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.

Sonoma Raceway

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

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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

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  • 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)
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  • "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