Following a race that saw a record race pace after only one caution period, Magnus Racing managed an eventful afternoon to come home in third place during yesterday’s Global Barter 250 presented by Susan G. Komen for the Cure- Central and South Jersey at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Beyond bringing home a strong result in the one-time pink liveried car in honor of the Komen foundation, the no. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche GT3 Cup also delivered a historic 100th GRAND-AM podium for driver Andy Lally, who beyond celebrating with his mother on mother’s day, also meant that Magnus Racing won the bet over Kinetic Motorsports to deliver the historic result.
If Magnus Racing was first to the podium in the Rolex Sports Car Series, Kinetic’s Nic Jonsson would be forced to dance at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in a Kia hamster suit. If Kinetic had been first in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Magnus Racing Team Manager Shannon Davis would have had to do the same.
Luckily for Shannon, it will be Jonsson.
“It’s a great feeling to finally earn 100 podiums,” stated Lally. “To be honest it’s a little bittersweet, as there was a shot for the win, but it just didn’t work out so we had to settle for third. At the end of the day it was good points, and I have to thank all the guys here at Magnus who worked so hard to get us here. I’m a lucky guy, and happy to celebrate my 100th here on mother’s day. I love racing in GRAND-AM. Both the Rolex and Continental Series are so much fun, and so exciting to watch, it’s an honor to have had such as great career here.”
With co-driver John Potter starting in 11th, the no. 44 was off to a solid start when the green flag fell. Running under a long green flag, Potter’s main objective was to simply manage the tires, drive clean, and get a strong read on the car in order to adjust for the second half of the race. Not putting a foot wrong, Potter brought the car in at the 50-minute mark, handing the car over to Andy Lally, who was focused on moving the car to the front.
Driving under long green conditions, Lally slowly made work on the field in front of him. Running lap times that matched the race leaders, the long green flag, matched with the rising temperatures, also put Lally in a position to manage his tires as he slowly picked off his competitors.
Pitting at the edge of their fuel window for the final time, Lally would dive in for his final stop in seventh. A quick stop by the Magnus crew would time perfectly with a yellow flag that would come out moments later, putting the Magnus team in a strong strategic position.
With most of the field in front having not pitted, the caution period would force the teams in front to wait until the pits were “open” for GT cars to come through, meaning Lally would catch the back of the field before they’d enter the pits. As a result, when the GT field came in for their last set of stops, Lally would advance to second, and all of a sudden in a strong position to challenge the leading no. 57 Stevenson Camaro.
As the race resumed, no. 57 driver Robin Liddell made a quick jump on the re-start, however made an interesting move as he quickly jumped on the brakes down the front straight, all happening before the start-finish line. By GRAND-AM rule, Lally was not allowed to pass Liddell before start-finish, meaning Lally would also have to jump on the brakes to avoid a penalty, catching him out and allowing two cars to pass in the process.
All of a sudden Lally went from being able to challenge for the lead, to now sitting in fourth and fighting to gain a podium position.
Staying glued to Liddell, who also fell back on the re-start, the last 30 minutes of the race would be a game of patience. As the no. 69 AIM Ferrari of Jeff Segal took a commanding lead, the no. 42 Mazda of Dane Cameron struggled with a fading car to keep Liddell behind him. During the final laps of the race, a heated battle between Cameron and Liddell would cause Cameron to have a brief off-course excursion, allowing Liddell and Lally to advance, meaning Lally was now in a podium position.
From there, Lally would never look back, keeping heat on Liddell but unable to make a final pass, settling for third.
Though there was a brief moment where the no. 44 may have been able to go for the win, third was still a decent result for the team, who now only sit eight points out of the GT championship lead.
“After Homestead we really wanted to make a strong run for points, so we’ll take this,” stated John Potter. “The pink no. 44 was a fun novelty to run this weekend, and I’m glad we were able to deliver a podium result for everyone at Susan G. Komen- Central and South Jersey. Once again we’re all very proud of the work we’ve done, and now we’ll just carry this on to Detroit.”
Source : Magnus Racing