McCumbee wins pole for sports car race

Staff Report

In a weekend of firsts for C.J. Wilson Racing, Chad McCumbee gave the team based in Austin, Texas, its first Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge pole position.
In qualifying Friday for the GRAND-AM of Americas race in Austin on the 3.4-mile Circuit of Americas road course, McCumbee knocked off third-place teammate Marc Miller and RSR Motorsports Corey Fergus in the final minute.
“I think it’s great that a NASCAR driver can come to an F1 track in a sports car race series and get the pole,” team owner C.J. Wilson said. “We will be very proud of this moment for a long time, but it’s merely a step toward our goal of winning Continental Tire Sports Car Series races. We now have to follow through.”
A last-lap flyer for McCumbee earned the C.J Wilson Racing driver his first career Street Tuner pole position. His lap of 2:28.322 in the No. 3 Mazda MX-5 came moments after the checkered flag and knocked Corey Fergus off the provisional pole. Fergus, who set his time just seconds before McCumbee, qualified RSR Motorsports’ No. 197 Honda Civic Si at 2:28.370.
In the race Saturday, Stevan McAleer—racing for only the second time in the series—passed Tom Long and Terry Borcheller in the final two laps to give C.J. Wilson Racing its first GRAND-AM victory. McAleer took over for Marc Miller in the winning No. 5 Mazda MX-5, beating Long and Derek Whitis in the No. 25 Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5, and Borcheller and Mike LaMarra in the No. 23 Burton Racing BMW 128i.
Jason Saini and McCumbee, in the No. 3 entry, raced to a seventh-place finish. Speed-TV will televise the race at 4 p.m. March 9.
After two races this season, the No. 3 team is seventh in points (39). The leading team has 55 points.
The third race of the series is the first weekend of April at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala. The road course is 2.3 miles and has 17 turns.
But before then, McCumbee will return March 22 to Myrtle Beach Speedway for the running of the postponed Myrtle Beach 400. He is owner of the car driven by Sam Yarbrough, who has the No. 1 position for the 250-lap Late Model race.