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Mark Boden and Bryan Sellers capitalized on their quick pace by winning the Continental Tire 150 at Watkins Glen on June 29, 2013 in their #46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3. The win is the first in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge for Boden and Sellers, but the second for the Fall-Line Motorsports team, as the team’s previous win came at the same track in 2010 with #48 of Charlie Putman and Charles Espenlaub taking the checkered flag.
Handsome in their dark blue paint schemes, the Dempsey/Miller Racing Mustang BOSS 302R’s await the start of Thursday’s test day at Watkins Glen.
To improve Mustangs competitiveness, prior to Watkins Glen, Grand-Am gave the Mustangs a 2mm larger air inlet restrictor (to 57mm total) and increased their rev limit 500 more RPM (now 8,000 total). However, Mother Nature played the biggest role during the weekend. Scattered rain showers peppered the racing surface with rain and sun, often at different points along Watkins Glen’s 3.4-mile circuit. The rapidly changing track conditions kept the crews, drivers, and corner workers on their toes. Sadly, the Mustangs newfound horsepower didn’t help on a wet track.
Given the variable track conditions expected for race day, teams worked throughout the weekend on chassis setups that worked well for a dry track on slick tires, and a wet track on rain tires. After being absent for a few races, Phoenix Racing returned to Grand-Am competition with their #35 Mustang BOSS 302R, and set the second-quickest time during the first wet practice session on Friday morning. They were nearly 1.5 seconds off the pace of the #38 Porsche, however.
The next practice session started off wet, but as the track dried, times began to tumble. Hugh Plumb in the #45 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW set the quickest time on slicks at the end of the session. Joey Atterbury and Shelby Blackstock were second quickest.
Qualifying on Saturday morning was dry, with Jade Buford netting his fourth pole position of the season in his #55 Multimatic Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage. The fastest in a Mustang (6th) was Shelby Blackstock in the #51 ROUSH Performance Mustang BOSS 302R. Teammate Jack Roush Jr. had a mechanical problem, and didn’t set a qualifying time.
Left: The ROUSH Performance Mustang BOSS 302R driven by Jack Roush Jr. and Billy Johnson negotiates the “Bus Stop” chicane at Watkins Glen on Thursday. An iconic fixture of the upstate New York racetrack is the baby-blue barriers that line the track. Right: Rich Golinello and David Levine drove the #78 Racer’s Edge Motorsports Mustang BOSS 302, shown here entering Watkins Glen’s Bus Stop chicane.
Before the afternoon’s race, teams had both rain and slick tires at the ready, and waited until their cars were called to the pre-race fan walk to make their tire choice. The Continental race slicks offer the most grip and durability on a dry track. While the Continental rain tires are grooved to prevent hydroplaning, their extremely soft compound will overheat and wear rapidly if run on a dry track. Therefore, tire choice is critical. The weather radar didn’t show any immediate signs of rain, so the cars were fitted with slicks and rolled onto pit lane so the fans could meet the drivers and inspect the cars.
At 3:00PM, it was time to race. When the green flag waved, Jade Buford led the field through turn one. On the second lap, Nick Longhi misjudged his braking point and rammed his championship-leading #13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche into the back of the championship-contending #9 Camaro of Matt Bell, sending the Camaro into the gravel. Longhi’s Porsche didn’t get away unscathed, however, as the impact damaged the #13 Porsche’s nose, flipping the hood up against the windshield. Longhi limped to the pits, and the crew secured the hood with huge adhesive patches.
Luckily, a full-course caution started on the same lap after an ST-Class car slammed into the pit lane barrier, so both the #13 Porsche and the #9 Camaro were able to rejoin the race and, more importantly, stayed on the lead lap.
Left: Scattered rain showers dampened the track throughout the weekend. Here the #158 Dempsey/Miller Racing Mustang BOSS 302R crests “The Esses” in the rain during Thursday afternoon’s second test session. Right: The #78 Racer’s Edge Motorsports Mustang BOSS 302R threads “The Armco Gauntlet” in the rain. Drivers’ Rich Golinello and David Levine started Saturday’s race 18th and finished 11th.
On the race restart, Shelby Blackstock moved from fourth place to the lead! Predictably, Nick Longhi was called back to the pits to serve a stop-and-go plus 60-second penalty for the contact with Matt Bell’s #9 Camaro.
About an hour into the race, passing rain clouds began to dampen certain sections of the track. The track conditions varied as the drivers circulated the track, but most cars stayed on slicks as many parts of the track remained dry.
On lap 24, Billy Johnson, who took over driving duties of the #61 ROUSH Performance Mustang BOSS 302R from his co-driver Jack Roush Jr., overtook teammate Blackstock for the lead. The two drove in formation for the next five laps until Blackstock pitted to hand over the #51 Mustang’s controls to Joey Atterbury.
Mike McGovern and Jim Click drove in formation during practice sessions in separate cars (the #2 and #54 shown here) to gain valuable track time.
