Race Recap: Grand-Am PricewaterhouseCoopers 250 at Road Atlanta

John Edwards was the first to drive his Camaro under the checkered flag at Road Atlanta during the PricewaterhouseCoopers 250 on April 20, 2013. Edwards and co-driver Matt Bell benefited when Ian James slid into the tire barrier at turn twelve late in the race. The high-speed turn leaves little room for error, and is notoriously dangerous. The severe impact left the Mustang upside-down on the tires, and the race clock expired before repairs to the track were complete.

The #58 Dempsey/Miller Racing Mustang Boss 302R crests the hill at Road Atlanta’s turn three closely following its teammate during Thursday’s first test session.

The event at Road Atlanta was a momentous one for the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. While it was the first time that Grand-Am visited the legendary 2.54-mile road course in the thirteen-year history of the series, the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series visited the track twice in 1999 (before the series was absorbed into Grand-Am and was called Motorola Cup). Since Road Atlanta was owned by American LeMans Series founder Don Panoz, Road Atlanta was subsequently never included in Grand-Am schedules. But with the announced 2014 merger of the American LeMans Series and Grand-Am, Road Atlanta was purchased from Dr. Panoz by the France family, and was added to the 2013 Grand-Am schedule.

The fast drivers usually cut the curb at turn three aggressively, which makes for some nice two-wheel action. Besides the car’s attitude, notice the small rear sway bar!

The weather played a significant factor in the teams’ planning during this year’s event. The official schedule included a test day on Thursday, practice and qualifying on Friday, and a warm-up and race on Saturday. Dry and sunny skies were forecast for Thursday and Saturday, but heavy rain was expected Friday, negating any information gleaned from practice and qualifying in the rain. This meant that teams needed to “make hay wile the sun shined” on Thursday and get their setups dialed in before Saturday’s morning warm-up and race.

No official times are released for the test day, though the teams did complete Friday morning’s practice session before the rain came. Jade Buford and Scott Maxwell were quickest in their #55 Aston Martin Vantage, the only ones to dip below the 32’s with a 1:31.961 lap time. The quickest Mustang was the #61 ROUSH Performance Mustang Boss 302R, eighth fastest for the practice session.

Left: Roger Miller started the race from 10th position, but he and co-driver Ian James finished 19th after James crashed at turn twelve, bringing out the caution flag that lasted until the end of the race. Center: The #05 Racer’s Edge Motorsports Mustang Boss 302R accelerates out of turn seven down the long back straightaway. Right: Richard Golinello and David Levine shared the #78 Racer’s Edge Motorsports Mustang Boss 302R, shown here cresting the hill at turn five. It’s not called 'red Georgia clay' soil for nothing…

Around noon on Friday, the skies opened and dumped buckets of rain on the circuit, which tapered off to a light rain for the remainder of the day. A handful of competitors braved the monsoon during the second practice session, including the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW—though they were simply shaking the car down after making repairs after a massive crash during Thursday’s test sessions. The wet track conditions prompted Grand-Am officials to abandon the qualifying session, as the series officials didn’t want to encourage drivers to put themselves or their cars at risk while trying to eke out their best laps on a slippery track. Per the Grand-Am rules, qualifying positions were set according to current team championship points—which put the Rum Bum Racing Porsche on pole. Jim Click was the highest Mustang in the points standings, so he started 7th.

As forecast, Saturday dawned with clear blue skies and comfortable temperatures. In light of Friday’s deluge that likely changed the track’s surface, teams took full advantage of Saturday morning’s practice session to gauge the tracks grip level and finalize their setups. Jade Buford and Scott Maxwell were again fastest of the field, posting a blistering 1:31.321 time with their Aston Martin Vantage. Shelby Blackstock and Joey Atterbury drove the fastest Mustang, 9th in the field.

Left: The Jim Click Racing #2 Boss 302R exits turn six during Saturday morning’s warm-up session. Since qualifying was abandoned due to heavy rain, Jim Click started from 7th, which was his position in season points. Right: Bottom Right:The weekend for the #05 Racer’s Edge Motorsports Mustang Boss 302R ended at the first practice session on Friday morning when Joel Janco landed in the wall at turn two. Here the Mustang is clipping the apex at the bottom of Road Atlanta’s famed “Esses” during Thursday afternoon’s test session.

