Race/Date:        Brumos Porsche 250 – July 4, 2009
Location:           Daytona International Speedway – Daytona, Fla.
Start Position:   19th (Daytona Prototype division)       Finish Position : 13th

Daytona Beach, Fla. - Rob Finlay and Andy Wallace overcame a tremendous setback on Saturday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway when their engine expired at an inopportune time and rebounded with a respectable 13th-place finish.

The Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series teams were presented with a new weekend schedule at Daytona, one that greatly condensed their time at the track.  Accustomed to three-day weekends that allowed for multiple practice sessions spread out over the course of two days, teams had just two sessions on Saturday morning to get their race vehicles dialed in for the Brumos Porshce 250.

Finlay and Wallace worked diligently to get their No. 2 Gentleman Jack Pontiac Crawford Daytona Prototype dialed in for qualifying but, in the closing laps of the first practice session, Finlay reported that something seemed amiss with the engine.  The crew examined their powerplant, replaced spark plug wires and wiring harnesses and felt confident that their problems were solved.

Finlay strapped in the Pontiac for qualifying and, unfortunately, at the 10-minute mark in the 15-minute qualifying session, Finlay reported that he had completely lost power.  The Gentleman Jack crew sprung into action to diagnose the problem, which was found to be two dropped valves.  The damage would require an engine change – a process that typically takes several hours to complete – just three hours before the scheduled start of Saturday's event.

Mr Jack's crew began the process of changing the engine with surgical precision, each crew member working tirelessly in the near-100 degree heat.  As the field readied for the start of the race, the Gentleman Jack machine sat in the garage area with the engine change nearly complete.

The 35-car field took the green flag at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time and it did so with the No. 2 machine missing from the starting grid.  As the field completed the second lap, the crew hurriedly strapped Finlay into the Pontiac and started the engine.  After a quick once-over to make sure there were no leaking fluids, Finlay drove from the Garages onto the infield road course of Daytona International Speedway just three laps behind the leaders.

It would take just a handful of laps before Finlay was up to speed and passing the slower GT series cars.  At lap 27,  Finlay reported a vibration and fearing a tire problem, he brought the Gentleman Jack machine to pit road for fresh Pirellis.  As Finlay returned to the track, the crew diagnosed that a missing wheel weight was the issue that caused the scare.

Having already completed more laps than the other Truman drivers in the field, Finlay returned to pit road at lap 36 for a driver change.  Running in the 22nd position, Wallace took the reins and began picking his way through the field.  Having already advanced to the 16th position at lap 55, the Englishman reported that he had lost the clutch.  With the crew apologizing for the predicament, Wallace quickly replied that he was not concerned about the setback and felt more than capable of working around the issue.  He did just that, picking up three more positions before the checkered flag flew to end the 70-lap event.

Max Angelelli held off a last-lap charge from Alex Gurney to win Round 7 of the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, winning by .270 seconds - the fifth-closest finish in the history of the series.

Round 8 for the Grand-Am Rolex Series will be the Porsche 250 presented by Legacy Credit Union July 19 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL.

Rob Finlay Quote

"My hat's off to the Gentleman Jack crew.  They were relentless in performing the engine change.  It was quite the setback but they worked hard to get us out there.  It was a good day for me in the points.  I was able to log a few more laps than some of the other guys going for the gentleman’s championship, so that should give me a few more points.  We’ll head back to the shop, figure out what went wrong in the engine and be ready for Barber in two weeks."

Andy Wallace Quote

"The crew did an unbelievable job today.  They worked so hard to get the engine changed.  To do that in the short amount of time that they did is enough, but to do it in the heat of the Daytona sun is something else.  It was an unfortunate setback but I’m thankful we were able to get out there and gain some positions.  I think we’ll all sit back tonight, enjoy a glass of Gentleman Jack and think about all the setbacks we were able to overcome today."