Pratt and Miller Camaros Win At Bosch 250

DANVILLE, VA – Though much of the race was run in torrential rain behind the pace car, the GRAND AM Sports Car Series race at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) was an exciting History making event. Bill Lester claimed the victory in the GT-class co-piloting his #88 Autohaus Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to victory with Jordan Taylor. The victory makes Lester the first African-American driver to win a GRAND-AM Rolex event. The 07 Cool-TV Chevrolet Camaro of Schaldach /Gavin placed second followed by the #94 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 of Dalla Lana/Auberlen.The Autohaus Camaro prepared by Pratt and Miller runs Burns merge collectors. Burns Stainless worked closely with the engine supplier, Katech, to develop the winning header design. Lester and Jordan move to 3rd in points following this momentous win.


The other exciting race was the Daytona Prototype (DP) class where the Gannassi six-race winning streak was brought to an end by the #9 Action Express Porsche/Riley of Barbosa/France /Borcheller. Barbosa claimed the checkered flag a mere 0.27 seconds ahead of Scott Pruett, who along with co-diver Memo Rojas have won 12 of the last 15 races. So unbeatable had Team Ganassi become, that GRAND AM posted a $25,000 bounty to the team that could end the Gannassi winning streak. "Chip Ganassi and his entire organization have done an amazing job fashioning one of the most remarkable streaks in the annals of American sports car racing," said GRAND-AM Director of Competition Mark Raffauf. "This reward gives their competition another incentive to step up and beat them to the checkered flag."


The winners took home a purse of over $83,000 – better than a poke in the eye I’d say! Joao Barbosa commented after the race, "Everything clicked today. We were able to get the track position at the right time and then I tried to do the best I could at the end. With Scott (Pruett) behind, it's never easy, but I pushed as hard as I could and tried to gain a safe margin just in case. You never know what can come from those guys. It worked out really perfect.


Also of note is that the #30 iMoto Racing MazdaSpeed3 driven by Chip Herr and Team owner Glenn Bocchino was equipped with an undercar exhaust built by Burns Stainless incorporating a Burns Ultralight muffler. The VIR 250 was a shakedown race for the brand new car. We are expecting great things from the Continental Cup ST class entry in races to come.