Round 9 of the exciting GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 at the New Jersey Motorsports Park saw Rolex 24 champion Ryan Dalziel bring the No. 8 Corsa Car Care Starworks Motorsports BMW Riley to an impressive top 5 finish. Ryan Dalziel admitted to having a hard time during the course of the race as he hasn’t raced on the New Jersey Motorsports Park circuit before. Despite this and a few other set-up concerns, however, he was still able to record a 5th place finish, earning enough points to secure his hold on the DP drivers overall standing, just 19 points behind Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates’ Memo Rojas and Scott Pruett.

Mike Forest echoed Ryan Dalziel in saying that the NJMP 250 presented by Crown Royal was one of the toughest races in this year’s Rolex Series. He said that the wet conditions during Saturday’s practice session made driving a bit tricky, and the contrasting heat on Sunday caused the power steering to break. Mike Forest had to nurse the car back to the pits to give the steering motor enough time to cool down before taking the car back into the pack. He credited Bill Riley for his strategic call, making sure the No. 8 car stayed at the top of the grid.

The No. 7 Flex-Box BMW Riley wasn’t as fortunate as its sister car, since it had to deal with several mechanical problems towards the end of the race. Bill Lester drove a trouble-free first stint after qualifying the car for 13th, but Starworks Motorsports rookie Dane Cameron had to deal with overheating. Bill Lester took over to try and get the car to finish, but the lack of power transfer would not allow any further action. In the end, the No. 7 car placed 12th in class.

Round 10 of the 2010 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 will be the Crown Royal 200 at the Glen, to be held at Watkins Glen International Short Course on August 6th to 7th. SPEEDTV will be covering the event live August 7th, starting 6:00pm ET.

Tags: GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, NJMP 250, Rolex and Motorsports, Rolex and Sports