Saturday afternoon’s Rolex racing at Watkins Glen foretold the conditions that would be encountered by Sunday’s Mustang Challenge racers. Early Saturday had been glorious for the Continental Tire 150, in a way that only The Glen can be. With partly cloudy skies, high seventies on the Fahrenheit scale and a WSW breeze, the weekend was shaping up as a sure winner.

That all broke apart early in the afternoon and carried on into the following day. The schedule had dedicated Sunday entirely to the Mustang Challenge series, although the racers had some practice earlier in the weekend. Early morning showers had left variable track conditions when qualifying time arrived. Tony Buffomante, coming off a victory at Lime Rock Park the previous weekend, posted a best lap time of 2:07.5-seconds during the 20-minute qualifying session.

Photos: Wes Duenkel/Mustang Challenge

“It got dryer as the session went on,” said Buffomante. “I just stayed out there because I didn’t want to get caught out stuck in pit lane if anyone put in a faster time. There was enough of a dry line that I could run the dry set up, no problem.” This was Buffomante’s third consecutive pole position.

Starting beside Buffomante was series veteran, Pratt Cole. “It’s been fifteen years since I’ve been here to Watkins Glen and even though I remember the track layout, it took some laps to remember more of the nuances again this weekend,” commented Cole. “The track was pretty good right out of the box, it got a little better as we went on, but it was pretty good. Dried out way faster than I expected to do.”

When the time came for the green flag, the 3.4-mile track was still damp, but a strong breeze was drying it quickly. All teams elected to run on dry tires for the 45-minute sprint race. At the start, Cole moved into an early lead, followed by Mike McGovern in the #55 Jim Click Racing entry. Buffomante had slipped into third, however, changing track conditions worked to his favor, eventually passing Cole for second in the Bus Stop.

“The rain came and went-you would go around one lap and it would be dry and you could really stand on it,” explained Cole. “Then the next time you came around, it’d be all wet and you had to make big adjustments every two or three laps. Every time it got wet, Tony ran me down. We went up to the bus stop and I got defensive and ended up going just a few too many feet past the braking marker and I went right through the chicane and gave him the spot.”

McGovern was next on the list and despite his history as Chief Instructor at the Bondurant School; he was unable to hold Buffomante at bay. “Tony did a great job–no mistakes at all, so congratulations to him he had us covered today,” confirmed McGovern. “My start went well, and there was a lot happening the whole race. It was interesting with the rain–I was hoping it was going to keep on raining but when it dried out a little bit, there was nothing I could do.”

The victory moved Buffomante into second spot in the points standing, some 21 points behind Jason von Kluge. Cole moves up to fourth, just three points behind Dan Aweida. Commendably, the entire race ran without a yellow flag and as the series passes its half-way point, the championship remains open to anyone.

Round 6 of the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge sees the competitors gathering at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, June 19-20, in Lexington, OH .