From Ford Racing news

[pwd72s]

love the last sentence...uttered by the M3 pilot. Mustangs...understeering pigs indeed!

ROAD RULE: MUSTANG BOSS 302R WINS CTSCC
4/9/2011

BY TEAM FORD RACING CORRESPONDENT

Birmingham, Ala. — On the first true road-course race event on the 2011 Continental Tires Sports Car Challenge calendar, Joe Foster and Scotty Maxwell drove their No 15 Multimatic Ford Mustang Boss 302R straight to Barber Motorsports Park's victory circle Saturday, defeating the second-place No. 96 Turner BMW M3 of Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana going away.


Jack Roush Jr., Billy Johnson and their No. 61 Roush Performance Mustang Boss 302.R finished third.

During Friday’s qualifying and for the third time in four years Joe Foster gave the team a big boost by grabbing the race pole on the hard-to-pass, 17-turn, 2.3-mile Barber Motorsports Park.

Gaining his seventh career pole by cutting a field-best lap of 1:36.906 (85.443 mph average) Foster’s time was barely slower than the 1:36.876 event track record he set here in 2010.


“Honestly, it was the luck of the draw,” Foster said. “Basically, I got one clear lap at the start and only did two laps.”

Early in his stint, having taken the seat from co-driver Dalla Lana, Auberlen drove around the Parnelli Jones orange Mustang, but even Auberlen later admitted he knew his time out front was probably limited.

“I doubted I’d be able to do much if I was behind the [No.] 15 [Mustang] so, I thought, I might as well be in front of them,” Auberlen said. “I was hoping that I’d maybe make Scotty use up his tires by trying to [repeatedly] get around me.”


Others may have gone for it, but the wily veteran Maxwell just bade his time until the proper moment. For the Ford fans in the crowd, Maxwell’s move couldn’t have come at a better time, a roar erupting from the fans bordering the circular Turns 1 through 3 as Maxwell tucked inside and was alongside Auberlen’s BMW before hardly anyone noticed.

“Actually, I knew I had him with about 40 minutes remaining in the race,” Maxwell said.

“Bill [Auberlen] had been doing just about all he could to stay in front of me at that point but, I guess, I was just adding some insurance.”


With barely two laps remaining, Maxwell was pulling away and on his way to victory.

“There was nothing I could do. His [Mustang] was handling better than me and had plenty of tire left at the end,” Auberlen said.

[MBAtarga]

but they weren't racing against a well set up 944!

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by MBAtarga

but they weren't racing against a well set up 944!

IIRC, I think 944's are in that class. Could be wrong, though. Just that the article didn't mention them. Dunno why...

Nutshell version of the GT class here: Note that Porsche GT3 is in this class as well.
http://www.grand-am.com/grand-am101/index.cfm?cid=24614

Cars: Nissan 350Z, Ford Mustang, Porsche GT3, Mazda RX-8, Chevrolet Camaro, Chevrolet Corvette, Ferrari 430, Infiniti G35

Engines: Mazda 3 Rotor; 5.0L Ford 4V; 6L GM Pushrod 2V; 4.5L Infiniti 4V; 5.0L BMW 4V; 3.8L Porsche Flat 6

[onewhippedpuppy]

I have to admit that I really like the direction Ford has been going lately with the Mustang. The new Boss is a genuinely appealing car.

[Jeff Higgins]

I guess I've become extremely jaded with these kinds of racing series. Essentially, the sanctioning body picks the winners in any given year. The rules are constantly manipulated and are different for every manufacturer - there hasn't been any truly "heads up" racing in decades. The cars have simply become too fast, too capable to allow that anymore.

So, they are all held back. Which would be fine, until we realize that they are are held back to different degrees. This practice has made it impossible to really determine who makes the fastest car. I well remember when a couple of years ago (who knows, it may still be this way) the ALMS series had the GT3 RSR as the heaviest car with the smallest gas tank and smallest intake restrictor in the GT field, even though it had the smallest engine. They were tired of Porsches dominating, so they slowed them down.

I would be willing to bet this CTSCC series has disparate rules for different makes as well. And, since it is an American series, it's important to them that American cars run up front. So, I wouldn't get too excited about who is winning these races. Not until the playing field is absolutely level.

[sammyg2]

If fisher price made a car, it'd be a mustang

[pwd72s]

Haven't gone through the rules book with a fine comb, Jeff. But I do believe the Mustangs are Ford Mustang Tubs, while the "M3" cars are tube framed...

[kach22i]

I remember one race a year or two ago where the Mustang lost it's hood because of a bump with another car and ran the rest of the race hoodless. It was pretty cool I must say.

Good for Ford.

