the car and damaged it enough that we had to park it.

"Someone else's inexperience cost us a probable podium finish today."

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Miami: Jaguar AJ-V8 Sunday notes

Next article Miami: Revolution Motorsports race report

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

NASCAR explains why they penalized Zane Smith after latest clash with Carson Hocevar

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

13 h

NASCAR explains why they penalized Zane Smith after latest clash with Carson Hocevar

Porsche boss Laudenbach says he is "not happy" with how things were handled by IMSA in 2026

IMSA

IMSA IMSA 13 h

Porsche boss Laudenbach says he is "not happy" with how things were handled by IMSA in 2026

Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

13 h

Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP

KTM sees MotoGP 2027 as a fresh start: “We never had the chance to build a new bike”

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP 14 h

KTM sees MotoGP 2027 as a fresh start: “We never had the chance to build a new bike”

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts