WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — The magic number for the Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team appears to be three as they just missed the pole and will start on the inside of row two for tomorrow’s Round Six of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve, as part of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International.
After starting third at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca three weeks ago, driver Patrick Long again found himself in familiar territory again today. Long turned the third quickest qualifying lap with a 1:44.436 (112.890 mph), just 0.558-second behind the polesitter (No. 99 Pontiac Riley), around the 3.4-mile, 11-turn long road course.
Three weeks ago Long just missed the pole, he started third and then teammate Jörg Bergmeister drove an incredible race to bring home the team’s first win of the season. This weekend, the Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team hopes that history repeats itself and if it does repeat itself the team will become the first Grand-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype class repeat winner this season.
“I am happy,” Long said of his qualifying effort. “To qualify in the top five in this series, wherever you’re at, means that you and the team have done a really good job. It’s great to have gotten two-top threes in a row. Tomorrow, we are going to try to be smart throughout the race and try to carry this momentum and consistency that we’ve found in the last couple of races.
“We’ve worked hard on the car. The car is completely different than where it was when we started yesterday (during the promoter test day sessions). But, in saying that, we’ve been in the top three all weekend. Overall, things look pretty positive.”
“P3 seems to be a good place to start,” Job said reminiscing about the team’s first win. “It worked out really well for us last time. Obviously, we wanted to do more, but we knew that P1 was going to be tough against the [number] 99 car. That car is just awfully fast.
“We certainly had hoped for P2, but we got beat by the [number] 01 car by less than a tenth. But, we’ll take P3. It’s a good omen. It was a good start for us last race. It is a six-hour race and a lot of things can happen. This race is clearly not about qualifying. It’s about running the smartest race and that is what we’ve got to do tomorrow. We’ve got to be smarter than everybody else.”
With one win, two top-five and four top-10 finishes this season, Bergmeister and Long both sit in fourth place with 124 points (24 points behind the leader Scott Pruett) in the Grand-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype Driver Point standings. The Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team is in fifth place in the Grand-Am Rolex Series Team Point standings with 124 points.
Grand-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype race fans can catch split race coverage from Watkins Glen International live on SPEED Channel beginning at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (EDT), with continuing coverage through the end of the race starting at 2:30 p.m. (EDT) Saturday, June 9.
Satellite video download, Saturday, June 9: 5:45–6:00 p.m. ET, GAL 11/K13 -18 MHz Lower; Uplink Freq: 14251 V; Downlink Freq: 11951 H; Bandwidth: 18 MHz; Data Rate: 18.295; Symbol Rate: 13.235; FEC: 3/4; Signal Standard: 18 MHz Digital Transmission; Audio: Ch 1 – Stereo Left, Ch 2 – Stereo Right, Ch 3 – Nats Only, Ch 4 – Nats Only. Highlights and interview package will run repeatedly in the 15-minute window.
Ruby Tuesday is one of the nation’s leading casual-dining restaurant companies, with more than 800 restaurants worldwide. It was founded in 1972 by Sandy Beall, who serves as Chairman & 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 an assortment of handcrafted burgers, its fresh garden bar, premium baby back ribs and a variety of other signature entrees. 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.