THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
Presented by Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
January 28th, 2012
Volume V, Edition IX
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
January 28th, 2012
Volume V, Edition IX
Remember: be sure to check out Frontstretch.com's Breaking News on the website, our Twitter @TheFrontstretch and Phil Allaway's Twitter @Critic84 for all the latest on the Rolex 24!
Continential Tire Sports Car Challenge Recap: Roush Performance Takes BMW Performance 200
by Phil Allaway
For the past couple of years, Roush Fenway Racing's No. 61 has not had the best of luck at Daytona. In 2010, a mechanical failure resulted in a 37th-place finish in class. Last year, Jack Roush, Jr. overshot Turn 1 and crashed early in the race. Teammate Billy Johnson did not even get into the car.
However, this year, the team was ready. Teammate Shelby Blackstock took the pole in the No. 51, while Roush, Jr. qualified on the outside pole. However, just like in NASCAR, the draft is strong at Daytona, even in the rain. When the race started, the two Fords were swept up by the No. 01 CKS Autosport Camaro driven by Eric Curran and the No. 55 Multimatic Aston Martin driven by Joe Foster. Blackstock and Roush, Jr. ended up fifth and sixth after the first lap.
Curran led the race until he stopped on Lap 11 to change to dry tires. Shortly afterwards, the yellow came out, bringing the rest of the field to pit road and Curran eventually regained the lead.
In the Street Tuner class, Andy Lally led the field to green in his Kia Forte Koup and was unchallenged for the first few laps. However, just before the first yellow, Lally was overtaken for the lead by David Levine in the No. 81 Bimmerworld BMW 328i.
The yellow flags played a substantial role in the overall outcome of the event. Teams would choose to go off-sequence with the leaders in order to put themselves higher up in the order. During the third full course yellow, all of the leaders pitted, allowing David Empringham to take the lead in the No. 83 Porsche 997, followed by the No. 35 Subaru Impreza WRX-Sti of Andrew Aquilante and Dean Martin in the No. 52 Ford Mustang.
On the restart, Empringham pulled away while Martin and Aquilante fought hard for second. However, another yellow for separate crashes involving Terry Borcheller's BMW 128i, Kyle Gimple's Mini Cooper S and James Gue's brand-new Ford Focus ST-R brought the drivers up front back to pit road.
These stops gave the lead to Billy Johnson, Jack Roush, Jr.'s co-driver in the No. 61 Ford Mustang 302R, while a fleet of BMW M3's chased behind. From then on, Johnson fought to keep the M3's from Fall-Line Motorsports, Rum Bum Racing and Turner Motorsport from getting past. After one last yellow, Johnson was able to hold off the three Fall-Line BMW's to claim Roush Fenway Racing's first victory in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge at Daytona.
Following the race, Johnson was relieved to get over the team's past issues at Daytona to take the win.
"Its great to be able to finish this race first after not being able to finish it the last two years," Johnson said. "To be able to come back and...start off the season on a good note rather than in a hole with zero points is just huge. Its going to change everything going forward for the rest of the season."
Behind Johnson and Roush, Jr. was the pairing of Charles Espenlaub and Charlie Putnam in second. Their teammates Bryan Sellers and Mark Boden brought the No. 46 for Fall-Line home in third. Al Carter and Hugh Plumb finished fourth in another Fall-Line BMW, while the Rum Bum No. 13 of Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi, who had won the race the previous two years, rounded out the top-5.
Michael Marsal and Boris Said finished sixth, while their teammates Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana were right behind in seventh. Lucas Luhr and Alex Popow drove the No. 02 Mustang for Starworks to an eighth-place finish, while Ryan Dalziel and Enzo Potolicchio in another Starworks Mustang finished ninth. The pole-sitting No. 51 Mustang of Shelby Blackstock and Jade Buford rounded out the top-10.
Meanwhile, if you were looking for a place to see tandem drafting now that NASCAR is trying to rid Sprint Cup of it, the Street Tuner class was the place to look. Pierre Kleinubing was literally pushed past Greg Liefooghe to the lead with one lap to go by Nic Jonsson (Lally's teammate). Over the final lap, Kleinubing's i-Moto Mazdaspeed 3 and Jonsson's Kia fought hard, even having contact while racing to the finish. The contact between Jonsson and Kleinubing cost Jonsson some momentum, which allows Kleinubing to beat Jonsson by a mere seven thousandths of a second to take the Street Tuner victory.
