Continental Sports Cars: Foster Maxwell Flag-to-Flag in Barber 200

Joe Foster shares the podium with his daughter and with co-driver Scott Maxwell. (James Fish/The Epoch Times)

LEEDS, Ala.—Detroit iron beat German engineering in the GS class of the Continental Sports Car Challenge Barber 200 from Barber Motorsports Park Saturday, April 9, as the #15 Multimatic Mustang Boss 302R of Joe Foster and Scott Maxwell took the checkered flag 1.25 seconds ahead of points leaders Bill Auberlen and Paul Dala Lana in the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M3.

“We dropped back mid-field mid-race but the car was good and we came on strong at the end,” Scott Maxwell told Grand Am.com.

“Trying to catch [Bill] Auberlen is really tough—he is a great driver with a strong car, so I had to wait it out and be patient. Multimatic and Ford did a great job and Joe Foster did a great job, so it was a good day.”

Joe Foster praised Maxwell’s efforts. “At the end, it was a battle between everybody with no grip, and Scott won out. It was a fantastic day for us.”

Joe Foster won the pole, his third at Barber in three races, and led the first 20 laps in a muscle car battle between Foster, Matt Bell in the #9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GS.R and Jack Roush Jr. in the #61 Roush Performance Mustang Boss 302R.

After a pair of cautions and some driver changes, Billy Johnson in the #61 Roush Mustang led John Edwards in the #9 Stevenson Camaro and Tonis Kasemets in the #46 Fall Line BMW.

After another caution on lap 40, the race restarted on lap 45 with Billy Johnson still in the lead, followed by the #00 CKS Autosport Camaro of Eric Curran and the #33 Kinetic Motorsports Kia of Bryan Sellers. Johnson pitted for tires on lap 48, giving Curran the lead.

Bill Auberlen at the wheel of the #96 Turner BMW had been moving up steadily since the green flag on lap 45, advancing four positions in two laps, then another two places in the next four laps, then taking the lead in the Hairpin on lap 52.

Scott Maxwell, in third, tried to follow Auberlen, but couldn’t squeeze by Curran. No matter; Curran pitted on lap 55, leaving Maxwell on Auberlen’s bumper.

Auberlen, fresh off a win in the Rolex GT class, was primed for a second two-win weekend. (At Homestead, Auberlen and Dala Lana won both GT in the Grand Prix of Miami and GS in the Kia 200.) Scott Maxwell in the Multimatic Ford wanted to spoil Auberlen’s hopes.

A pair of cautions on laps 56 and 64, with only a lap of green-flag racing between them, kept the field leashed until lap 70, with only seven laps left.

Scott Maxwell in the Multimatic Mustang worked his way close to the #96 Turner BMW, finally squeezing ahead by inches at the start/finish line on lap 74. Maxwell led through Turn One and for the rest of the race.

“Bill (Auberlen) is very hard to pass, but he is very fair. If you stick it in there, you know he’s going to give you space,” Maxwell said. “We have a lot of respect for each other.”

Auberlen in the BMW held off the #46 Fall Line BMW of Tonis Kasemets, who tried to get by in the Hairpin, while Billy Johnson in the #61 Mustang moved in behind. Johnson captured third from Kasemets on the final lap.

John Edwards in the #9 Stevenson Camaro filled out the top five in the GS class.

The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge travels to Virginia International Raceway near Danville, Va., for the Bosch Engineering 200 on Saturday, May 14, running in conjunction with the Rolex Bosch Engineering 250. Tickets are available at the VIR website ticket page.

The Bosch Engineering 250 will be televised at 5 p.m. on May 14 on SPEED TV

The Bosch Engineering 200 will be televised on SPEED TV on May 22 at 1 p.m. ET.

