Multiple Rolex Sports Car champions Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas started 2014 in a new series, the Tudor United Sports Car Championship. This was along with a new motor, as the Ford EcoBoost twin-turbo V6 replaced the BMW-based Dinan V8, which had brought them so much success in the old series.
After winning at Sebring in March and Long Beach in April, Pruett, Rojas and the once-dominant Telcel-Ganassi crew couldn’t seem to find success, while 2013 champions Wayne Taylor Racing and 2014 Rolex 24 winners Action Express Racing battled for the new TUSC title.
At the Tudor Championship Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas Saturday afternoon, Pruett, Rojas et al proved that given a little luck, they still had the pace and the strategic awareness to finish first against all comers.
Losing out to Alex Brundle in the Oak Ligier in qualifying, Pruett in the #01 patiently followed Barbosa in the #5 and Brundle in the #42, until Brundle pitted on lap 57, taking fuel and fresh tyres. The Oak team knew they were the quickest car on the course in clear air, and hoped that come the end of the race, they would have made up track position and inherit the lead when the others had to pit.
It was a sound strategy, but it didn’t reckon on Pruett’s wisdom. The old dog had learned a new trick: he had learned how to stretch his mileage when it was the best way to win a race. Barbosa pitted on lap 59, for fuel only, rejoining in second, six seconds behind Pruett and seven seconds ahead of the charging Alex Brundle - who eventually seized second from Barbosa.
Pruett had a four-second lead over Brundle with four minutes left in the race. Pruett had already been told by his crew that he had enough fuel. So the wily old veteran, who was used to balancing his car mid-corner with a stab at the throttle, had changed his ways for long enough to get the green light, and go he did. This was right up until lap 75, when his crew suddenly announced that he was short on fuel and needed to slow down without losing the lead of course.
Pruett again came through, managing to finish the final two laps still in the lead, but he ran out of fuel on his cool-down lap. A little luck, a lot of skill, adaptability, and smart driving had earned Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas the overall win.