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Plumb Holds Off
Auberlen To Score ‘Lucky’ 13th Victory For Rum Bum
Racing
First-Time Winners Dyer, Novich Capture ST For
RSR Motorsports and Honda
 LEXINGTON,
Ohio (June 15, 2013)
– Matt Plumb admitted having luck on his side Saturday
at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course after prevailing in a
two-lap shootout that gave the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing
team its 13th victory in GRAND-AM Continental Tire
Sports Car Challenge competition.
Plumb beat
Bill Auberlen to the checkered flag by .452 seconds to
win in the Rum Bum Racing Porsche 997 started by Nick
Longhi, its second victory of the season. The victory
increased their lead in the Grand Sport (GS) driver
standings.
The Street
Tuner (ST) race was just as close. Tom Dyer held off
defending Mid-Ohio ST winner Michael Valiante by .455
seconds to join Andrew Novich in scoring their first
career victory, sharing the No. 196 RSR Motorsports
Honda Civic Si.
“We got lucky
on two fronts,” Plumb said after his 15th career overall
victory in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge,
extending his record for most all-time. “First, Nick
pitted just before a caution flag came out and while the
pits were still open. Second, we were on our way to
running out of fuel when that late yellow came out –
that literally saved us. I was happy to see the
checkered flag waving. I wasn’t sure if it was the last
lap until I saw the checkers – and I don’t know if I
could have held off Bill for another lap.”
John DeBarros
spun to a stop in Tune 11 in the No. 85 All Out
Motorsports MAZDASPEED 3 to bring out the fourth and
final full-course caution with nine minutes remaining.
At the time, Plumb led Auberlen by 2.6 seconds.
“We were good
on 20-lap sprints, but not that two-lap stuff,” said
Auberlen, who co-drove the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW
M3 with Paul Dalla Lana. “By the time our car came in,
the race was over.”
John Edwards
finished third in the No. 9 Stevenson Auto Group
Chevrolet Camaro started by Matt Bell. The pair is
second in the GS championship, trailing the Rum Bum duo
by 11 points (151-140). Bryan Sellers finished fourth in
the No. 48 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3 started by Mark
Boden, followed by Shelby Blackstock and Joey Atterbury
in the No. 51 Starstruck Ford Mustang Boss 302R.
Jade Buford
won the pole and led the opening 36 of 83 laps in the
two-hour, 30-minute race, finishing sixth in the No. 55
Multimatic Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage co-driven by
Scott Maxwell.
Dyer passed
Luke Wilwert in the No. 92 HART Honda to take the ST
lead and led the final 38 circuits. Valiante took second
and was able to quickly close to within one second of
Dyer, with the two former karting rivals running in that
order throughout the final hour.
“When you get
to race with the best, you get to put on a great show,”
Dyer said. “I’ve raced against Michael for many years,
and I knew he would race me clean. That battle brought
back many memories.”
Ryan Eversley and Kyle Gimple
finished third in the No. 76 Compass360 Racing Honda
Civic Si, followed by pole winner Jesse Combs and Jeff
Mosing in the No. 56 RACE EPIC/Murillo Racing BMW 328i,
and Ryan Ellis and Vesko Kozarov in the No. 33 Team
Nissan/Skullcandy Nissan Altima Coupe.
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