You just have to go out there and take risks and make the best decisions you can in each moment. — Jack Roush Jr., KohR MotorsportsIn the rain-shortened Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race at Road America in Plymouth, Wisconsin, the Mustang GT4 driven by Dean Martin and Jack Roush Jr. earned its third victory of the season in the Grand Sport class when the race ended under caution due a lightning warning.
After the team repaired the number 59 machine after a differential failure in practice, Jack qualified in the second position in qualifying and quickly took the lead when the race started. He stayed out on track for most of the race as the rain poured down and managed to keep it out front.
“There is no real preparing for it,” Jack told IMSA. “You just have to go out there and take risks and make the best decisions you can in each moment and that’s all you can do.”
The Mustang was fast. — Dean Martin, KohR MotorsportsThe real question was when to swap tires and switch drivers. It turns out the team played its cards right to hold position on the 4-mile circuit in the poor weather conditions.
“The Mustang was fast,” Dean said. “I want to thank the guys at NanoProMT. They give us some great products to make our Ford Mustang a little faster. Our Continental Tires were phenomenal today. It was very tricky conditions for Jack this afternoon, but it was fun to watch. We wanted to keep Jack out there as long as possible and let him make the decision when to come in to change to wet tires. The timing worked out perfectly for us.”
Just one lap after the driver swap and only 40 minutes left in the two-hour race, officials halted the competition under a red flag, which froze the positions. With Dean Martin in first place, the KohR Motorsports team scored a trifecta for the season.
“Dean and the team did a tremendous amount of work, getting the car ready for this race,” Jack added. “We started in very transitional conditions. It’s always kind of a challenge, as a driver, trying to find where the grip is as it’s constantly changing. You’re also trying to decide which tires to choose. The Continental tires came up to temp really well and we were just able to find more and more time out there. It was a blast.”
The KohR drivers will hope to continue having a blast as they return to racing action at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia, on August 25.
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