Sabre
Well-Known Member
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Just a quick update, about the Roush Performance Mustangs team's Grand Am weekend at Road Atlanta.
All the practices went well. As Road Atlanta was a new track to everyone, most of the practices focused on getting the suspension, tire and handling nailed down and not on speed so much. Since we'd not raced here before, there was bit of a learning curve for the drivers to learn the track and the crew to learn what the car needed and how it responded to changes that were made....there was no notebook from previous experience at this track to draw from. The last practice on Friday and qualifying were rained out....so everyone started the race by their points position. The only practice early Saturday morning was good, with the RP teams solidly in the top 10 with lap times.
During the race, the #51 car did an early pit for left side tires and fuel during the first caution...working on a fuel strategy and getting the car up front. It worked well and Shelby Blackstock was able to keep the car in the top 6 once everyone else pitted for fuel and tires. Jack Roush Jr. worked through the field a position at a time, until time for fuel, tires and a driver switch with Billy Johnson.....a very fast pit stop which gave Billy another position.
With 15 minutes or so left in the race, Billy was running in P6 and Joey Atterbury in the #51 was in P4. A driver dive bombed on the inside of a corner on Billy and ended up punting Joey in the #51 in the rear, as well as bouncing off a couple of other cars. Joey managed to recover the car, but was back in P15. Caution came out to clean up the mess and the race ended under caution, with Joey never getting the chance to better his position. Joey in the #51 finished in P15...a real shame after running in the top 5 or 6 for most of the race....and Billy in the #61 finished in P6.
The #61 is now in a 3 way tie in points for 10th...but because the points spread is so tight, they are only about 10 points out of 4th. With 7 races left, some good luck at a few tracks could put the #61 back in contention for the championship. The next race is at Mid Ohio in mid June.
The fast, excellent pit stop that helped the #61 finish in P6 at Road Atlanta
All the practices went well. As Road Atlanta was a new track to everyone, most of the practices focused on getting the suspension, tire and handling nailed down and not on speed so much. Since we'd not raced here before, there was bit of a learning curve for the drivers to learn the track and the crew to learn what the car needed and how it responded to changes that were made....there was no notebook from previous experience at this track to draw from. The last practice on Friday and qualifying were rained out....so everyone started the race by their points position. The only practice early Saturday morning was good, with the RP teams solidly in the top 10 with lap times.
During the race, the #51 car did an early pit for left side tires and fuel during the first caution...working on a fuel strategy and getting the car up front. It worked well and Shelby Blackstock was able to keep the car in the top 6 once everyone else pitted for fuel and tires. Jack Roush Jr. worked through the field a position at a time, until time for fuel, tires and a driver switch with Billy Johnson.....a very fast pit stop which gave Billy another position.
With 15 minutes or so left in the race, Billy was running in P6 and Joey Atterbury in the #51 was in P4. A driver dive bombed on the inside of a corner on Billy and ended up punting Joey in the #51 in the rear, as well as bouncing off a couple of other cars. Joey managed to recover the car, but was back in P15. Caution came out to clean up the mess and the race ended under caution, with Joey never getting the chance to better his position. Joey in the #51 finished in P15...a real shame after running in the top 5 or 6 for most of the race....and Billy in the #61 finished in P6.
The #61 is now in a 3 way tie in points for 10th...but because the points spread is so tight, they are only about 10 points out of 4th. With 7 races left, some good luck at a few tracks could put the #61 back in contention for the championship. The next race is at Mid Ohio in mid June.
The fast, excellent pit stop that helped the #61 finish in P6 at Road Atlanta
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