WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Max Angelelli and Wayne Taylor beat
Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz by 0.473 seconds Saturday after
Angelelli hit a woodchuck with three laps to go in the Crown Royal
250 at Watkins Glen International.
It was their second win in a month on the historic road course
and fifth victory of the season, one off the Rolex Sports Car
Series record for Daytona Prototypes.
And it sure wasn't easy. A woodchuck ran onto the course in
front of Angelelli along the back stretch and the Italian driver's
Pontiac Riley hit it head-on with three laps to go in the 66-lap
race, damaging the front end.
"I saw this black thing running across, and it was just 'Poof!'
" Angelelli said. "It moved the car. It was a big hit."
"I got covered with it," Pruett said. "He vaporized it. There
were just guts everywhere. It was just a mess."
At least Angelelli had some experience to fall back on. He lost
a Formula 3 race in Macao in 1996 after hitting an animal and was
determined not to let it happen again.
The final laps were tense as Pruett's Lexus Riley repeatedly
closed on the back end of Angelelli.
"At the beginning, I was worried," said Angelelli, who led 27
laps. "After I hit this animal, it felt like the tires lost
pressure. I heard a lot of noise in the car. He (Pruett) was faster
than me in a couple of the corners. I couldn't see because I lost
both mirrors. I was worried we would get together and really
pushed. I had nothing left."
The win kept Angelelli and Taylor in first place in the series
standings with 379 points. Pruett and Diaz are second with 340, 23
points ahead of Elliott Forbes-Robinson and Butch Leitzinger with
two races left in the season.
"I could get up under him, but I'd get aero loose," Pruett
said. "I was trying. I was hoping. I was looking for any option,
but it just never came."
In the GT class, Marc Bunting and Andy Lally edged Paul Edwards
and Jan Magnussen by 0.341. Both teams ran Pontiac GTOs.