DP Championship Battle Heats up in Monterey

The closest championship battle in the 11-year history of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series visits Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif., for Sunday’s Continental Tire Festival of Speed powered by Mazda. With two races remaining, the top 10 competitors for the Daytona Prototype championship are separated by only five points.

Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli lead Christian Fittipaldi by two points (269-267), followed by Alex Popow and Ryan Dalziel (266), Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty and Joao Barbosa (265), and Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas (264).

Nine of the 10 have their destinies in their own hands, and can claim the DP title by winning the final two rounds at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and the finale at Lime Rock Park on Saturday, Sept. 28.

If any team can win the final two races, their drivers will claim the title – with one exception. Since Fittipaldi and Barbosa opened the season driving separate cars for Action Express Racing, Barbosa cannot pass his co-driver in the standings.

· Taylor and Angelelli have three victories in the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette DP.

· Putting Fittipaldi and Barbosa together in the No. 5 Corvette DP has resulted in success for Action Express Racing, with the pair winning at Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen.

· Starworks Motorsport led the championship after Popow and Dalziel won the Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis in the No. 2 Soloson BMW/Riley.

· Gurney and Fogarty ended a winless streak dating back to 2011 when they won the inaugural race at Austin in the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Corvette DP.

· Pruett and Rojas dominated the early stages of the season before an incident on the opening lap at Detroit Belle Isle briefly hindered their bid for a fourth consecutive DP title (and fifth in six years) in the No. 01 Telcel/TELMEX BMW/Riley.