COMPETITION RULES; Grand-Am Championships up for grabs.(News)

Byline: STEVEN COLE SMITH

The Grand American Road Racing Association starts early-the Rolex 24 Hour at Daytona was in January-and consequently is well past halfway in the season. The Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona on June 28 was the 11th race of the year, and just five remain-four for the GT class, which won't be part of the program at Watkins Glen in August.

Unlike Champ Car and the IRL, talk of reconciliation between the NASCAR-connected Grand-Am series (Jeff Gordon has already been signed for the 2007 Rolex 24 Hour) and the Panoz-controlled American Le Mans Series has all but ceased, as the two sports car sanctioning bodies are carving out their own identities. Grand-Am is substantially simplified, with just two classes-the faster cars, Daytona Prototype, and the slower cars, GT. Competition has been intense in both classes.

Jorg Bergmeister extended his points lead in Prototype with a win in the Brumos 250 in the generally unheralded Krohn Racing Riley-Ford with co-driver Colin Braun. At 17, Braun is the youngest winner in series history. Ganassi Racing Riley-Lexus teammates Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz are tied for second in points. Braun is sixth in the standings, and would likely be higher had he not had to miss two races due to his young age-when racing at the same track and on the same weekend as the IRL, IRL ...