Grand American Rolex

What: Armed Forces 250

When: Saturday, Aug. 23, 6:00 p.m. EDT

Where: Infineon Raceway, 2.52-mile, 12-turn road course

Length: 250 miles/102 laps or 2 hours, 45 minutes

TV: Tape-delayed on SPEED, Aug. 24, 12 noon EDT

LEXUS DRIVERS CLOSE IN ON TITLE – Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas will bring a 49-point lead in the Rolex Series Driver’s Championship to Sonoma this weekend. They need only to place 12th or better in each of the season’s final three races to win the title. Their #01 Telmex Lexus has placed in the top-10 in 29 of its last 30 races. This season, they’ve earned six victories and nine top-three podium finishes in 11 events.

In addition to the driver’s championship, Chip Ganassi Racing also holds a 49-point advantage in the team championship. The Lexus-powered team won previous Daytona Prototype championships in 2004 and 2006.

PRUETT CLOSES IN ON ALL-TIME RECORD – As Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas inch closer to the Rolex Series title, a championship would give Pruett an American record eighth major sports car championship, breaking a record he currently holds along with the late Peter Gregg. Amazingly enough, Pruett could eclipse the record despite having spent eight full seasons in Indy cars and one in NASCAR, as well as missing a full season due to injury (1991). Pruett’s titles include one Daytona Prototype championship (2004), two IMSA GTO titles (1986 and 1988), one IMSA GT Endurance (1986) and three Trans-Am championships (1987, 1994 and 2003). Overall, in 10 full seasons of sports car competition since 1986, Pruett has won seven championships and was the series runner-up on three occasions.

VIVA LA MEXICO – Memo Rojas is on pace to become the first Mexican driver ever to win a major racing championship in the United States. The second-year Grand-Am driver has eight victories in 25 races since joining the Ganassi operation last season after racing exclusively in open-wheel cars prior to 2007. Rojas placed fourth in the driver’s championship last season as a rookie.

LEXUS AT INFINEON – In two previous starts at Infineon Speedway, Lexus has registered a victory (2006 Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz) and a third-place finish (2007 – Pruett and Memo Rojas).

PRUETT ON THE FAMILY PLAN – Lexus driver Scott Pruett will be a focus of Infineon Raceway’s Family Fun Pack ticket plan for the Armed Forces 250. The $75 offer includes two adult tickets and two children’s tickets for Saturday, Aug. 23, and a copy of “Racing Through the Alphabet,” the latest racing-themed children’s book written by Pruett and his wife, Judy. The Pruetts will conduct a special book reading on Saturday where young readers will pick up their book and have a chance to have it autographed by the authors.

BROKEN RECORDS – With each passing victory, long-time Lexus driver Scott Pruett continues his record-breaking season. Pruett earned a record seventh “Rolex 24 at Daytona” triumph to start the season and has added five more 2008 victories since then for a GA career total of 20. On the team side, Chip Ganassi Racing has extended its win total to 21 – also a Rolex Series record.

2008 Lexus Wins (6) – Daytona 24 (Pruett/Rojas/Montoya/Franchitti); Miami (Pruett/Rojas); Virginia (Pruett/Rojas); Watkins Glen Six Hours(Pruett/Rojas); Daytona-2 (Pruett/Rojas); Barber (Pruett/Rojas)