After the race, Kleinubing was happy for the help that he received from Jonsson to help him win.
"Nic [Jonsson] gave me a big push so that I could get by [Liefooghe]," Kleinubing said. "Once we got side-by-side, we rubbed a bit and that slowed [Jonsson's] momentum and that allowed me to get by again."
Greg Liefooghe and David Levine held on to finish third in a BMW 330i. Taylor Hacquard and Glenn Bocchino in another i-Moto Mazdaspeed 3 were fourth, while Tom Dyer and Izzy Sanchez, Jr. in the third i-Moto Mazda rounded out the top-5.
Jesse Combs and Jeff Mosing's BMW 330i was sixth in ST, while Kevin Gleason and Robert Stout were seventh. John Capestro-Dubets and team owner James Clay in the second Bimmerworld BMW 330i was eighth, while Cory Friedman and Mac McGehee in a Porsche Boxster were ninth. The BMW 128i of Ryan Ellis and Tyler McQuarrie rounded out the top-10.
Top News
by Phil Allaway
A.J. Foyt to Miss Rolex 24, Sir Jackie to Sub
A.J. Foyt, the 77-year old former overall winner of the Rolex 24 at Daytona who was supposed to serve as the Grand Marshal for today's Rolex 24 at Daytona, was forced to pull out of his role on Friday. The reason is due to Foyt being hospitalized in Houston, Texas for complications, specifically an infection, resulting from a recent knee surgery. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Foyt issued a statement on Friday stating why he could be in Daytona to fulfill his Grand Marshal duties.
"I am really sorry that I can't be there this weekend for the Rolex 24," Foyt said. "I was really looking forward to it because I thought it was a great honor to be asked to be the Grand Marshal of the 50th Anniversary of tht race and considered it to be one of the great highlights of my career. I feel so bad that I let everyone down. I was also looking forward to seeing some of my old friends and the race cars that I drove in that race. It was going to be a really fun weekend for me, but I guess I'll be watching the race from my hospital room- yep the doctors pulled rank on me. And I hate to admit, but I think they're right--this time. I'd like to wish everyone a safe race and I'll be with you in spirit."
This morning, Grand-Am announced that Sir Jackie Stewart will take Foyt's place as Grand Marshal. Stewart spoke about the honor earlier today.
"I'm delighted to be the honorary official to start the 50th Anniversary of the Rolex 24, but I'm so sorry the great A.J. couldn't be with us today," Stewart said. "It's also wonderful to see so many international drivers here to compete in this historic Rolex 24."
We at Frontstretch wish Foyt a speedy recovery from his infection.
McCumbee to Focus on Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge in 2012
On Thursday, CJ Wilson Racing introduced their four full-time drivers to the assembled media at Daytona International Speedway. One of those drivers was Chad McCumbee, formerly of SS-Green Light Racing and MRD Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series.
For McCumbee, such a move was predecated on having fun and needing something to do. Last season, with literally no road racing experience, McCumbee got behind the wheel of a CJ Wilson Racing-owned Mazda MX-5 in the SCCA Playboy MX-5 Cup, a spec series featuring identical Mazda MX-5 roadsters with roll cages.
For 2012, CJ Wilson Racing has moved up to the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, the Rolex Sports Car Series' main support class. The team has a Mazda MX-5 and a Mazdaspeed 3 in their stable. McCumbee will drive the team's No. 03 ModSpace Mazda Mazdaspeed 3.
When questioned about his overall focus for 2012, McCumbee stated that he is 100 percent dedicated to CJ Wilson Racing and the No. 03 for the full season. If an offer comes along from a NASCAR team for a part-time or one-off effort, he would listen if it could possibly be beneficial for all parties, including CJ Wilson Racing.
Continential Tire Sports Car Challenge Recap: Roush Performance Takes BMW Performance 200
by Phil Allaway
For the past couple of years, Roush Fenway Racing's No. 61 has not had the best of luck at Daytona. In 2010, a mechanical failure resulted in a 37th-place finish in class. Last year, Jack Roush, Jr. overshot Turn 1 and crashed early in the race. Teammate Billy Johnson did not even get into the car.
However, this year, the team was ready. Teammate Shelby Blackstock took the pole in the No. 51, while Roush, Jr. qualified on the outside pole. However, just like in NASCAR, the draft is strong at Daytona, even in the rain. When the race started, the two Fords were swept up by the No. 01 CKS Autosport Camaro driven by Eric Curran and the No. 55 Multimatic Aston Martin driven by Joe Foster. Blackstock and Roush, Jr. ended up fifth and sixth after the first lap.
