Ron Fellows Spins With 3 Laps Remaining, Victory Goes To Banner Racing

[PressRoom-GFN]

LIME ROCK, Conn. (May 26, 2008) -- Ron Fellows spun while leading with three laps remaining, allowing Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R teammates Paul Edwards and Kelly Collins to score their third 2008 victory in Monday's Grand-Am GT Classic at Lime Rock Park.

It was the fifth consecutive victory for Pontiac in the ACXIOM GT class of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16.

Edwards, driving the No. 07 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R, took the checkered flag 46.232 seconds ahead of Nick Ham, in the No. 70 SpeedSource Castrol Mazda RX-8 he shared with Sylvain Tremblay. It was the third podium finish of the year for the SpeedSource team, the lone non-Pontiac team to win in 2008 Rolex Series GT competition.

The winners averaged a record 103.109 mph in the caution-free race.

"I didn't know if I was going to get by him, but I was definitely going to make a last attempt to get by," said Edwards, who also won with O'Connell at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. "It was a sweet victory for Pontiac here and a dominating performance this weekend. I didn't know if we were going to be this strong or not. The Pirellis are treating this car sweet."

Taking third, one lap down, was Robin Liddell, driving the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R started by Andrew Davis. The Stevenson car was slowed by an engine problem in the early going. While they corrected the malfunction on their first pit stop, the team lost several laps and Liddell spent the remainder of the contest battling back.

Fellows, in the No. 06 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R started by Jan Magnussen, recovered to finish fourth.

"The No. 07 car had fresher tires, and we started slipping tires," Fellows said. "We thought we could hold him off, but I got into the sand a little bit - something kicked up - and I just lost it."

Finishing fifth was pole winner Tim Lewis Jr. and Lawson Aschenbach in the No. 72 Autohaus Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R.

Magnussen pitted on the first of 164 laps to satisfy the Grand-Am Rolex Series pit stop rules. Meanwhile, the No. 07 team GXP.R of Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards stayed out, pitting just before the 45-minute pit window.

The top-finishing Porsche was the No. 67 TRG Porsche GT3 of Tim George Jr. and Spencer Pumpelly, placing sixth.

Ryan Phinny and Diego Alessi faced an uphill battle after Phinney was forced off course in the early going while finishing second. They finished seventh in the No. 21 Matt Connolly Motorsports Pontiac GTO.R.

Off to a good start at the green flag, Lewis quickly built up a seven-second lead, he pitted on lap 7 to give the lead to Collins, with Ham getting by 14 laps later.

Ham led through his first pit stop. Magnussen,who quickly worked his way into contention following his early start, then took the lead with the two Banner Racing cars leading the remainder of the 164-lap event.

Collins and Edwards expanded their lead in the ACXIOM GT division to 19 points over Pumpelly and George.

The next action for the Grand-Am Rolex Series will be the June 7 Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen, featuring both the Daytona Prototype and GT classes on the 3.4-mile Watkins Glen International road course.

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Courtesy Of Grand-Am