One race after seeing their new No. 15 Ford Performance/Multimatic Motorsports Ford Shelby GT350R-C destroyed at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Scott Maxwell and Billy Johnson opened up the second half of the 2015 Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge season by winning the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park in a replacement car.
It was a 1-2 finish for Multimatic Motorsports, with Canadian Tire Motorsport Park winners Austin Cindric and Jade Buford taking second in the No. 158 Ford Shelby GT350R-C.
Maxwell started last in the Grand Sport (GS) field after experiencing an electrical problem in qualifying, and gradually worked his way to the front – taking the lead one lap before his pit stop to hand the car over to Johnson. Taking over in fourth, Johnson passed Lawson Aschenbach for the lead with 45 minutes remaining and led the final 46 laps on the 1.53-mile seven-turn “classic” layout.
“I just had to be patient, manage the Continental Tires and pick the guys off one by one,” Maxwell said. “The key was staying consistent and staying out of trouble. I knew we had a good chance if I handed Billy a good car to close the race.”
It was the 10th career Continental Tire Challenge victory for Maxwell, and 17th for Johnson.
“Getting a new car built in one week was incredible,” Johnson said. “The guys at Multimatic gave us a great car, and they had great pit strategy. We also had a little bit of luck go our way, so we were able to come out on top. The result is deserving of the team’s hard luck and dedication.”
Johnson took the checkered flag 3.093 seconds ahead of his teammate. Buford prevailed in a tight battle for second over BJ Zacharias, giving the No. 14 Nismo GT Academy Nissan 370Z started by Brad Jaeger its third podium finish of the season.
“It was a great battle, but BJ fought me clean,” Buford said. “He had a bit on me on the straights, so I had to be a little defensive. I couldn’t be happier finishing first and second. We’ve definitely been building momentum, so we just have to keep pushing for the championship.”
It was a tough day for the Stevenson Motorsports team. Matt Bell started from the pole and dominated the early going in the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R. The lead cycled to Aschenbach after pit stops, but he spun while running second with 37 minutes remaining. He came back to finish fifth.
The points-leading No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro Z/28.R of Andrew Davis was penalized early in the race for contact with the No. 13 Billfish Foundation/Rum Bum Film & HD Studios/RumBumGear.com Porsche 911 of Hugh Plumb while battling for second in heavy traffic. While Robin Liddell worked his way back to finish fourth in the Camaro, Matt Plumb ended up 10th in class after losing many laps in the pits.
Unofficially, Davis and Liddell extended their GS lead to 24 points over the Plumb brothers, 195-171. Cindric and Buford are tied for third with Bell and Aschenbach with 163 points each.
The two-hour race went under full-course caution on the opening lap, when Ashley Freiberg went off course and landed atop the tires at the exit of Turn 4. The No. 46 IHG Rewards Club/Trim-Tex/Fall-Line BMW M3 co-driven by defending GS champion Trent Hindman was unable to continue – giving the team its second consecutive DNF. From that point, the lone full-course caution waved for two laps for the disabled No. 92 HART Honda Civic Si of Kevin Boehm, setting up a 12-minute sprint to the checkered flag.
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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