Ganassi Wins North American Endurance Championship 1-3-4 Finish in Grand Sport, 1-2-3 Finish in Street Tuner Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – July 27, 2013 . . . Ryan Dalziel and Alex Popow won the 3-hour GRAND-AM Brickyard Grand Prix in the No. 2 Starworks Motorsports BMW Riley, finishing 3.438 seconds ahead of the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates BMW Riley of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas. The 1-2 finish added an exclamation point to the story of the debut race for the new BMW 4.5-liter powerplant. The victory moved Dalziel and Popow to the top of the Daytona Prototype driver point standings and the runner-up finish won CGRFS a $100,000 payday for the 2013 North American Endurance Championship. The No. 8 Starworks Motorsports BMW Riley of Brendon Hartley and Pierre Kaffer finished fourth. The No. 02 CGRFS BMW Riley driven by BMW Motorsport’s Joey Hand and 2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan finished ninth. The Team Sahlen BMW Rileys finished 12th and 13th. Both Turner Motorsport BMW M3s had a disappointing day, finishing 12th and 13th in the GT class. “I am so thrilled for everyone; this win is great,” said Peter Baron, Starworks Motorsports Team Principal. “We can’t thank everyone at BMW of North America and Dinan Cars enough for getting us here in a week. Our crew was also unbelievable to get to grips so quickly with a new engine; a different handling car and the drivers were all amazing too. It feels so great that we are kissing the bricks again and now, with a 10 points lead in the Championship, this win could not have come at a better time for our title bid.” Download the entire newsletter. Continue reading...
