GAINSCO McLaren Withdrawn from Long Beach after Accident

Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPIx.com

GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing’s highly anticipated return to the streets of Long Beach has come to an early end, following Jon Fogarty’s accident in Friday’s practice that has forced the team to withdraw its McLaren 650S GT3 from the event.

Significant damage was sustained to the mid-engined super car in the impact, although Fogarty was uninjured. He had set the third quickest time of the session prior to the accident.

“We had a great session going, made steady improvements,” Fogarty said. “We were on a sticker run there just before the end of the session and I clipped the apex at turn 8… it sent me into the wall like a rocket.”

The Texas-based team is now in race against the clock to rebuild for next weekend’s PWC round at Barber Motorsports Park.

“Unfortunately, the damage is too significant and the GAINSCO boys are going to pack it up here as quickly as possible to get back to Texas,” Stallings said.

“We have a double-header next weekend which is big for us in terms of championship points and it’s a “Circle of Champions” weekend for GAINSCO, which means they have a group of winners coming.

“We need to be there. It’s going to be a big job to get this car ready in time.

“It’s ironic that we are here, finally back to Long Beach after 10 years away and packing it in early once again.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John