Joe Gibbs Driven

After being checked over in a New Jersey hospital, Scott Pruett urged the team to change its mind. It meant going back to Indianapolis to retrieve a mothballed car - the winner of the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona - but sent in motion a change of events that led to the team winning its third Daytona Prototype championship, with Pruett and Memo Rojas sharing driver accolades.

The teamed finished ninth in both the Supercar Life 250 at Thunderbolt Raceway at New Jersey Motorsports Park and the season-ending SunRichGourmet.com 1000 presented by The Grand and Little America Hotels, winning the title by 30 points over 2007 champs GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing and drivers Alex Gurney ande Jon Fogarty.

At the finale, all Pruett and Rojas needed to do was drive at least 30 minutes to share the driving championship - the team honors were already clinched following the New Jersey event.

"I'm just blessed to work with great sponsorship and great partners, engine manufacturers with Lexus, and obviously TELMEX," said team owner Chip Ganassi. "I've got great guys that work on the car. I'm lucky to have those people around me."

The Ganassi team won the team title in its rookie season, recording a 10-point margin ahead of the No. 10 SunTrust Racing team. Pruett and co-driver Max Papis shared that year's Daytona Prototype drivers' championship. The Ganassi entry also took team honors in 2006, outpointing the No. 76 Krohn Racing team by 10 points. Pruett and Luis Diaz finished second in that year's drivers' championship, won by Jorg Bergmeister.

TELMEX Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates finished second in the 2007 team championship - two points behind the GAINSCO/Bob Stallings team - and also placed second in 2005, 34 points behind the No. 10 SunTrust Racing entry.

The team opened the 2008 season with a victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, using a Riley chassis with original bodywork. Pruett and Rojas then switched to the updated Riley bodywork for the next race, going on to win five additional races.

The New Jersey event began on a somber note for the Ganassi team, which announced it was withdrawing from the Supercar Life 250 after Pruett tore his primary race car in half after a car spun in front of him early in the first testing session. Subsequently, Pruett was taken to a nearby hospital.

Less than an hour later, though, the team announced a change of plans when Pruett was released after evaluation at the South Jersey HealthCare Regional Medical Center in Vineland.

The team's transporter was sent back for the 14-hour haul to the team's shops in Indianapolis. Meanwhile, the crew members went to the Philadelphia airport, to catch a flight to Indianapolis.

Friday morning, work began at 7 for the team. The Rolex 24 winner was stripped of its bodywork following the Daytona victory, which was mounted on a show car on display at the Ganassi shop. Meanwhile, the stripped chassis was tucked away in a corner at the complex. The team stripped the show car and replaced the bodywork on the original chassis, finishing the work around 11 p.m. The transport drivers - who had rested Friday - then began the 14-hour trek to Millville, while the crewmen rested that evening.

Saturday, the crew flew back via a commercial flight to Philadelphia, and were back at the garage in time to meet the hauler when it arrived at the circuit at 6 p.m. Pruett and Rojas shook down the car in the Sunday morning warm-up, and went on to finish ninth in the race - cementing the 2008 Daytona Prototype team championship.

The team kept the Rolex 24-winning chassis for Salt Lake City, although they switched to the bodywork carried in this year's Daytona enduro to save the red, white and blue race-winning livery. The car was then repainted to the current TELMEX colors for the finale.