Visiting three of America's most historic race tracks - Waktins Glen, Road America, and Laguna Seca - for Rounds 6-8 of the 2011 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) season, should have been cause for celebration for all teams and drivers. However, such was not the case for Capaldi Racing and team drivers Tony Buffomante and Kyle Gimple. The team's luck only got worse at each track, ending with a big crash in the #68 Capaldi Racing Mustang FR500C at Laguna Seca. As a result, the team was anxious to turn its bad luck around when arriving at New Jersey Motorsports Park for Round 9. Due to the severe damage Capaldi Racing's FR500C suffered at Laguna, Tony and Kyle had their first chance to race the #68 Capaldi Racing Mustang Boss 302R thanks to fellow competitor, Larry Holt at Multimatic Motorsports.
Thursday and Friday's practice sessions were Tony and Kyle's first time driving the Boss and they made the most of it. After the two worked to finalize the car's set up, Tony jumped in the car with new tires for qualifying and came back with the first pole of the season for Capaldi Racing and a new track record. Tony started the race on the first row alongside Joe Foster in the #15 Multimatic Boss 302R who qualified second. Tony led the first lap, but spun during the second lap, dropping him to 21st. Over the next 1.5 hours, Tony worked his way back up to second overall.
A caution came out and the team planned for a pit stop and driver change, but a crash at pit lane exit caused Tony to stay out for another 30 minutes - as the team hoped for another caution. No caution came, and Tony was forced to pit under a green flag with just over 30 minutes left in the race. Kyle jumped in for the final stint and reentered the race a lap down. Kyle spent the last part of the race moving up through the field and eventually finished the race in 13th.
"I was really happy to win the pole for the Capaldi Racing team," said Tony. "We were in a big slump and the crash as Laguna really hurt us. The Boss is a great car, and it was a ton of fun to drive and the team did a fantastic job adjusting to the new car. I'm not sure what happened on lap two when I spun, but I did my best to make up for it. It's too bad we had the problem with the pit stop timing, but we'll make up for it at Round 10. Mid-Ohio is one of my favorite tracks, and I've done really well there in the past."
"I'm really happy to have had the chance to drive a Boss," said Kyle. "Watching them run this season, they looked like really fun and fast cars, and finally driving one was great. Tony did a fantastic job getting us the pole and he ran a great race. New Jersey is a fun track -- and even though we were a lap down (after the green flag pit stop/driver change), I had a great time driving the Boss through the field trying to make up positions. I'm looking forward to Mid-Ohio, the team is putting another car together and it's a really fun track."
Capaldi Racing will be back on track with the CTSCC September 16 at Mid-Ohio for the 10th and final round of the season. Tune into Speed Channel on Saturday, June 30 at 3:00 p.m. ESDT for coverage of New Jersey and visit www.capaldiracing.com for team updates.
Photos by Grand-Am
Capaldi Racing, Inc., is a professional race team with 30 years racing experience that offers a wide range of racing services and products. The team's goal is to provide the best services, equipment, crew and results to ensure an enjoyable and rewarding experience for the drivers and their guests. Capaldi Racing has extensive experience when it comes to road racing Ford vehicles, and provides a full service racing experience from car build and prep to trackside support to ongoing maintenance for those interested in NASA's Spec Focus Series, American Iron, SCCA's World Challenge GTS class, or Grand-Am's Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series. For more information on Capaldi Racing, go to www.capaldiracing.com or call 586-949-RACE.
Thursday and Friday's practice sessions were Tony and Kyle's first time driving the Boss and they made the most of it. After the two worked to finalize the car's set up, Tony jumped in the car with new tires for qualifying and came back with the first pole of the season for Capaldi Racing and a new track record. Tony started the race on the first row alongside Joe Foster in the #15 Multimatic Boss 302R who qualified second. Tony led the first lap, but spun during the second lap, dropping him to 21st. Over the next 1.5 hours, Tony worked his way back up to second overall.
A caution came out and the team planned for a pit stop and driver change, but a crash at pit lane exit caused Tony to stay out for another 30 minutes - as the team hoped for another caution. No caution came, and Tony was forced to pit under a green flag with just over 30 minutes left in the race. Kyle jumped in for the final stint and reentered the race a lap down. Kyle spent the last part of the race moving up through the field and eventually finished the race in 13th.
"I was really happy to win the pole for the Capaldi Racing team," said Tony. "We were in a big slump and the crash as Laguna really hurt us. The Boss is a great car, and it was a ton of fun to drive and the team did a fantastic job adjusting to the new car. I'm not sure what happened on lap two when I spun, but I did my best to make up for it. It's too bad we had the problem with the pit stop timing, but we'll make up for it at Round 10. Mid-Ohio is one of my favorite tracks, and I've done really well there in the past."
"I'm really happy to have had the chance to drive a Boss," said Kyle. "Watching them run this season, they looked like really fun and fast cars, and finally driving one was great. Tony did a fantastic job getting us the pole and he ran a great race. New Jersey is a fun track -- and even though we were a lap down (after the green flag pit stop/driver change), I had a great time driving the Boss through the field trying to make up positions. I'm looking forward to Mid-Ohio, the team is putting another car together and it's a really fun track."
Capaldi Racing will be back on track with the CTSCC September 16 at Mid-Ohio for the 10th and final round of the season. Tune into Speed Channel on Saturday, June 30 at 3:00 p.m. ESDT for coverage of New Jersey and visit www.capaldiracing.com for team updates.
Photos by Grand-Am
Capaldi Racing, Inc., is a professional race team with 30 years racing experience that offers a wide range of racing services and products. The team's goal is to provide the best services, equipment, crew and results to ensure an enjoyable and rewarding experience for the drivers and their guests. Capaldi Racing has extensive experience when it comes to road racing Ford vehicles, and provides a full service racing experience from car build and prep to trackside support to ongoing maintenance for those interested in NASA's Spec Focus Series, American Iron, SCCA's World Challenge GTS class, or Grand-Am's Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series. For more information on Capaldi Racing, go to www.capaldiracing.com or call 586-949-RACE.