Championship titles are on the line Saturday in the final race of the Grand-Am Rolex and GT series at Miller Motorpsports Park. The Grand-Am Series is luring some of the top race car drivers in the world and is growing in popularity since its inception in 1999.

The race at MMP may be the highlight of the entire Grand-Am season because three racing teams in the Rolex series are in contention to win the overall series championship. The Sunchaser 1000 is the last stop on the 14 race schedule. The GT series is also up for grabs with only five points separating the two top drivers in the standings.

Action will be fast and challenging as 48 cars will be on the track at the same time during the 7.5 hour race which starts at 11 a.m. Saturday. Entries include 21 Daytona Prototype cars, which are sleek high performance race cars, and 27 GT cars, which are production cars.

The second-major race for the weekend is scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. which is the 200 mile KONI Challenge Series. Approximately 70 cars will be on the track for this race. "It will be very busy on the track with a lot of chances for mistakes, accidents," said John Gardner, MMP media manager.

After practicing and qualifying today, several races are on the docket for Friday and Saturday in addition to the Grand-Am and Koni Series. Action begins at 8 a.m. both days and continues until sunset. The Sunchaser 1000 is one of the top three events at the track this season.

Marion Andretti

Another highlight for this year's Sunchaser 1000 will be the appearance of racing legend Mario Andretti who will give the starting command for the races on Saturday morning.

He is the only man to win the Formula One World Championship, the Champ Car National Championship four times, The Indianapolis 400, the 24 Hours at Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring three times, and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Andretti took the checkered flag 111 times during his career - a career that stretched five decades.

Also, actor Patrick Dempsey will debut his brand new No.40 SoBe Hyper Sport Mazda RX-8 in the GT class.

Series Finale

The Daytona Prototype driver's championship lead is held by Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley, searching for their first Rolex Series Championship in an already record-breaking season. The duo have started 10 of the 13 events from the pole position and have recorded seven wins, the most ever in one season of Rolex Series competition.

Gurney and Fogarty will be joined by former Champ Car World Series champions Jimmy Vasser at the season finale. Vasser also drove the car at the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona and at Miller one season ago. Last year, the GAINSCO team finished the season-ender in ninth position with the same trio.

A single point behind in the drivers championship (385-384) is 2004 Daytona Prototype driver's champion Scott Pruett, piloting the No. 01 TELMEX/Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley with season-long co-driver Memo Rojas and Rojas' fellow countryman Salvador Duran. Duran helped Pruett begin his championship run, as the pair teamed with Juan Pablo Montoya for a victory in the twice-around-the-clock season opener.

Sitting in third place with 382 points - just three behind Gurney and Fogarty - is No. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley pilot and 2005 Rolex Series co-Champion Max Angelelli. The SunTrust team will take a different approach to Saturday's race, with only Angelelli and Jan Magnussen scheduled to pilot the No. 10 machine. The duo has teamed for two victories this season.

Mark Watson: mwatson@tooeletranscript.com