Curran led the race until he stopped on Lap 11 to change to dry tires. Shortly afterwards, the yellow came out, bringing the rest of the field to pit road and Curran eventually regained the lead.
In the Street Tuner class, Andy Lally led the field to green in his Kia Forte Koup and was unchallenged for the first few laps. However, just before the first yellow, Lally was overtaken for the lead by David Levine in the No. 81 Bimmerworld BMW 328i.
The yellow flags played a substantial role in the overall outcome of the event. Teams would choose to go off-sequence with the leaders in order to put themselves higher up in the order. During the third full course yellow, all of the leaders pitted, allowing David Empringham to take the lead in the No. 83 Porsche 997, followed by the No. 35 Subaru Impreza WRX-Sti of Andrew Aquilante and Dean Martin in the No. 52 Ford Mustang.
On the restart, Empringham pulled away while Martin and Aquilante fought hard for second. However, another yellow for separate crashes involving Terry Borcheller's BMW 128i, Kyle Gimple's Mini Cooper S and James Gue's brand-new Ford Focus ST-R brought the drivers up front back to pit road.
These stops gave the lead to Billy Johnson, Jack Roush, Jr.'s co-driver in the No. 61 Ford Mustang 302R, while a fleet of BMW M3's chased behind. From then on, Johnson fought to keep the M3's from Fall-Line Motorsports, Rum Bum Racing and Turner Motorsport from getting past. After one last yellow, Johnson was able to hold off the three Fall-Line BMW's to claim Roush Fenway Racing's first victory in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge at Daytona.
Following the race, Johnson was relieved to get over the team's past issues at Daytona to take the win.
"Its great to be able to finish this race first after not being able to finish it the last two years," Johnson said. "To be able to come back and...start off the season on a good note rather than in a hole with zero points is just huge. Its going to change everything going forward for the rest of the season."
Behind Johnson and Roush, Jr. was the pairing of Charles Espenlaub and Charlie Putnam in second. Their teammates Bryan Sellers and Mark Boden brought the No. 46 for Fall-Line home in third. Al Carter and Hugh Plumb finished fourth in another Fall-Line BMW, while the Rum Bum No. 13 of Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi, who had won the race the previous two years, rounded out the top-5.
Michael Marsal and Boris Said finished sixth, while their teammates Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana were right behind in seventh. Lucas Luhr and Alex Popow drove the No. 02 Mustang for Starworks to an eighth-place finish, while Ryan Dalziel and Enzo Potolicchio in another Starworks Mustang finished ninth. The pole-sitting No. 51 Mustang of Shelby Blackstock and Jade Buford rounded out the top-10.
Meanwhile, if you were looking for a place to see tandem drafting now that NASCAR is trying to rid Sprint Cup of it, the Street Tuner class was the place to look. Pierre Kleinubing was literally pushed past Greg Liefooghe to the lead with one lap to go by Nic Jonsson (Lally's teammate). Over the final lap, Kleinubing's i-Moto Mazdaspeed 3 and Jonsson's Kia fought hard, even having contact while racing to the finish. The contact between Jonsson and Kleinubing cost Jonsson some momentum, which allows Kleinubing to beat Jonsson by a mere seven thousandths of a second to take the Street Tuner victory.
After the race, Kleinubing was happy for the help that he received from Jonsson to help him win.
"Nic [Jonsson] gave me a big push so that I could get by [Liefooghe]," Kleinubing said. "Once we got side-by-side, we rubbed a bit and that slowed [Jonsson's] momentum and that allowed me to get by again."
Greg Liefooghe and David Levine held on to finish third in a BMW 330i. Taylor Hacquard and Glenn Bocchino in another i-Moto Mazdaspeed 3 were fourth, while Tom Dyer and Izzy Sanchez, Jr. in the third i-Moto Mazda rounded out the top-5.
Jesse Combs and Jeff Mosing's BMW 330i was sixth in ST, while Kevin Gleason and Robert Stout were seventh. John Capestro-Dubets and team owner James Clay in the second Bimmerworld BMW 330i was eighth, while Cory Friedman and Mac McGehee in a Porsche Boxster were ninth. The BMW 128i of Ryan Ellis and Tyler McQuarrie rounded out the top-10.
