The Download: Circuit of The Americas

Subtitle:Recapping Friday's Lone Star Le Mans

Fall-Line Racing Team Manager Michael Harvey played a waiting game that paid off at Circuit of The Americas, resulting for a trip to the top of the victory stand for John Edwards and Trent Hindman, drivers of the No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3.

Harvey studied the 3.4-mile track’s drying pattern on Thursday, and determined it would take about 40 minutes for it to dry out. During Friday’s race – marked by sprinkles at different areas of the track throughout the event – Harvey waited until 40 minutes remained to call Edwards in for rain tires.

With virtually all of the competition on slicks, Edwards worked his way to the front and won – all but using up the rain tires in the process as the track began drying in the closing laps.

“We were more patient than everybody else,” Harvey said. “We waited for the rain to pick up, and kept watching the lap times, and the move paid off.”

Edwards admitted that he was not quite as patient as his team manager.

“When the Camaro pitted (Robin Liddell), I was a little worried that we might need to cover ourselves,” Edwards said. “I was planning on pitting on the next lap, but coming out of Turn 19 my team manager said to stay out, it started raining a little more. They evaluated their strategy for a few laps, and sure enough, we slowed down six-eight seconds for the next two laps, and the right call was for rains. If we pitted two laps before, the call would have been for dry tires. That was the race-winning call right there, to stay out and evaluate the conditions.

“On Thursday, we were surprised that with all the humidity and the air so saturated, it wasn’t absorbing the water out of the track, even when the sun came out. So we knew it was going to take a long time to dry. We felt that when the track was going to dry and abuse the rain tires, we could have pulled out to enough of a lead. At the end of the day, it kept drizzling throughout the race, so we kept pulling a gap.”

It was an early birthday celebration for Trent Hindman, who turned 19 on Saturday. The New Jersey driver came to Austin trailing in the GS standings by two points. He left with not only his second victory of the season, but a five-point lead over Davis and Liddell with only one race remaining.

“If it wasn’t for bad luck…” Rum Bum Racing’s opening race at Daytona set the tone for the current season. Seeking its third consecutive GS team title – and second straight driver crowns for Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi – Plumb was leading with four laps remaining when the No. 13 Rum Bum Porsche 911 suddenly slowed. While the team won at Lime Rock and had a share of the GS points lead following Watkins Glen, they came to Austin with three straight finishes of 17th or worse.

On Friday, Rum Bum found another way to lose a race. Hugh Plumb had the serpentine belt snap on the parade lap. The team only lost two laps making the replacement in the paddock, coming back to finish 14th in class, one lap down.

It was Hugh’s first time in the No. 13, although he drove the team’s second car at Daytona and raced the team’s TUDOR Championship Audi at Sebring. For Road Atlanta, Brandon Davis will co-drive with Matt Plumb. Davis won the GS pole at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2013, his most recent race in the series.

Tim Bell had a scary moment on the first lap, when he went to brake for Turn 12 in the No. 28 Tim Bell Racing Nissan 370Z.

“I had a completely stiff brake pedal,” said Bell, who hit the barrier at 130 mph. “Going out on the pace lap I had no idea there was a problem. Then I pushed it on the first lap and suddenly I had a problem – no brakes. I had a quick little squirt of brake, but that was it. I tried to go in backwards, but at least it hit with the side. It hit so hard it tore the side net.”

Bell will now work to repair the car – with one major change.

“We’re switching to a Bosch ABS system,” he said. “We’ve got to rewire the car and try to get it all done by Monday. At least I’m OK and the car doesn’t look too bad. That’s amazing. It needs a new quarter-panel and rear end, but everything else is fine. We got really lucky.”

Bell said that removing the sliders for the seat and switching to a carbon fiber HANS-compatible seat two races ago definitely helped with the impact. Although admittedly a bit shaken, he was able to quickly get out of the car and walk to the safety vehicle.

Al Carter visited children battling cancer at the Children’s Blood Cancer Center at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas in Austin on Wednesday of race week. Just before the race, he came up with the idea of inviting fans on the pre-race grid walk to sign the hood of the No. 7 Rebel Rock Racing B+ Foundation/Carryon.com Porsche 911 for a donation.

More than 150 fans took advantage of this opportunity, raising $500 for the fund in 30 minutes.

Carter also distributed 500 gold ribbon (symbol of childhood cancer) stickers to the fans and teams. Most of the teams – including the winning Fall-Line Motorsports BMW – displayed the sticker. B+ Foundation founder Joe McDonough was at the circuit to deliver his “Be Positive” message in memory of his son Andrew, who passed away in 2007.

The B+ Foundation helps families from over 250 hospitals around the country, making it one of the largest in the nation. Carter is a cancer survivor himself, having undergone a year of chemotherapy treatment after being struck by Hodgkin disease at age 30.

Pit notes: Conrad Grunewald ran his first race in ST, an accomplished drifter, joined Greg Strelzoff in finishing 12th in the No. 50 Berg Racing Porsche Boxster. Team owner John Weisberg plans to join his wife Dinah at Road Atlanta in the No. 40 Redcom Labs Porsche Boxster, marking the first time they will have co-driven in the series since last year’s race at Watkins Glen International. … Rob Ecklin Jr. missed the race due to a business meeting in Europe, with Charles Espenlaub filling in for a seventh-place finish with Steve Phillips. … While the No. 24 Autometrics Motorsports Mac Papers/Hastings Fiberglass Porsche Cayman missed the race in Texas, team owner Gordon Friedman said the car would return for Road Atlanta, where Cory Friedman will be joined by David Baum. … The second-place finish for Michael Marsal and Tom Kimber-Smith was the best of the season for Turner Motorsport, which opened the year with a third-place finish at Daytona. It also was the best result for brothers Mat and Mark Pombo, who placed third in ST in the No. 25 Freedom Autosport SemperFiFund.org Mazda MX-5, coming on the 25th anniversary of the Mazda Miata.