Dean Martin, Jack Roush Jr., and KohR Motorsports picked up their second IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge win of the season in Saturday’s rain-shortened Road America 120.
The race came to a halt with 47 minutes to go for lightning in the area, freezing the field with Martin and the No. 59 Mustang holding the top spot. The race would not restart due to a lightning warning that was not set to expire before the race time had elapsed.
The win marked a turnaround for the KohR squad, which was forced to undertake repairs following Practice 3 this morning when its Mustang came into pit lane billowing smoke after suffering mechanical problem related to the differential.
The crew went to work and had the car ready for qualifying less than 30 minutes later, and Roush went on to lock down a starting spot on the outside of the front row.
That turned into a de facto pole position when the No. 76 C360R McLaren 570S GT4 started from the pit lane due to an issue with the rear suspension discovered after qualifying, then stopped on track on the pace lap.
Roush held the lead for much of the opening stint, but did have to fight back to the front after temporarily losing the place to Mathew Keegan on the race’s first restart.
He regained the lead 12 minutes later, passing Keegan into Canada Corner, and the KohR team stayed out front through the pit stop cycle.
Dillon Machavern took second for RS1, and he and co-driver Dylan Murcott have moved provisionally into the GS points lead.
They were promoted from third after a penalty for passing under the yellow was assessed to Gabriele Piana and Mortiz Kranz in the No. 21 Muehlner Motorsports Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport, which otherwise impressed in the drivers’ series debut.
The penalty dropped the car to ninth in GS.
The No. 69 Motorsports In Action McLaren of Chris Green and Jesse Lazare completed the GS podium in third.
The ST class went the way of the No. 25 Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5 of Chad McCumbee and Stevan McAleer, who had not yet made their pit stop when the red flag was displayed.
Had the race gone back to green, the duo would still have needed to refuel and therefore lost their advantage but were saved the need to pit when the race was called early.
The sister No. 27 Mazda of Tom Long and Britt Casey Jr. used the same strategy to complete a Freedom Autosport 1-2 in ST, with Jeff Mosing taking third in the No. 56 Porsche Cayman for Murillo Racing and Nick Galante in fourth for RS1, all on the same strategy.
Because none of the top-four cars pitted, only one driver turned laps in the race for those entries.
Further clarification on how points will be awarded is expected later. Results at the time of posting are unofficial pending series review.
The lone major incident of the race came on the opening lap when Alan Byrnjolfsson spun the No. 7 VOLT Racing Mustang in damp conditions, making significant contact with the tire barrier.
RESULTS: Road America 120