Top News
by Phil Allaway
A.J. Foyt to Miss Rolex 24, Sir Jackie to Sub
A.J. Foyt, the 77-year old former overall winner of the Rolex 24 at Daytona who was supposed to serve as the Grand Marshal for today's Rolex 24 at Daytona, was forced to pull out of his role on Friday. The reason is due to Foyt being hospitalized in Houston, Texas for complications, specifically an infection, resulting from a recent knee surgery. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Foyt issued a statement on Friday stating why he could be in Daytona to fulfill his Grand Marshal duties.
"I am really sorry that I can't be there this weekend for the Rolex 24," Foyt said. "I was really looking forward to it because I thought it was a great honor to be asked to be the Grand Marshal of the 50th Anniversary of tht race and considered it to be one of the great highlights of my career. I feel so bad that I let everyone down. I was also looking forward to seeing some of my old friends and the race cars that I drove in that race. It was going to be a really fun weekend for me, but I guess I'll be watching the race from my hospital room- yep the doctors pulled rank on me. And I hate to admit, but I think they're right--this time. I'd like to wish everyone a safe race and I'll be with you in spirit."
This morning, Grand-Am announced that Sir Jackie Stewart will take Foyt's place as Grand Marshal. Stewart spoke about the honor earlier today.
"I'm delighted to be the honorary official to start the 50th Anniversary of the Rolex 24, but I'm so sorry the great A.J. couldn't be with us today," Stewart said. "It's also wonderful to see so many international drivers here to compete in this historic Rolex 24."
We at Frontstretch wish Foyt a speedy recovery from his infection.
McCumbee to Focus on Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge in 2012
On Thursday, CJ Wilson Racing introduced their four full-time drivers to the assembled media at Daytona International Speedway. One of those drivers was Chad McCumbee, formerly of SS-Green Light Racing and MRD Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series.
For McCumbee, such a move was predecated on having fun and needing something to do. Last season, with literally no road racing experience, McCumbee got behind the wheel of a CJ Wilson Racing-owned Mazda MX-5 in the SCCA Playboy MX-5 Cup, a spec series featuring identical Mazda MX-5 roadsters with roll cages.
For 2012, CJ Wilson Racing has moved up to the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, the Rolex Sports Car Series' main support class. The team has a Mazda MX-5 and a Mazdaspeed 3 in their stable. McCumbee will drive the team's No. 03 ModSpace Mazda Mazdaspeed 3.
When questioned about his overall focus for 2012, McCumbee stated that he is 100 percent dedicated to CJ Wilson Racing and the No. 03 for the full season. If an offer comes along from a NASCAR team for a part-time or one-off effort, he would listen if it could possibly be beneficial for all parties, including CJ Wilson Racing.
Have news for Phil and the Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at ashland10@mail.com with a promising lead or tip.
Just in case you missed them, we have completed our annual Driver Reviews. If you'd like to review them, JUST HEAD HERE AND YOU'LL FIND THEM ALL LISTED FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE.
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: There have been quite a few Daytona Prototype chassis manufacturers over the past nine seasons. However, the manufacturer whose Daytona Prototype was used the least in the Rolex Sports Car Series was Chase. What car was the Chase designed to look like?
Q: There have been quite a few Daytona Prototype chassis manufacturers over the past nine seasons. However, the manufacturer whose Daytona Prototype was used the least in the Rolex Sports Car Series was Chase. What car was the Chase designed to look like?
Check back Monday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee: If we mess up, you get the shirt off our backs! If we've provided an incorrect answer to the Frontstretch Trivia question, be the first to email the corrected trivia answer to trivia@frontstretch.com and we'll send you a Frontstretch T-Shirt ... FREE!
Coming Monday in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Rolex 24 Recap by Phil Allaway
-- Media Tour Wrap-up, links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
This Weekend On The Frontstretch:
LIVE Blogging And Updates On The Rolex 24 From Daytona by Phil Allaway
Check out the main page of the website, our Twitter @TheFrontstretch and our Breaking News page for the latest on the Grand Am season-opening event.
-- Coming Monday in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Rolex 24 Recap by Phil Allaway
-- Media Tour Wrap-up, links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
This Weekend On The Frontstretch:
LIVE Blogging And Updates On The Rolex 24 From Daytona by Phil Allaway
Check out the main page of the website, our Twitter @TheFrontstretch and our Breaking News page for the latest on the Grand Am season-opening event.
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