Pruett Dodging at The Glen

By Tim Packman, Turner Sports Interactive
July 27, 2001
9:41 AM EDT (1341 GMT)

MOORESVILLE, N.C. - Road racing driver for hire Scott Pruett will be taking the Chip Ganassi Racing-owned No. 01 Dodge around the twists and turns at Watkins Glen International for the Winston Cup event on Aug. 9. Jason Leffler, the regular driver, will be stepping aside for the event.

Scott Pruett

Pruett recently drove Kevin Lepage’s No. 71 Chevrolet for the recent GNC Live Well 200 at the 2.45-mile, 11-turn road course. He set a record for the Bud Pole there and finished a respectable seventh. Leffler also sat out last month’s road course event at Sears Point Raceway when Dorcey Shroeder drove his car.

Pruett, a two-time SCCA Trans-Am champion, last drove a Winston Cup car at Sears Point filling in for Joe Nemchek in the Andy Petree Racing-owned No. 33. The road couse specialist started 11th and finished 12th.

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“I'm looking forward to climbing back into a Winston Cup car," Pruett said. "I had the opportunity to drive the Winston Cup event at Sears Point earlier this season and really had fun. I've competed against Chip for a number of years in CART, so it will be nice to finally be on his team."

After competing in 28 races last year in the Cal Wells-owned No. 32 Ford, Pruett was let go and replaced by Ricky Craven. He had one top-10, 11 DNFs and one outside pole during his 2000 campaign.

Changing drivers for a road course race is a common thing in NASCAR. For the aforementioned Sears Point event; Robby Gordon drove Mike Wallace’s No. 7 Ford, Boris Said drove Robert Pressley’s No. 77 Ford, Dorsey Schroeder drove Leffler’s Dodge, Ron Fellows drove a Joe Nemechek-owned No. 87 Chevrolet and Brian Simo drove Hut Stricklin’s No. 90 Ford.

Pruett will drive the No. 01 car at Watkins Glen.

Leffler will return to his Dodge for the Pepsi 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 12.

"I have a lot of faith in Jason's ability, and I think he is going to be one of the top drivers in this series very soon," Ganassi said. "Jason has shown continued improvement throughout the season on oval tracks. We would like him to continue to concentrate all of his efforts in that direction this season."