Grand-Am Race-Recap: Mustangs Finish Outside Top 10 at Barber

For the second consecutive year, Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi drove their Rum Bum Racing Porsche into victory lane at Barber Motorsports Park during the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race on April 6th, 2013. While the track’s fast curves have historically been kind to Mustangs (winning in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011), Rum Bum Racing proved their 2012 win in a Porsche wasn’t a fluke by taking the victory and extending their championship points lead.

With the series having visited the Birmingham, Alabama track annually since 2003, most teams are very familiar with the 2.3-mile layout. However, the asphalt was reconditioned over the winter, giving the typically slippery track surface a new lease on life—and a lot more grip. That meant car chassis setup data from previous years didn’t necessarily apply for this year’s race.

In terms of scenic beauty, few tracks compare to Barber Motorsports Park. Here the #51 ROUSH Performance Mustang Boss 302R rounds turn two during Wednesday afternoon’s testing session.

The weather didn’t make life easier for the team engineers either. While the forecast for Saturday’s race called for sunny and dry conditions, Wednesday and Thursday’s testing and practice sessions were cold and wet—making learning the track’s new grip level difficult to determine. What’s more, the series shared the track with the Izod Indycar series, whose cars would be laying down considerable rubber on the surface before Saturday’s Grand-Am CTSCC race. This made for a lot of huddling, head-scratching, and suspension-spring swapping throughout the paddock during the days leading up to Saturday’s race.

Most sessions were wet, but competitors dodged the raindrops in the second practice session on Thursday afternoon, when Bryan Sellers and Mark Boden in the #46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3 were quickest, followed by Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb (#13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche), and BMW M3 of Paul Dalla Lana and Bill Auberlen third. Nearly a second off the pace was Billy Johnson and Jack Roush Jr., seventh quickest, though they were the fastest Mustang.

Barber Motorsports Park’s flowing layout was designed with motorcycle racing in mind. The short straights and long turns make passing in cars difficult, so netting a strong qualifying result was essential to securing a good race result. Thus, nobody was sandbagging during Friday morning’s qualifying session. 2010 series champion Charles Espenlaub laid down a 1:34.553 lap, which put his #48 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW in pole position, and set a new track record. Jade Buford’s two-race pole streak was snapped, though he was second quickest in the #55 Multimatic Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage. Al Carter in his #45 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3 rounded out the top three. Jack Roush Jr. was the highest-qualifying Mustang (11th), but nearly two seconds behind pole-sitter Espenlaub.

As predicted, weather for the race was sunny and dry. The 2012 race was wrought with yellow-flag periods, beginning with an incident in turn one that left cars airborne and battered. Fortunately, the start of this year’s race was clean. Charles Espenlaub led the field from the green flag, with Buford following behind, and Eric Curran’s CKS Autosport Camaro taking third from Al Carter. On lap seven, Jack Roush Jr. brought his #61 ROUSH Performance Mustang Boss 302R into the pits with a leaky front brake hose, which required a lengthy repair.

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Left:Jim Click and Mike McGovern shared the #2 Jim Click Racing Mustang Boss 302R at Barber Motorsports Park. Click started the race 23rd and McGovern brought it home 11th. Right: The #61 ROUSH Performance Mustang Boss 302R powers up the hill to turn four, framed by one of the many oversized insect sculptures littered around Barber Motorsports Park.

Espenlaub held the race lead for the first 24 minutes until he dropped off the pace and surrendered the lead to the #14 Nissan 370Z of Tim Bell. When the thirty minutes required for drivers to earn championship points expired, teams started fishing for a caution. When none came, individual cars started coming down pit lane to swap drivers, change tires, and fill up with fuel. Al Carter (#45 BMW M3) and Nick Longhi (#13 Porsche) were the first, who handed driving duties over to brothers Hugh Plumb and Matt Plumb, respectively. The leader’s pit stop left Tim Bell (#14 Nissan), Jade Buford (#55 Aston Martin), and Mark Mancuso (#16 Aston Martin) at the head of the field.

Eight minutes later the caution that the rest of the field was waiting for came out, and the field shuffled again, handing the lead to Mark Mancuso. But after the race restart, Charles Espenlaub snatched the lead back from Mancuso, making it a Fall-Line Motorsports BMW 1-2 with Bryan Sellers (who took over driving from Mark Boden) following Espenlaub.

After a dozen laps in the lead, Espenlaub was balked by slower traffic, allowing John Edwards (#9 Camaro, now in second place) to close within striking distance of the #48 BMW’s bumper—though Edwards wouldn’t have to take the lead on track, as Espenlaub ducked into the pits a few laps later for fresh tires, more fuel, and let Al Carter (who previously got out of the #45 BMW) take the #48 to the checker.

The #05 Racer’s Edge Motorsports Mustang Boss 302R crests the hill at turn four during Wednesday afternoon’s test session. The damp track conditions made setting up the car for Saturday’s race difficult.

After a short caution period, Bryan Sellers (#46 BMW) pressured John Edwards for the race lead after the restart. Matt Plumb (#13 Porsche) watched the action from third position, ready to pounce.

One lap later, Bryan Sellers shockingly pulled off to the side of the course with a drivetrain problem, followed by Hugh Plumb (#45 BMW) who stopped on course with a failure of his own. Matt Plumb then passed John Edwards for the lead after Edwards missed a shift accelerating up the hill from turn five, an uncharacteristic mistake from the seasoned professional.

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Top Left: After racing Subarus over the past several years, Andrew Aquilante and the Phoenix Performance squad are still learning about their Mustang Boss 302R. Acquilante and co-driver Kurt Rezzetano continued to test on Wednesday afternoon—despite the rain—undoubtedly to gather as much information as possible for future wet races. Top Right:Joey Atterbury plays “Dukes of Hazzard” with the #51 ROUSH Performance Mustang Boss 302R during practice at Barber Motorsports Park. Bottom Left:Billy Johnson overwhelms the grip of his Boss 302R’s rear tires while exiting a turn. Note all the rubber “marbles” that collect outside the racing line, which are bits of rubber that roll off of the soft, hot racing tires. Bottom Right:Friday morning’s final practice was wet from overnight rain. Here the #05 Racer’s Edge Motorsports Mustang Boss 302R of Joel Janco and Patrick Linn threads the “Alabama Coaster,” a descending, corkscrew-like section with it’s teammate behind.

The two stopped Fall-Line BMW’s brought out the yellow flag so they could be retrieved. With thirteen minutes remaining, the green flag dropped for a final time. Matt Plumb maintained the lead after the restart as John Edwards and David Epringham (#15 Aston Martin) battled for second. Their battle allowed Matt Plumb to build his lead to nearly 2.5 seconds by the time the checkered flag waved.

The final result was the #13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche of Plumb and Longhi taking the victory, the #9 Camaro of Edwards and Bell second, and the #15 Aston Martin of John Farano and David Epringham third.

In two weeks the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series visits another “new” venue: Road Atlanta. As the spring air warms, so is the action in arguably the most competitive road racing series in the country. Be sure to get to Road Atlanta and see for yourself. If you can’t see the race in person, look for complete coverage here.