[tchanson]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Haven't gone through the rules book with a fine comb, Jeff. But I do believe the Mustangs are Ford Mustang Tubs, while the "M3" cars are tube framed...

That's incorrect.

Jeff's points are exactly spot on in this case.

The CTSCC M3's are not tube frame cars. That would be the Rolex GT cars, which is an entirely different class. The leading CTSCC M3 team, Turner Motorsports, actually builds their CTSCC M3's from used street cars with no factory support.

In 2010, the M3's won 6 of 10 CTSCC races versus 3 for Ford. The M3's won the last 2 races in 2010, and also won the first 2 races of 2011.

After the second race at Homestead this year, which was the fourth consecutive M3 win, Grand Am cut back the rev limit on the M3's a few weeks prior to round 3 at Barber where Ford won.

Somehow that fact was (shockingly!) omitted from the Ford PR press release touting their (rule change assisted) win. Probably just an oversight.




Tim

[onewhippedpuppy]

I'll take mine without the graphics.



After owning three BMWs that were all unreliable and poorly made, I have trouble being a cheerleader for the marque.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

I'll take mine without the graphics.



After owning three BMWs that were all unreliable and poorly made, I have trouble being a cheerleader for the marque.

Gee, some sour grapes among the BMW set? Yet they should be leading in points then?

Me too...love the mechanicals of the Boss 302, despise the graphics. Those graphics make them almost as ugly as a GT3RS...

It would be a gas to buy the Boss 302, then send it to a customizer to "bullittize it"...something like this:

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

I guess I've become extremely jaded with these kinds of racing series. Essentially, the sanctioning body picks the winners in any given year. The rules are constantly manipulated and are different for every manufacturer - there hasn't been any truly "heads up" racing in decades. The cars have simply become too fast, too capable to allow that anymore.

So, they are all held back. Which would be fine, until we realize that they are are held back to different degrees. This practice has made it impossible to really determine who makes the fastest car. I well remember when a couple of years ago (who knows, it may still be this way) the ALMS series had the GT3 RSR as the heaviest car with the smallest gas tank and smallest intake restrictor in the GT field, even though it had the smallest engine. They were tired of Porsches dominating, so they slowed them down.

I would be willing to bet this CTSCC series has disparate rules for different makes as well. And, since it is an American series, it's important to them that American cars run up front. So, I wouldn't get too excited about who is winning these races. Not until the playing field is absolutely level.

Actually, you have a point. Same ones can be made of the ALMS, or pretty much any race series. Only possible exception I can think of? NASCAR...

[Tobra]

Is it just vinyl?

I can loan you a blow dryer.

I prefer low key to look at me

Knew a guy with a little Nash Metropolitan coupe, with a twin turbo SBC. It did not look like much, really quiet, brutally fast, like a bike almost.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Is it just vinyl?

I can loan you a blow dryer.

I prefer low key to look at me

Knew a guy with a little Nash Metropolitan coupe, with a twin turbo SBC. It did not look like much, really quiet, brutally fast, like a bike almost.

Alas, the hockey stick stripes are vinyl...but the contrasting roof & hood colors are paint. Love the mechanicals, hate the looks.

At 6,000 miles on the Bullitt, I've decided no on a Boss...figure I'll drive my money out of what I have. 6,000 miles down, 94,000 or so to go. That's my feeling today anyway.

[Racerbvd]

This Stang was pretty fast at VIR, but is was also louder than the ARCA Vipers it pulled away from & even a stock car...

[Geronimo '74]

Originally Posted by tchanson

In 2010, the M3's won 6 of 10 CTSCC races versus 3 for Ford. The M3's won the last 2 races in 2010, and also won the first 2 races of 2011.

After the second race at Homestead this year, which was the fourth consecutive M3 win, Grand Am cut back the rev limit on the M3's a few weeks prior to round 3 at Barber where Ford won.

Somehow that fact was (shockingly!) omitted from the Ford PR press release touting their (rule change assisted) win. Probably just an oversight.

Tim

C'mon Tim, now you've sucked all the fun out of Pauls troll post...

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Geronimo '74

C'mon Tim, now you've sucked all the fun out of Pauls troll post...

The season's not over... GO FORD!
Geronimo...belgium makes good firearms and good pool balls. Any cars made there?

[mossguy]

Yes. Volvos

[andrew15]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

The season's not over... GO FORD!
Geronimo...belgium makes good firearms and good pool balls. Any cars made there?

Volvo
VW
Opel
and.....Ford

[Joe Bob]

[QUOTE=onewhippedpuppy;5966810]I'll take mine without the graphics.


[QUOTE]

A dark red graphic with your own design would look nice.....