Grand Am: Pony Cars Show Battle Form

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Racing luck: Those who benefit from it may call it skill, while those who don't usually reference it as a curse. Sometimes, it's just a combination of circumstances that act to the advantage of one car and the detriment of another. For spectators at the Continental Tire 150 Grand Am race at Watkins Glen last weekend, their luck was that Saturday morning dawned beautifully. For many of the racers gathered there, they must have been wondering what kind of magic the BMW M3 teams had found.



From second practice on, the German cars had dominated the results and Fall-Line Motorsports would fill the first three spots on the grid with their M3's. Getting there, however, was not without its excitement. First practice saw the #15 Multimatic Motorsports/Mustang Boss 302R, driven by Joe Foster and Scott Maxwell, post a third-fastest 2:04.177 (98.57 mph) lap time, followed immediately by Billy Johnson and Jack Roush Jr, in the #61 Roush Performance Ford Mustang GT.

In second practice, the Multimatic Team upped their game, with the #5 BOSS 302 posting a 2:03.690 (98.96 mph) lap, only to find four M3's ahead of them on the scoreboard. Immediately behind was the #9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GS.R, driven by Hugh Plumb and Craig Stone. They had also come in under the 2:04 wire with a 2:03.885 (98.80 mph) lap.


Photos: Grand Am

Qualifying consists of a 15-minute period for each of the GS (Grand Sport) and ST (Street Tuner) competitors. It is a hectic time that is over in a flash if you are on the track side of the pit wall. Sensory overload would be a understated description of what goes on during that quarter hour for the race teams. Friday evening's qualifying saw the Fall-Line hat-trick at the front, led by Bryan Sellers, who posted a commendable 2:03.783 (98.882 mph) lap in full race trim.



Fourth on the grid went to the #6 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GS.R and fifth to Jack Roush Jr, in the #61 Roush Performance Mustang. Other notables in the Top Ten were the #59 Rehagen Racing Mustang GT in sixth, the #37 JBS Motorsports Mustang Boss 302R in eighth and the #15 Multimatic Motorsports Mustang Boss 302R in ninth.



At the green flag, pole sitter Bryan Sellers was able to jump ahead of the competition and set a blazing pace for the first 28 laps. Following an early incident, Roush Jr. pitted the #61 Mustang. "I was pinched against the wall by an ST car that I was passing - I don't believe he saw me," Roush explained. "As a result, the left rear wheel slammed against the railing, bending the wheel. I didn't know how severe the damage was. So, I wanted to make sure that it wasn't something that would leave me stranded on the track and ruin a decent finish."

Roush's co-driver, Billy Johnson, took the wheel and began a concerted drive up through the field. The first yellow flag of the race would come shortly after, when Jim Click had to park his #2 Mustang Boss 302R by the Inner Loop. About 1:20 into the race, on lap 29, Johnson, in the Roush car, slipped by Sellers' M3 for the lead. Johnson's racing luck would take a turn two minutes later when the course went yellow once more.

Eric Lux, in the #73 JBS Motorsports Mustang GT, went wide through the Esses and ended up parking the car in a barrier. He walked away from the incident. Thirty-six laps were complete. On the next, cars started pitting for fuel and other needs. Johnson, in the #61 Roush Performance car stayed out, eventually coming in on the 39th lap and falling a lap down.

Roush Jr. explains what happened. "Grand-Am announced that the pit lane was open only after Billy had passed the pit entrance. Virtually all of the other contenders were able to come in that lap. However, it was too late for us, but we needed gas. As a result of this, we were shuffled behind the ST traffic."

Johnson returned and began carving through the field once more. In the meantime, an excellent battle was going on between Hugh Plumb (#9 Camaro) and Kenny Wilden (#52 Mustang GT), dicing for 8th and 9th place. By lap 47, Johnson passed Maxwell into 19th spot, unlapping himself. Plumb won the skirmish with Wilden and kept moving up. By the 55 lap mark, Johnson is in 9th spot, while Hugh Plumb passes Duncan Ende (#23 Porsche Cayman) for P6.



With ten minutes left in the race, Johnson slips into seventh, while Plumb passes Dean Martin (#59 Mustang GT) for fifth. In lap 60, Johnson also makes it by Martin and Ende. With 62 laps complete, three BMWs lead the pack, followed by Hugh Plumb in fourth and Billy Johnson in fifth. The latter pair are 9 seconds back and unlikely to catch up before the 2 hours, 30 minutes time limit.

Less than a minute later, an errant ST car squarely hit the barrier at Turn 5, bring out a full course caution that would end the race. The ST driver was unhurt. Kenny Wilden finished in P7, with Dean Martin in P8. While the podium held a distinctly German atmosphere, there is no doubt that the racing going on just behind was some of the best this season.

Next up in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge is the EMCO Gears Classic on Saturday, June 19, at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, OH.




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