Rum Bum Racing notched their second win of the 2013 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season when drivers Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi took the checkered flag during the Diamond Cellar Classic at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The win on Father’s Day weekend helped the defending series champions maintain their 2013 championship points lead over the #9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro of Matt Bell and John Edwards.
The Mustang teams struggled throughout the weekend to find the pace to match their competition. In practice, the best any Mustang could do was 11th quickest, set by Billy Johnson and Jack Roush Jr and their #61 ROUSH Performance Mustang BOSS 302R. That said, practice times don’t mean much, as savvy teams instruct their drivers to “sandbag” and deliberately slow during portions of a lap to avoid showing their hands before qualifying.
Speaking of qualifying, Jade Buford captured his third pole position of the year by clocking record-setting time of 1:30.453 in his Multimatic Motorsports Aston Marton Vantage. Jack Roush Jr was 7th quickest, and the best of the Mustangs. A testament to the competitive nature and the effective rules package of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge: Two Aston Martins, two Mustangs, a Camaro, a Nissan 370Z, a Porsche, and a BMW M3 comprised the top ten qualifiers!
After the customary pre-race fan walk, the racers were ready. Pole-sitter Jade Buford led the field to the green, and the race was on. Everyone settled into a rhythm as the teams chose their strategies. The first yellow flag came out on lap ten when Michael Marsal (#71 Aston Martin) crashed at turn two. With barely thirty minutes elapsed, some drivers headed to the pits for tires, fuel, and to hand the car over to their teammates. Others, including race leader Buford, stayed out.
With the race back to green, Buford’s Aston led the field uninterrupted until pitting on lap 33 when Patrick Linn’s #05 Racer’s Edge Motorsports Mustang Boss 302R was stopped on the track. Joey Atterbury (#51 ROUSH Performance Mustang Boss 302R), running second at the time, also pitted. David Epringham (#15 Aston Martin) inherited the lead, followed by Mike McGovern (#02 Mustang) and Bryan Sellers (#46 BMW).
When the race re-started, Bryan Sellers quickly moved up to second, and took the lead two laps later. With an hour remaining, another full-course caution flag came out to retrieve the #00 Camaro of Ashley McCalmont. It was decision time for the teams: to make it to the end on fuel, teams would either have to stop for fuel, or stay out and gamble that more caution flags were to come.
The Fall-Line Motorsports crew didn’t want to take any chances, so they brought race leader Bryan Sellers to the pits for fuel. Teammate Charles Espenlaub (#48 BMW) and Billy Johnson (#61 ROUSH Performance Mustang BOSS 302R) also pitted.
When exiting pit lane during a caution period, drivers cannot rejoin the race while the field is streaming past the pit lane exit. Rather, they must wait to rejoin the race and catch up to the last car behind the pace car. Historically, an official enforced this rule by standing at the end of pit lane with a red flag as the field drove by. Starting with the Mid-Ohio race, a stoplight placed at the end of pit lane replaced the official. Unfortunately, a few drivers didn’t notice the light and exited pit lane when the light was red.
Billy Johnson was one of the drivers penalized for exiting the pits while the red light was on, and forced to come back to the pits and held for 60 seconds This effectively eliminated the #61 ROUSH Performance Mustang BOSS 302R and co-driver Jack Roush Jr from contention for the race win.
Matt Plumb (#13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche) shuffled to the lead for the restart. Bryan Sellers (first of those that pitted and on the alternate fuel strategy) started charging through the field from rejoining the race in 16th position. With ten minutes remaining, Sellers was up to 5th, and waiting for those ahead of him to run out of fuel.
But, with ten minutes remaining, those ahead of Sellers were “saved by the bell,” as a caution flag came out again—allowing Matt Plumb and those in the next three positions to save enough fuel to finish the race. The race went green for the final two laps, but Sellers only gained one position, and finished fourth.
The podium celebration comprised Nick Longhi/Matt Plumb (#13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche) on the top step, Paul Dalla Lana/Bill Auberlen (#96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3) finishing second, and Matt Bell/John Edwards (#9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro) third.
The next stop for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge circus is Watkins Glen, the weekend of June 29th. The legendary upstate New York course is a favorite for fans and drivers alike. Look for coverage of this exciting racing series to continue from New York’s wine country!
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