2008 Rolex Sports Car Series
The 2008 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the ninth season of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16. The 14-race championship for Daytona Prototypes and 13-race championship for Grand Touring cars began January 26, 2008 and concluded on September 20, 2008. New Jersey Motorsports Park replaced Iowa Speedway. At 15 races, it was the longest Rolex Sports Car Series season.
Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas won the DP drivers' championship, with Riley and Pontiac won the chassis and engine manufacturers' championships, respectively. In the GT class, Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards won the drivers' championship and brought Pontiac the manufacturers' championship.
Schedule
All 200 or events have a maximum time limit of 2 hours and 45 minutes. 2008 season marked New Jersey Motorsports Park's Rolex Sports Car Series debut.Rnd | Race | Class | Length/Duration | Circuit | Date |
1 | Rolex 24 At Daytona | DP/GT | 24 Hours | Daytona International Speedway | January 26 January 27 |
2 | Gainsco Grand Prix of Miami | DP/GT | Homestead-Miami Speedway | March 29 | |
3 | Mexico City 250 | DP/GT | Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez | April 19 | |
4 | Bosch Engineering 250 at VIR | DP/GT | Virginia International Raceway | April 27 | |
5 | RumBum.com 250 | DP/GT | Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca | May 17 | |
6 | Lime Rock GT Classic 250 | GT | Lime Rock Park | May 26 | |
7 | Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen | DP/GT | 6 Hours | Watkins Glen International | June 7 |
8 | EMCO Gears Classic | DP/GT | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | June 21 | |
9 | Brumos Porsche 250 | DP/GT | Daytona International Speedway | July 3 | |
10 | Porsche 250 Presented by Bradley Arant | DP/GT | Barber Motorsports Park | July 20 | |
11 | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve | DP/GT | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve | August 1 | |
12 | Crown Royal 200 at the Glen | DP | Watkins Glen International | August 8 | |
13 | Armed Forces 250 | DP | Infineon Raceway | August 23 | |
14 | Supercar Life 250 | DP/GT | New Jersey Motorsports Park | August 31 | |
15 | SunRichGourmet.com 1000 | DP/GT | Miller Motorsports Park | September 20 |
Television
- All races will be shown in the United States and Canada on Speed Channel with the exception of the first 90 minutes of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, which will be shown on Fox.
- The Rolex 24 at Daytona will be broadcast in high-definition for the first time ever.
- The series will also be broadcast to Europe, Latin America, and South America by SportKlub and Speed Latin America.
- The ESPN Family of Networks will broadcast one-hour highlight shows to other countries not receiving full broadcasts.
Changes
Rules
- For 2008 all participants will use Pirelli P-Zero racing tires until the end of 2010 season before Pirelli return to Formula One in 2011.
- A driver must now drive at least 30 minutes in a race to receive championship points.
- Safety car pit lane procedure has changed:
- *DP cars pit on first lap after pit lane opens
- *GT cars pit on second lap after pit lane opens
Competition Adjustments
- May 27, 2008:
- *Corvette prep 2 w/ solid axle minimum weight reduced to.
- *Pontiac GTO and GXP.R minimum weight increased to. w/ solid axle or. w/ DP transaxle
- *Pontiac GTO and GXP.R maximum rear weight percentage reduced from 51% to 49%
- June 17, 2008:
- *Porsche 911 minimum ride height decreased from to
Season Results
Rnd | Circuit | DP Winning Team | GT Winning Team |
Rnd | Circuit | DP Winning Drivers | GT Winning Drivers |
1 | Daytona ' | #01 Chip Ganassi Racing | #70 SpeedSource |
1 | Daytona ' | Scott Pruett Memo Rojas Juan Pablo Montoya Dario Franchitti | Nick Ham David Haskell Raphael Matos Sylvain Tremblay |
2 | Homestead Miami | #01 Chip Ganassi Racing | #07 Banner Racing |
2 | Homestead Miami | Scott Pruett Memo Rojas | Kelly Collins Paul Edwards |
3 | Hermanos Rodriguez | #91 Riley-Matthews Motorsports | #57 Stevenson Motorsports |
3 | Hermanos Rodriguez | Marc Goossens Jim Matthews | Andrew Davis Robin Liddell |
4 | Virginia | #01 Chip Ganassi Racing | #57 Stevenson Motorsports |
4 | Virginia | Scott Pruett Memo Rojas | Andrew Davis Robin Liddell |
5 | Laguna Seca | #2 SAMAX Motorsport | #07 Banner Racing |
5 | Laguna Seca | Ryan Dalziel Henri Zogaib | Paul Edwards Kelly Collins |
6 | Lime Rock | no race | #07 Banner Racing |
6 | Lime Rock | no race | Paul Edwards Kelly Collins |
7 | Watkins Glen | #01 Chip Ganassi Racing | #69 SpeedSource |
7 | Watkins Glen | Scott Pruett Memo Rojas | Jeff Segal Emil Assentato Nic Longhi |
8 | Mid-Ohio | #99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing | #86 Farnbacher-Loles Racing |
8 | Mid-Ohio | Alex Gurney Jon Fogarty | Leh Keen Eric Lux |
9 | Daytona | #01 Chip Ganassi Racing | #70 SpeedSource |
9 | Daytona | Scott Pruett Memo Rojas | Nick Ham Sylvain Tremblay |
10 | Barber | #01 Chip Ganassi Racing | #70 SpeedSource |
10 | Barber | Scott Pruett Memo Rojas | Nick Ham Sylvain Tremblay |
11 | Gilles Villeneuve | #61 AIM Autosport | #57 Stevenson Motorsports |
11 | Gilles Villeneuve | Mark Wilkins Brian Frisselle | Andrew Davis Robin Liddell |
12 | Watkins Glen | #61 AIM Autosport | no race |
12 | Watkins Glen | Mark Wilkins Brian Frisselle | no race |
13 | Infineon | #10 SunTrust Racing | no race |
13 | Infineon | Max Angelelli Michael Valiante | no race |
14 | New Jersey | #60 Michael Shank Racing | #67 The Racer's Group |
14 | New Jersey | Oswaldo Negri, Jr. Mark Patterson | Tim George, Jr. Andy Lally |
15 | Miller | #6 Michael Shank Racing | #07 Banner Racing |
15 | Miller | John Pew Ian James Raphael Matos | Kelly Collins Paul Edwards Kris Wilson |
Driver standings
DP
GT
†: Did not complete 30 minutes of driving, and was not awarded points- Tiebreakers: Driver with the highest number of superior finishes is ranked higher
Manufacturer Standings