Sonoma Raceway

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)

External links

• "Official Results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2006-11-17. (38.9 KiB)