Team owner, Brian Alder, indicated his team was headed in the right direction following the recent TUDOR event, Lone Star Le Mans, at Circuit of The Americas located in the capital of Texas.
BAR1 entered two cars in the Prototype Challenge category for this years Lone Star Le Mans.
The No. 61 car will debuted a new livery and the participation of Southwest Funding. Southwest Funding, LP is a Direct Endorsement HUD approved mortgage banker and broker with over 70 locations nationwide. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas since 1993, the company has funded billions of dollars in mortgage loans. Southwest Funding currently is licensed to transact mortgage business in 14 states.
John Falb and Todd Slusher joined forces in the No. 16 JetSuite/Edvisors car. The duo paired up at Laguna Seca earlier this year and have each had additional outings in the PC cars individually.
“While we had our challenges at COTA,” said Brian Alder, “I’m pleased with the direction we’re headed. Todd and John were poised for another great run in the PC class, however an incident in practice shortened the weekend with the car sustaining damage un-repairable at the track. Both drivers were on pace to make a run at the podium, but sometimes these things happen.
The crew is already working round the clock preparing the car for Petit LeMans and we will be back and ready to fight for the win in a few weeks.
With the No. 61 Southwest Funding car, Don had a great race going. I thought he was running very competitive lap times… quicker than drivers with years of experience in the PC class. He was very impressive and showed everyone that he is one of the fast up and comers in the class. He’ll definitely be one to watch.
Unfortunately, during the race Don was hit while overtaking a slower GTD car. The car sustained damage to the left rear suspension and resulted in us losing 2 laps. After another 30 minutes of racing with Ryan Lewis behind the wheel, the left rear suspension failed… a late consequence of the earlier hit. This unfortunately ended our day early.”
Don Yount
“This was a huge confidence builder for me. I’m definitely looking forward to the next race. We struggled in practice and qualifying then found we were not getting full power. That was huge. For almost first 30 minutes of the race were running 4th fastest in class within a half second of the leaders. Unfortunately, we had contact with the Audi and it was all downhill from there. The car got very loose and eventually the hit took its toll with the left rear suspension giving out on Ryan.
I want to thank all the Bar1 guys for giving us and Southwest Funding a competitive car and a fantastic experience. The track was great and it was a blast to have friends and family around and so close to home in Texas.”
Ryan Lewis
“Regardless of our DNF, I think this was a fantastic debut for Don in the Tudor Series. It took us a while to get the ball rolling, but once we got the car into the window, Don was able to put in an awesome performance during the race.
In his first weekend in the PC car he ended up the 2nd fastest Amateur driver, against a field of very experienced guys. I’m really grateful to Don and the BAR1 crew for letting me be involved. I’m looking forward to us all working and winning together in the future.”
Todd Slusher
“A very tough weekend for team Vegas. While it was extremely disappointing not being able to run in the race, we came away with lots of positives… such as being able to work with the team in preparing & learning more about the car, driving on a track (COTA) that was truly exceptional as well as challenging, and spending the weekend in Austin TX. I’m looking forward to getting back in the cockpit as soon as possible to feed the need!”
BAR1 and Tudor Championship action will resume in less than two weeks for the final round of the 2015 season at Road Atlanta for the 17th annual Petit Le Mans on Saturday, October 3rd.