Scott Pruett’s slingshot pass of Alex Gurney in the closing yards of the 2008 race continued a streak of thrilling battles in the Brumos Porsche 250. Gurney had passed Pruett with 13 laps to go and seemed headed to the checkered flag, before Pruett managed to pull off a slingshot pass and win by a then-record .081 seconds.
The roles were reversed between the two teams in 2007. Jon Fogarty, Gurney’s co-driver in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley, was penalized early in the race for avoidable contact with Memo Rojas – Pruett’s co-driver in the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley. Admittedly driving with anger, Fogarty and Gurney charged back from 16th to take the victory.
The 2006 finish was a nail-biter, with Colin Braun becoming the youngest Daytona Prototype winner after co-driver Jorg Bergmeister stretched his fuel mileage and nursed home the Krohn Racing entry – running out of fuel on the cool-down lap. Patrick Long led 28 laps in the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Porsche Crawford before pitting for a splash of fuel with five laps to go, but wound up finishing second.
SunTrust Racing scored a dramatic victory in 2004 in a late-race shootout between Max Angelelli, Ganassi’s Max Papis and Crawford’s Andy Wallace. “I believe we have the faster Max,” car owner Wayne Taylor said on the PA with 10 laps remaining – and Angelelli proved him right.
Angelelli and Taylor came up short the following year, losing in 2005 to Crawford’s Butch Leitzinger and Elliott Forbes-Robinson by five seconds. Papis finished third, teamed with Bergmeister in the Krohn/TRG Pontiac Riley.
Terry Borcheller took a step toward the inaugural Daytona Prototype title with a victory in the 2003 classic, joining Forest Barber in the Bell Motorsports Chevrolet Doran – beating the GTS class Mustang of Tommy Riggins by 14 seconds.
The first two runnings of the Paul Revere 250 under the Grand-Am banner both came down to battles between the Dyson and Doran teams. The 2000 race – part of Grand-Am’s inaugural season – revived a tradition that ended in 1985. It was run on a Thursday evening under rainy conditions that delayed NASCAR qualifying, with the race getting underway shortly before its traditional midnight green flag. The pre-race drama was provided by 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie of the year Tony Stewart, who nearly landed an 11th-hour ride in Tom Volk’s Daytona Prototype with Jeret Schroeder – who drove for Stewart in the IRL. Unfortunately, Cup car owner Joe Gibbs had other ideas.
James Weaver and Andy Wallace went on to win the 2000 event for Dyson Racing in a Riley & Scott Ford, holding off the Doran Lista Racing Judd Doran of Didier Theys and Ross Bently by 4.2 seconds. With no race held in 2001, Weaver and Chris Dyson came back to win on July 4, 2002, holding off the Doran Judd Dallara of Theys and Fredy Lienhard by 4.3 seconds. Leitzinger and Rob Dyson were another second back in third.
The first Paul Revere 250 was run in 1967, a NASCAR Grand American race won by Parnelli Jones. It switched to IMSA Camel GT sanction in the early 1970s, with Hurley Haywood winning the event four times. Willy T. Ribbs won an SCCA Trans-Am race in 1984. The event went to two wheels in 1985 and 1986 under Roger Edmondson’s CCS banner, although the latter event was cancelled due to rain.
