Johnson Drives Ford Mustang To Top Of Charts In Session Two

Displacing Multimatic Motorsports co-driver Scott Maxwell atop the leader board, Billy Johnson led Friday afternoon’s second Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge practice with an unofficial track record lap in the No. 15 Ford Mustang Boss 302R.

Johnson ran a lap of 1:55.794 (110.679 mph), bettering teammate Jade Buford’s record lap of 1:55.824 (110.651 mph), set in qualifying for the 2014 BMW Performance 200.“It’s great to be back at Daytona, starting a new year,” said Johnson, who ended last season with his first career pole at Circuit of The Americas and a season-ending victory at Road Atlanta in Multimatic’s sister Ford. “Unfortunately, last year started out a little slow for us, but we got some concessions throughout the year, and it’s hard to beat ending a season on a high note like that. Hopefully, we can continue that momentum into 2015 with some good results.”Max Riddle, the 2014 winner at VIRginia International Raceway, was second with a lap of 1:56.323 (110.176 mph) in the No. 07 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage co-driven by Kris Wilson. Mike McGovern – fastest in Friday morning practice – was third with a lap of 1:56.382 (110.120 mph)  in the No. 2 Jim Click Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302R.Austin Cindric, running for the first time with Buford in the No. 158 Multimatic Motorsports/Miller Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302R, was fourth in both sessions, running 1:56.900 (109.632 mph) in afternoon practice.“It’s a lot of fun driving a Ford Mustang at Daytona,” Cindric said. “It’s a big heavy car and moves around a lot, so you’ve got to get up on the wheel. I got to ride with Jade (Buford) a little bit today to see what our season holds.”Greg Liefooghe led both of Friday’s Street Tuner (ST) sessions in the debut of the 83 Next Generation European Porsche Cayman, with his afternoon lap of 2:05.522 (102.120 mph) the fastest lap of the day in the class. “We’re working on the Cayman, which feels a lot different from the (BimmerWorld Racing) BMW we raced last year,” Liefooghe said. “Fortunately, the guys at Next Level European and BGB did a great job prepping the car. Obviously, it’s fast right out of the box, and we’re happy with the results so far – even though it’s just practice. I’ve had four podiums at Daytona [for BimmerWorld, including second last year]. Hopefully, we can go one step above that this year.”James Vance, who shares the No. 87 Rebel Rock Racing Porsche Cayman with Dr. Ramin Abdolvahabi, was second with a lap of 2:05.718 (101.942 mph), followed by Tyler Cooke in the No. 81 BimmerWorld Racing BMW 328i, 2:05.804 (101.873 mph).Continental Tire Challenge competitors will get a pair of sessions on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s opening one-hour session begins at 11:05 a.m. ET, with a second practice at 2:55 p.m.