SONOMA, Calif. – The Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team finished seventh today in the penultimate round of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve at Infineon Raceway, as part of the Armed Forces Grand-Am 250.
Driver Terry Borcheller started 10th in the No. 23 Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team Porsche Crawford Daytona Prototype. The former Daytona Prototype Drivers’ Champion managed to climb one spot before handing the car over to teammate Patrick Long just before the mandatory 45-minute pit stop.
“I got into a good race pace,” Borcheller said of his stint in the car. “I had to deal with the car a little bit. I was only going to go as fast as I could go, which was somewhat difficult because I wanted to go faster. And, I tried a couple of times. But, decided I’d better run a little more conservatively.”
After all of the pit stops cycled through, Long was still in ninth and looking to catch the No. 61 Lexus Riley. During that time, Long turned the team’s fastest lap on lap 38 with a 1:30.908 (99.793 mph). Long would spend the next 39 laps running consistently in ninth before the No. 61 came to pit lane for its second pit stop and then Long moved up one position.
Unfortunately, Long’s progress was short-lived as he would have to pit for the second time three laps later on lap 65. When Long returned to the track, he was in 12th-place. After the second round of green flag pit stops were complete, Long was back to ninth. On lap 87, Long found himself in eighth, thanks to a broken suspension on the No. 19 Lexus Riley.
With four laps remaining in the race, the race’s only caution came out. This meant Long had one last shot to gain one more finishing position. On the green flag restart with two laps to go, it came down to an old-fashioned high-speed shootout between Long and the No. 61 machine. The No. 61 briefly left the door open and Long took advantage of this opportunity and subsequently finished seventh.
“We just have to stay persistent and keep chasing them,” Long said about the team’s top-10 finish. “A top-10 in the series is always an accomplishment and now we move on to Salt Lake.
“I think everybody worked really hard this weekend,” Borcheller said. “I am really happy for Alex Job Racing and the entire team.”
“It was a small victory for us today,” team owner Alex Job said. “We finally got to qualify and qualified in the top-10. We had a good race. Patrick did a great job on the restart and we finished seventh. That’s not bad considering the bad luck we’ve had recently. We’ll take this top-10 today and then get ready for the long race in Salt Lake City in a couple of weeks.”
Today’s result gives the Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team 10 top-10 finishes on the season, including its sole win at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in May.
The 2007 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season concludes with the Sunchaser 1000k Sept 12–15 at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.
Ruby Tuesday is one of the nation’s leading casual dining restaurant companies, with more than 900 restaurants worldwide. It was founded in 1972 by Sandy Beall, who serves as chairman and CEO today. The company is committed to having uncompromising freshness and quality with passionate employees who take pride in delighting guests with an excellent dining experience. The burger-centric menu features a variety of handcrafted burgers, including its exclusive Triple Prime Burger, and a wide assortment of fresh signature items and entrees, among them the Fresh Garden Bar, Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, Chicken Fresco and Prime Sirloin Steak. Ruby Tuesday, Inc. is traded on the NY Stock Exchange (symbol:RI). To find out more about Ruby Tuesday, visit www.rubytuesday.com.
For more information regarding the Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team, visit www.alexjobracing.com or contact Adam Horn at or (660) 864-8927.