The race started cleanly, and Nick Longhi (#13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche) held the lead from pole position through the opening laps. Jade Buford (#55 Aston Martin Vantage) applied heavy pressure, and the two cars made contact on lap 11 as Buford took the lead. It didn’t last long, however, as the officials concluded Buford applied a little bit too much pressure. Buford was penalized by coming to pit lane on lap 19 to serve a stop-and-go plus 60 seconds for avoidable contact with Longhi. As Buford rumbled down pit lane, Matt Bell (#9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro) inherited the race lead. Bell’s time at the point only lasted a couple laps until Nick Mancuso (#16 Aston Martin) overtook Bell for the lead.

Forty-one minutes into the race, a caution came out after contact between two Nissan team cars (#33 and #34), with both cars stopped on track. (Oops.) Most of the front-runners took this opportunity to head to the pits to change drivers, fill up with fuel, and get fresh rubber. Nick Mancuso chose to stay out and maintain the lead.

Jack Roush Jr. pilots the #61 ROUSH Performance Boss 302R as the typically softly-spring Mustang bounces over a dip at the exit of turn five.

Once the race returned to green, Andy Lally (#38 Porsche) moved up to second, and started breathing down Mancuso’s neck until Mancuso pitted a few laps later to hand over the car to Frank Montecalvo. The running order was then Lally, Hugh Plumb (#45 BMW), and John Edwards (now behind the wheel of the #9 Camaro). Edwards then moved up to second behind Lally.

With an hour to go, teams were focused on their fuel strategy. If they stopped now, they could make it to the end. Edwards was the first to the pits, and as others followed suit over the next few laps, Edwards cycled his Camaro back to the lead as he leapfrogged his pursuers when they pitted. After fueling stops, it was Edwards, Lally, and Montecalvo.

Left: The MoonPie Mustang hops the turn three curbing on its way to a 13th place finish in the PwC 250 at Road Atlanta. Series rookie co-driver Roddey Sterling started from 21st, since qualifying was rained out and the grid was set according to team points. Right: Drivers Dean Martin and Roddey Sterling pose with their MoonPie-sponsored Mustang Boss 302R at sunset.

With just under 15 minutes remaining, things got interesting. Charles Espenlaub (#48 BMW) misjudged his braking point and took to the grass to avoid rear-ending the car in front of him. Friday’s rain made the grass slick, and Espanlaub’s BMW slid in the wet grass, collecting Matt Plumb’s championship-leading #13 Porsche and Joey Atterbury’s #51 Roush Mustang. Plumb and Atterbury were able to continue, but lost several positions in the process. Espenlaub’s BMW was terminally injured, and had to retire a lap later.

On the same lap, Ian James in the #158 Mustang slid off the track at turn 12, which left the Mustang greasy-side-up, and the race under caution for the duration of time remaining.

Jim Click Racing brought their #54 Mustang FR500C to Road Atlanta to get more track time for drivers Jim Click and Mick McGovern. Here the #54 blazes its headlights under the bridge at turn 11 during Friday morning’s practice session—the only dry time on track that day.

John Edwards and Matt Bell were victorious in their #9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro, Andy Lally and Jim Norman brought their #38 BGB Motorsports Porsche home second, and Nick Mancuso and Frank Montecalvo were third in the #16 Multimatic Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage.

The series takes a month off before heading to the familiar Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course just north of Columbus, Ohio. The twisty circuit is always a great place for the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series, so this year’s race action shouldn’t disappoint fans of this highly-competitive road racing series!

Photos and Captions:

Billy Johnson exits turn seven during Saturday morning’s warm-up session. He and co-driver Jack Roush Jr. drove their #61 Roush Performance Mustang Boss 302R finished a strong 6th after starting 12th.

Rich Golinello and David Levine finished the race a disappointing 20th after starting from 18th, 29 laps down.

After a late-race skirmish with the #48 BMW and #13 Porsche, Shelby Blackstock and Joey Atterbury finished the race 15th after starting 16th in their #51 ROUSH Performance Mustang Boss 302R.

TPN/Blackforest racing entered a Mustang FR500C for drivers Tom Nastasi and Scott Turner. Thanks to Grand-Am’s relatively stable rules, these older cars are still relatively competitive.

Road racing weekends are a family affair—some families include celebrities. Shelby Blackstock’s mother, Reba McEntire, poses with some fans during the pre-race fan walk on pit lane.

The green flag flies for the PricewaterhouseCoopers 250 at Road Atlanta. Nick Longhi leads the way from pole position in his #13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche.

Shelby Blackstock (#51 Mustang) holds his inside line while Charlie Putman (#48 BMW) attempts a pass on the outside into turn one during the opening laps of the PwC 250 at Road Atlanta.