Continental Sports Car Challenge Barber 200 results
	#	Class	Pic	Drivers	Team/Car	Laps
1	15	GS	1	Foster / Maxwell	Multimatic Motorsports / Mustang Boss 302R	77
2	96	GS	2	Auberlen / Dalla Lana	Turner Motorsport / BMW M3 Coupe	77
3	61	GS	3	Johnson / Roush Jr.	Roush Performance / Mustang Boss 302R	77
4	46	GS	4	Boden / Borcheller / Kasemets	Fall-Line Motorsports / BMW M3 Coupe	77
5	9	GS	5	Bell / Edwards	Stevenson Motorsports / Camaro GS.R	77
6	97	GS	6	Hand / Marsal	Turner Motorsport / BMW M3 Coupe	77
7	13	GS	7	Longhi / Plumb	Rum Bum Racing / BMW M3 Coupe	77
8	83	GS	8	Cosmo / Tetreault	BGB Motorsports / Porsche Cayman S	77
9	45	GS	9	Carter / Plumb	Fall-Line Motorsports / BMW M3 Coupe	77
10	6	GS	10	Bucknum / Stout	Mitchum Motorsports / Camaro GS.R	77
11	78	GS	11	Michaelian / Wilden	BimmerWorld Racing / BMW M3 Coupe	77
12	91	GS	12	Gibson / Hurley	APR Motorsport / Audi S4	77
13	33	GS	13	Buford / Sellers	Kinetic Motorsports / BMW M3 Coupe	77
14	68	GS	14	Buffomante / Gimple	Capaldi Racing / Ford Mustang GT	77
15	79	GS	15	Clay / Thomas	BimmerWorld Racing / BMW M3 Coupe	77
16	19	GS	16	Gerrard / Jensen	Insight Racing / BMW M3 Coupe	77
17	00	GS	17	Curran / McCalmont	CKS Autosport / Camaro GS.R	77
18	10	ST	1	Galati / Jonsson	Kinetic Motorsports / KIA Forte Koup	77
19	14	ST	2	Bell / Zacharias	Doran Racing / BMW 128i	77
20	56	ST	3	Combs / Mosing	RACE EPIC/Murillo Racing / BMW 328i	77
21	171	ST	4	Baas / Ellis	APR Motorsport / Volkswagen GTI	77
22	32	ST	5	Hacquard / Kleinubing	i-MOTO / Mazda Speed 3	77
23	31	ST	6	Pombo / Pombo	i-MOTO / Mazda Speed 3	77
24	38	GS	18	Massari / Piovanetti	BGB Motorsports / Porsche Cayman S	77
25	25	ST	7	Long / Whitis	Freedom Autosport / Mazda MX-5	77
26	181	ST	8	Gleason Jr. / Gleason	APR Motorsport / Volkswagen GTI	77
27	18	ST	9	Rondet / Westphal	Insight Racing / BMW 328i	77
28	12	ST	10	Burrows / Hopwood	Kinetic Motorsports / KIA Forte Koup	77
29	198	ST	11	Cattaneo / Trinkler	RSR Motorsports / Mini Cooper S	77
30	65	ST	12	Brown	RACE EPIC/Murillo Racing / BMW 328i	77
31	74	ST	13	Lutz / Thilenius	Compass360 Racing / Honda Civic SI	77
32	195	ST	14	Mirzayan / Riegel	RSR Motorsports / Mini Cooper S	77
33	62	GS	19	Aschenbach / Atterbury	Mitchum Motorsports / Camaro GS.R	77
34	80	ST	15	Heumann / White	BimmerWorld Racing / BMW 328i	77
35	24	ST	16	Guthrie / Skelton	V-Pack Motorsport / BMW 330	77
36	21	GS	20	Panzer / Snyder	Frederick Motorsports / Ford Mustang GT	76
37	03	ST	17	Picut / Watson	Next Generation Motorsports / BMW 330	76
38	4	ST	18	Conway / Kent	Doran Racing / BMW 128i	76
39	22	ST	19	Freeman Jr. / Freeman / Schmidt	FRESCH / Mercedes C300	75
40	77	ST	20	Novich / Rogers	Compass360 Racing / Honda Civic SI	74
41	90	ST	21	Eich / Gilsinger / Schmitt	HART / Honda Civic SI	73
42	75	ST	22	Carroll / Eversley	Compass360 Racing / Honda Civic SI	70
43	50	GS	21	Cameron / Finlay	Finlay Motorsports / Mustang Boss 302R	64
44	54	GS	22	Blackstock / Click / McGovern	Jim Click Racing / Ford Mustang GT	64
45	81	ST	23	Capestro-Dubets / Liefooghe	BimmerWorld Racing / BMW 328i	64
46	88	GS	23	Courtney / Ellis	Ranger Sports Racing / Porsche 997	62
47	27	ST	24	Foss / Rampelberg	Freedom Autosport / Mazda Speed 3	54
48	67	ST	25	Kozarov / Tallman	CA Sport / Honda Civic SI	50
49	28	ST	26	Igdalsky / Ledoux	Freedom Autosport / Mazda Speed 3	48
50	35	GS	24	Aquilante / Spaude	Subaru Road Racing Team / Subaru WRX-STI	39
51	161	ST	27	Brock / Lamb	APR Motorsport / Volkswagen GTI	33
52	196	ST	28	Farmer / Hart	RSR Motorsports / Mini Cooper S	31
53	26	ST	29	Carbonell / O'Doski	Freedom Autosport / Mazda MX-5	26
54	58	GS	25	DiLeo / Smith	Maxwell Paper Racing / Porsche 997	21
55	89	GS	26	Curtin / Lee	Ranger Sports Racing / Porsche 997	20
56	48	GS	27	Espenlaub / Putman	Fall-Line Motorsports / BMW M3 Coupe	16
57	23	ST	30	Hanson / Workman	AutoSport Promotions / BMW 330	10
58	04	GS	28	Lock / Sweeney	AM Performance / Nissan 370Z	9
59*	01	GS	0	Mundy / Rivera	CKS Autosport / Camaro GS.R	0