This week’s pick for “NorCal Driver of the Week” is Scott Pruett from Auburn, CA. He is already considered the “Richard Petty” of sports car racing, but he just keeps on winning. Scott Pruett along with co-driver Memo Rojas last years Grand-Am Rolex Series Champions won the final three races of 2010 and have made it 3 for 3 so far this season, in the race at the Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.
Scott had this to say after the race: “The 90 team had everybody covered today. We caught up to them after I got in the car, and we cut down about an eight-second differential between us and them. I’m sliding around and he looked pretty pasted down to the ground. I just thought, ‘You know what?’ These guys are really strong here today. You never know how it’s going to play out, but they were certainly in the catbird seat to sneak in a win this week.”
Jonathan Bomarito from Monterey, CA, driver of the No. 70 MazdaSpeed/Castrol Edge Mazda RX-8 also had a good day in the Grand-Am series race coming home 3rd in the GT Class. Jonathan said: “We had an amazing race car today. I’m a little bit bummed that we weren’t on the same lap with the top two to be able to race with those guys.”
J.R. Hildebrand from Sausalito charged hard in the final quarter of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama to end up with a respectable 13th place finish. He is now in 13th place in the IZOD Indy Car Series points standings and maintained his spot as the leader in the rookie of the year standings.
A.J. Allmendinger from Los Gatos raced in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series race at Texas Motor Speedway. He struggled to a 19th place finish, 2 laps down but, due to the misfortune of fellow Northern California driver Jeff Gordon, he moved up a spot to 13th place in the points standings.
Photos courtesy of Kenneth Barton Motorsports Photography.