Taylor, Angelelli Dominate Lime Rock, Claim DP Title

Photo: Brian Cleary/GRAND-AM

Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli have been crowned Rolex Sports Car Series champions following a dominant performance in Saturday’s GRAND-AM series finale at Lime Rock Park.

Taylor took the Velocity Worldwide-sponsored Corvette DP to a 3.889-second victory over the No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Riley-Ford of Gustavo Yacaman in second, following a late restart with three minutes to go.

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There was no denying the Wayne Taylor Racing duo, however, who picked up their fifth victory of the season, but more importantly the Daytona Prototype title.

“We knew we had a decent car but we didn’t know how good it was because it’s obviously hard to pass here,” Taylor said. “Max didn’t take any risks, which was good for the championship. When I got in, we had clear track… When we went to the restart  that was the only time we had an idea how competitive we’d be compare to everybody else.

“When it went green I was able to gap them and maintain it. I was pretty happy out there.”

While Angelelli earned his second GRAND-AM championship, it was 22-year-old Taylor’s first title, coming in his first full season of DP competition. Jordan’s father, Wayne, shared the 2005 title with Angelelli.

Championship contenders Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas completed the podium in third after having to start from the rear of the 14-car DP field due to an engine change after qualifying.

Chip Ganassi Racing, however, walked away with the teams’ championship. Chevrolet and Riley won the engine and chassis manufacturer titles, respectively.

The pole-sitting No. 42 Team Sahlen Riley-BMW of Dane Cameron and Wayne Nonnamaker was fourth, with a late charge by Sebastien Bourdais giving 8Star Motorsports a top-five for its No. 4 Corvette DP.

A late pile-up triggered by contact from the No 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette of Richard Westbrook collected the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing entry of Alex Gurney, resulting in a DNF for the Red Dragon.

RESULTS: Championship Weekend

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John