2004 Grand Prix of Sonoma

The 2004 Grand Prix of Sonoma was the fourth race for the 2004 American Le Mans Series season held at Infineon Raceway. It took place on July 18, 2004.

This race saw Corvette Racing enter a third Corvette C5-R for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and co-driven by Boris Said. The car was successfully qualified but in warm-up the morning of the race, Earnhardt, Jr. went off course and collided with a barrier, causing a rupture of a fuel line. The broken fuel line was sparked when the car came to a stop and caused the car to be engulfed in flames, with Earnhardt, Jr. inside dazed by the accident and unable to get himself out immediately. Once Earnhardt, Jr. was able to become aware of his situation and rescue crews were able to arrive, Earnhardt, Jr. was successfully pulled from the burning vehicle. He received second and third degree burns to his neck, chest, and legs, partially due to not wearing a fire-retardant balaclava with his helmet.

The Corvette C5-R was burned beyond repair and did not race. The Corvette Racing team quickly examined the car and found that there was no design flaw in their fuel system. At the end of the 2004 ALMS season, Corvette Racing restored the car (Chassis No. C5-009) to its 2003 Le Mans specification and sold it to a collector.

Earnhardt, Jr. was forced to return to the Nextel Cup Series unable to complete full races as he underwent treatment, being relieved the next two races by Martin Truex, Jr. and John Andretti.


Official results

Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).

Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps
Engine
1 LMP1 38 ADT Champion Racing Marco Werner
JJ Lehto
Audi R8 M 107
Audi 3.6L Turbo V8
2 LMP1 20 Dyson Racing Chris Dyson
Andy Wallace
MG-Lola EX257 G 107
MG (AER) XP20 2.0L Turbo I4
3 LMP1 16 Dyson Racing Butch Leitzinger
James Weaver
MG-Lola EX257 G 104
MG (AER) XP20 2.0L Turbo I4
4 GTS 3 Corvette Racing Ron Fellows
Johnny O'Connell
Chevrolet Corvette C5-R M 102
Chevrolet LS7-R 7.0L V8
5 LMP2 30 Intersport Racing Jon Field
Clint Field
Robin Liddell
Lola B2K/40 P 102
Judd KV675 3.4L V8
6 LMP2 10 Miracle Motorsports Ian James
James Gue
Lola B2K/40 Y 100
Nissan (AER) VQL 3.0L V6
7 LMP2 56 Team Bucknum Racing Jeff Bucknum
Bryan Willman
Chris McMurry
Pilbeam MP91 D 98
Nissan (AER) VQL 3.0L V6
8 GT 23 Alex Job Racing Jörg Bergmeister
Timo Bernhard
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 98
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
9 GT 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Johannes van Overbeek
Darren Law
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 98
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
10 GT 24 Alex Job Racing Marc Lieb
Romain Dumas
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 98
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
11 GT 35 Risi Competizione Anthony Lazzaro
Ralf Kelleners
Ferrari 360 Modena GTC P 97
Ferrari 3.6L V8
12 GT 66 New Century - The Racer's Group Patrick Long
Cort Wagner
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 96
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
13 GT 79 J-3 Racing Justin Jackson
Tim Sugden
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 95
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
14 GT 60 P.K. Sport Hugh Plumb
Peter Boss
Porsche 911 GT3-RS P 92
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
15 GT 44 Flying Lizard Motorsports Seth Neiman
Lonnie Pechnik
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 92
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
16 GTS 6 Krohn-Barbour Racing Tracy Krohn
David McEntee
Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT P 90
Lamborghini 6.0L V12
17 GT 50 Panoz Motor Sports Gunnar Jeannette
David Saelens
Panoz Esperante GT-LM P 88
Ford (Élan) 5.0L V8
18 GTS 4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin
Olivier Beretta
Chevrolet Corvette C5-R M 86
Chevrolet LS7-R 7.0L V8
19 GT 31 White Lightning Racing Craig Stanton
David Murry
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 85
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
20 GTS 71 Carsport America Tom Weickardt
Jean-Philippe Belloc
Dodge Viper GTS-R P 75
Dodge 8.0L V10
21
DNF
GT 67 New Century - The Racer's Group Jim Matthews
Pierre Ehret
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 52
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
22
DNF
GTS 5 Krohn-Barbour Racing Peter Kox
David Brabham
Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT P 15
Lamborghini 6.0L V12
23
DNF
GT 43 BAM! Leo Hindery
Lucas Luhr
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 15
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
24
DSQ
GTS 63 ACEMCO Motorsports Terry Borcheller
Johnny Mowlem
Saleen S7-R P 58
Ford 7.0L V8
DNS GTS 8 Corvette Racing Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Boris Said
Chevrolet Corvette C5-R M -
Chevrolet LS7-R 7.0L V8

Statistics

  • Pole Position - #38 ADT Champion Racing - 1:22.320
  • Fastest Lap - #38 ADT Champion Racing - 1:23.656
  • Distance - 270.71 miles (435.67 km)
  • Average Speed - 98.082 mph (157.848 km/h)
  • "Official Results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2006-11-17. (38.9 KiB)
American Le Mans Series
Previous race:
2004 New England Grand Prix
2004 season Next race:
2004 Portland Grand Prix
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