The inaugural Brickyard Sports Car Challenge, eighth round of the 2012 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge saw Fall-Line Motorsports score its fifth podium finishes of the season. The #48 OMP - SafeCraft Fall-Line Motorsports BMW driven by Charlie Putman and Charles Espenlaub finished third last Friday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after leading the race. The #46 BCKSTGR Fall-Line Motorsports BMW of team principle Mark Boden and Bryan Sellers finished 6th and the #45 SceneTap - B+ Foundation - Jetset Magazine of Al Carter and Hugh Plumb, 27th after a difficult race.
The Brickyard Sports Car Challenge was a one day event that was on paper supposed to be a good event to score great results for the Fall-Line Motorsports 45, 46 and 48 teams. The Fall-Line team once again was the strongest of all BMW teams entered in the race and despite trying hard to be the first drivers to kiss the bricks of an endurance racing event at the Brickyard, two of the Fall-Line drivers visited the famed Indy podium but fell a little short of their winning objective.
After eight races in the 2012 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, two of the Fall-Line teams are now ranked in the top five of the team point standings. The #45 SceneTap B+ Foundation team is now 4th and still in contention for a podium finish. The #48 OMP SafeCraft team moved up two spots in the rankings and went from 7th to 5th. The #46 BCKSTGR team moved up from 9th to 8th in the team point standings after the Indianapolis race.
Al Carter and Hugh Plumb announced a new sponsor, SceneTap for their racing program and with their new vibrant colors, the #45 SceneTap B+ Foundation - Jetset Magazine Fall-Line BMW driven by Al Carter qualified 4th on Friday morning. This was the fastest qualifying performance of all BMW cars entered in the GS class. In the race Carter who had the ambition and determination to bring a podium finish to its new sponsor encountered some problems early. He took a fantastic start and went from 4th to 2nd in only two laps but on lap 6 while running 3rd, the #45 car got hit by an ST car forcing Al to spin. Due to the toe link damage on the front left he had to stop in the pits to repair. Al was able to restart after losing three laps but the #45 car was forced to retire a little later after a driveline failure. Hugh Plumb did not get to drive and was not able to score points. He is now 5th in the driver point standings. Al Carter is now 4th in the driver point standings after Indianapolis.
Mark Boden qualified his #46 BCKSTGR Fall-Line BMW in 8th spot on Friday morning. Like his teammate Al Carter, Mark Boden was hit by another car early in the race and lost many track positions. Boden did a good job before Bryan Sellers took over the wheel of the #46 BCKSTGR BMW. Sellers had a rough race too but thanks to his excellent driving talent, he was able to pass two cars in the final laps to finish 6th, a positive result that helped the #46 car to be ranked 8th after 8 races.
The #48 OMP - SafeCraft Fall-Line BMW of Charlie Putman and Charles Espenlaub was the best of the three Fall-Line cars at Indianapolis. Putman qualified 13th on Friday morning but the drivers of the #48 car had a very consistent race. Before the red flag race interruption due to heavy rain, Charles Espenlaub was able to lead the Brickyard Challenge race for 3 laps but had to pit to put a new set of Continental slicks on before the re-start. At the restart after the rain delay, Espenlaub raced with the goal of winning the race. He went from 13th to 3rd in only 5 laps. His anticipated winning ride was cut short by a final full course caution that forced the race to finish under yellow. Without this last caution, the chances are that Espenlaub would have given Fall-Line their first race victory of the season. Charlie Putman is now ranked 6th in the 2012 driver point standings and Charles Espenlaub is 9th.
The inaugural Brickyard Sports Car Challenge will be televised on SPEED TV Sunday, August 5 at noon ET. The next race, round 9 of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, is scheduled for September 7-8 at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway in California.