Two laps later, and with an hour remaining in the race, Billy Johnson pitted from the lead for fresh tires and fuel, and handed the lead to Bill Auberlin’s #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3. Matt Bell (#9 Camaro) and Matt Plumb (now driving the #13 Porsche) rounded out the top three…which is surprising since both cars lost time in the pits after their second-lap incident!
Bill Auberlen pitted for fuel a few laps later and ceded the lead to Matt Plumb. Older brother Hugh Plumb was right behind in second place driving the #45 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW. However, Bryan Sellers, driving the sister #46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW snatched second place from his teammate at turn 11. Billy Johnson, now on fresh tires and charging back to the front, and Bill Auberlen, rounded out the top four.
It was good to see the #35 Phoenix Performance Racing Mustang BOSS 302R back on track, and climbing the hill through “The Esses” at Watkins Glen.
With thirty minutes to go, the skies opened up, and all hell broke loose. Both ROUSH Performance Mustangs (#51 and #61) went off track at turn six, with Billy Johnson ending up on his roof. To add insult to injury: while Johnson was upside-down, the #65 BMW skidded off the track and wacked the rear of Johnson’s #61 Mustang. With at least six cars off-track, out came the yellow flags to retrieve the carnage and halt the mayhem. The cars circulated behind an excruciatingly slow pace car for nearly a half hour. During this lengthy caution period, the leaders stayed out on slicks, as pitting for rain tires would instantly gift-wrap their position to the car behind. They hoped that the race would end under caution, and a switch to rain tires wouldn’t be necessary.
Surprisingly, that wasn’t the case. With the leaders still on slicks and a flooded racetrack, the green and white flags waved for a final-lap dash to the finish. Bryan Sellers judged the restart perfectly and got a jump on leader Matt Plumb. The two drag raced down to turn one, with Sellers holding the inside line and grabbing the lead. Sellers held off Plumb for the last lap. Matt Plumb, with championship aspirations in mind, was more concerned about losing control than winning the race. He was also receiving pressure from brother Hugh, as the #45 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW was coming up from behind fast, and on the proper rain tires!
In the end, it was Bryan Sellers taking the win for he and co-driver Mark Boden in the #46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3. Matt Plumb retained second in the #13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche that he shared with Nick Longhi, and third went to Hugh Plumb and Al Carter in the #45 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3. (The final Fall-Line BMW M3 of Charlie Putman and Charles Espenlaub, #48, finished fourth.)
Left: Corey Lewis and Ari Straus co-drove the #05 Racer’s Edge Motorsports Mustang BOSS 302R at Watkins Glen. Friday afternoon’s practice session was made treacherous by a drying track littered with standing water. Brave drivers drove on slicks and avoided the water. Right: Andrew Aquilante and John Yarosz shared the Phoenix Performance Racing Mustang BOSS 302R at Watkins Glen. The driving duo started the race 21st and charged through the field to finish 8th, the highest-finishing Mustang in the race.
Plumb and Longhi’s second-place finish extended the #13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche’s lead in the championship standings over the #9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro.
It was a dramatic end to a hair-raising race. To see for yourself, be sure to watch the race on SPEED, Sunday July 7th at 4:00 ET. Next up: legendary Indianapolis Motor speedway on July 26th. Will a Mustang visit victory lane for a second time this season? Stay tuned to find out!
More Photos
Roger Miller qualified the #158 Miller Racing Mustang Boss 302R 19th, and co-driver Ian James finished 15th.
Shelby Blackstock and Joey Atterbury autograph cards during the pre-race fan walk at Watkins Glen.
At the race start at Watkins Glen, Jade Buford leads the pack in the #55 Multimatic Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage to turn one.
The ROUSH Performance crew springs to action to fuel their #61 Mustang Boss 302R. Billy Johnson is shown running to the car to switch driving duties with co-driver Jack Roush Jr.
The #05 Racer’s Edge Motorsports Mustang BOSS 302R of Corey Lewis and Ari Straus finished the race 17th after qualifying 22nd.
The ROUSH Performance Mustangs led the race in formation for five laps before Blackstock (#51) pitted for fuel and to swap drivers with Joey Atterbury. Johnson (#61) pitted as well in a few more laps.
Cars of the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge stream up the hill from “The Boot” to “The Short Course” before rain drenched the track late in the race.
Mike McGovern enters turn eight as the skis darken during the Continental Tire 150 at Watkins Glen. He finished the race 16th after co-driver Jim Click qualified the car in 20th position.
Joey Atterbury limps his battered Mustang behind the pace car after a late-race downpour caught he and several other drivers off-guard at turn six. He was able to continue and finish 13th after co-driver Shelby Blackstock started 6th.
Billy Johnson ended his race in spectacular fashion when he slipped off a wet track and rolled his Mustang at turn six. While inverted, Johnson’s car was struck in the rear when another car skidded off the track into the helpless Mustang. Johnson and co-driver Jack Roush Jr. finished 21st after starting the race 23rd.
