No Fuel Problems for Pumpelly at VIR-71682

Subtitle:Notes and Quotes From VIRginia International Raceway

RS1 came to VIRginia International Raceway still hurting from its last-lap loss in the most recent race at Road America two weeks ago, when Spencer Pumpelly suffered fuel-feed problems and came to a stop in the final turn. Team principal Justin Bellinzoni went to effort of installing an extra pump in the fuel cell to make sure it didn’t happen again.

Saturday, Pumpelly took the checkered flag to claim Street Tuner (ST) honors for himself and Luis Rodriguez in the No. 17 RS1 Porsche Cayman – and then pulled to a stop at the side of the track.No, he wasn’t out of fuel this time.“I just let the field go by,” Pumpelly explained. “I waited for the track to clear so I could celebrate in front of the fans – and then I did two of the lamest doughnuts in the history of racing.”It was the first victory at his home-state track for Pumpelly – a native of Mason Neck, Virginia. “It was a perfect and uneventful run,” Pumpelly said. “Most of the races in ST are real tooth and nail battles. But after Road America, I’m just happy to drive one home in drama-free fashion.”Pumpelly has one suggestion for the circuit – “Maybe they can pave a little area so we can do proper doughnuts.”Tom Long Pulls Unique Double: With starting driver Liam Dwyer sidelined for precautionary medical reasons, Freedom Autosport called on Tom Long to do double duty in the team’s two Mazdas. Long started the No. 26 SemperFiFund.org Mazda MX-5, while Britt Casey Jr. was at the wheel of the team’s No. 25 entry. Long passed Justin Piscitell for the ST lead shortly after the one-hour mark, and took the overall lead four laps later when the Grand Sport (GS) front-runners pitted under caution.One lap later, Long and sixth-place Casey both pulled into the pits. Long jumped out of the No. 26 as Andrew Carbonell got in, and sprinted to take over Casey’s seat. Carbonell went on to finish fourth, two positions ahead of Long in the team car. Long-Distance Backup: An accident in Friday’s practice with the No. 15 Ford Shelby GT350R-C sent Multimatic Motorsports scrambling to find a car for Scott Maxwell and Billy Johnson. With not enough time to repair the new Shelby at the track, team owner Larry Holt called his shop in Toronto to pull out the team’s Ford Mustang Boss 302R. That car had not turned a wheel since finishing second at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in May.The problem was that the race was 20 hours away – with the car 14 hours away from VIR in Toronto. And that’s not counting any potential problems crossing the international border. With the car en route, Holt dispatched a crew to meet the Toronto team on the highway. The exchange was made at 2 a.m. in Beckley, West Virginia, and the car made its appearance in the VIR paddock around 7 a.m.“We could only do a quick fix at the track, but the crew will do a proper job and have the Shelby back in action for Circuit of The Americas,” Maxwell said before the race. “We’re trying to make the best of a bad situation. Unfortunately, we won’t know how good the Mustang is until the pace lap.”Maxwell and Johnson went on to finish sixth in the renumbered No. 51 Mustang, allowing the pair to remain sixth in the GS standings.Tequila Patrón Endurance Cup GTD Leaders Find Rides: While without a ride in Sunday’s TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race, the two drivers leading the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup in the GT Daytona (GTD) class both landed races in Saturday’s Continental Tire Challenge race. Al Carter subbed for Rob Ecklin in the No. 99 Automatic Racing Invisible Glass Aston Martin Vantage, his first race in the series in 2015. He came one lap from celebrating his first victory in the series, with co-driver Brett Sandberg running out of fuel while leading on the final lap.Cameron Lawrence ran with HART, joining Road America winner Chad Gilsinger in finishing 12th the No. 93 Honda Civic Si. It was his seventh race in the series, including competing for Mitchum Motorsports three years ago in ST at Road America; driving the Sunoco Challenge Camaro at Daytona in 2014; and four additional ST races last year in the Irish Mike’s Racing Hyundai. Murillo Racing Back to Two Cars at COTA: With its current No. 65 BMW 328i not available after being involved in an incident at Road America, Murillo Racing will finish rebuilding the BMW that burned up in 2014 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The car is expected to be ready for the next event at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas on Friday, Sept. 18.Both of the team’s co-drivers are also on the mend. Brent Mosing, who had been putting off surgery for tennis elbow, took advantage of the break to undergo the operation. While he had his arm in the sling at VIR, he hopes to be ready for Austin – his brother Jeff’s adopted home town.Tim Probert also hopes to race as he recovers from cracked ribs suffered in the Road America incident.“I damaged a couple of ribs, and it’s painful recovering from that kind of injury,” said Probert, who watched Saturday’s race on imsa.com. “Every day gets a little better. I was back to work since the Monday after the incident, and I’m getting back into the swing of things. I hope to get to COTA in a few weeks and get in a race car – not necessarily the No. 65 – and get in a few laps to see if I’m ready to race.” Governor’s Wager On Race: With VIR located on the Virginia/North Carolina border, the governors of the two states put a friendly bet on Saturday’s race. BimmerWorld Racing – based near the circuit in Dublin, Virginia, had both of its BMWs involved in the wager. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe bet on James Clay of Blacksburg, while North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory backed Matthews native Tyler Cooke.Both teams rose to the occasion. Clay led a practice session in the No. 84 OPTIMA Batteries BMW 328i co-driven by Jason Briedis, while Andrew Hartanto ran in contention early in the race in the No. 81 BMW 328i he shares with Cooke. Cooke’s No. 81 was sidelined with mechanical problems after 17 laps, with Clay going on to finish 18th in the competitive class. As a result, there’s some good Carolina barbeque heading to Richmond to be enjoyed by Governor McAuliffe.How hot was it at the VIR? The Bodymotion team handed out free samples of sunblock on the hood of the No. 31 Visit St. Pete-Clearwater/Delaware Investments Porsche Cayman during the 45-minute pre-race grid walk. Fans packing the grid took advantage of the opportunity, picking up 500 bottles of sunscreen. “It’s nice and sunny like it always is back home in Florida,” said Lowe, who joined Jason Rabe in finishing fifth, their fifth top-10 finish this season.