Fighting tooth and nail for most of the race, as was the case for most of 2010, a Mustang Boss 302R would doggedly fight with a BMW for First place during much of last Friday’s Continental Tires Sports Car Challenge’s Grand-Am 200.
Unfortunately, the BMW prevailed, much as it had in 2010, though this time the No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports’ Mustang Boss 302R of Joe Foster and Scott Maxwell disallowed a BMW podium sweep.
Placing second to the pole-sitting BMW but ahead of the Third place BMW, the Boss 302R of Foster and Maxwell suffered an early self-inflicted slow pit stop that would drop the Mustang from First to 11th following the driver exchange that put Maxwell into the car’s seat.
However, long before the pit stop exchanges were undertaken, a chief player, Jack Roush Jr., and Billy Johnson, would have their race ended on lap six when a hard-charging Roush lost his brakes in one of the least desirable places found on the 3.56-mile, 12-turn Daytona International Speedway layout.
Roush, who in the final pre-race practice had bettered the BMW’s record pole time set during Thursday’s qualifying, was at the wheel and on a mission as he drove his Boss 302R from his fifth-place starting spot to third during the sixth lap.
Emerging from the backstretch chicane and into the Speedway’s East Bank with a strong run, Roush quickly dispatched two competitors and, at first, appeared as though he may have gotten a little too greedy when he barreled into the first turn and went well off the racing line.
Roush clearly was in trouble, though, as he continued his off-course path, barreling into a protective cushion of tires bordering the course. With a crushed front, Roush’s No. 61 Roush Performance Boss 302R was clearly done for the day.
When the caution caused by Roush came to an end, Foster soon charged into the lead and held it for 16 laps before undertaking the slower-than-usual pit stop on lap 27.
Remarkably, Foster had only gotten 12 laps of practice in his Multimatic Boss 302R before Thursday’s qualifying.