Millville, NJ – ElginRacing finished first overall in the SCCA's Devil in the Dark 12 Hour Endurance Race at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) for the third year in a row. Drivers David Jacobs, Greg Obadia and Todd Lamb celebrated the first recorded flag-to-flag Devil in the Dark win. David Jacobs took the checkered flag at 11:55 pm on Saturday, April 23rd. Completing 406 laps in their 2012 Ford Mustang BOSS 302R, ElginRacing finished the race with an 8-lap lead ahead of the second place #61 Radical Canada's SR3 RS.
The defending Devil in the Dark winners faced a few obstacles on Friday that could have ended their winning streak. Minutes before qualifying, ElginRacing was faced with a starter motor issue. Despite this setback and tricky wet conditions on slick tires, ElginRacing qualified in third place behind #46 Fall-Line BMW M3 and the #78 Jim Locke Automotive Elan prototype. The MEATHEAD Racing crew with ElginRacing's Jimmy Padgett diligently worked through the night to change the starter motor and transmission in time for the race.
The green flag dropped at 11:55 am with Todd Lamb piloting the #00 Mustang past the pole winner in extremely wet conditions. Todd Lamb drove back-to-back stints in the rain, creating a gap between the Mustang and the rest of the field. Attrition removed some of the top competitors from the field, including Raver Motorsport's waterlogged Superlite Coupe. Jacobs, Obadia and Lamb rotation kept the pace set by strategist Francois Bru. Mike "MEATHEAD" Collins's crew executed quick and flawless pit stops. The team led by twelve laps at one point during the race.
"It's all about anticipating and respecting the quality of your competition, preparation and knowing that, unless very good luck is on your shoulder, you won't be on the podium," said Ben Jacobs of ElginRacing. ElginRacing's record-breaking performance would not have been possible without the months of preparation and seasoned team members.
ElginRacing has won four of five endurance races entered with the driver trio of Jacobs, Obadia, Lamb in the Ford Mustang BOSS 302R. Making its endurance debut three years ago, the team won the SCCA’s 2014 Devil in the Dark and then took overall win of the 2014 Charge of the Headlight Brigade 13-hour Enduro race at VIRginia International Raceway. Last year, ElginRacing returned to NJMP to win first place in the 2015 Devil in the Dark 12 Hour Endurance Race.
ElginRacing would like to thank the SCCA volunteers for enduring 12 hours in imperfect race conditions to make it a safe event. The team credits Bruce Smith, engineer at Ford Racing, for developing the solid platform and introducing the team to Jeff Campey of JC Performance Group to help prepare the Mustang. RoushYates Engines performed the engine rebuild and handled the engine tuning. ElginRacing’s partners Radial Tire Co., York Automotive, OG Racing, Piper Motorsport, CorteX Racing, Sparco, Penske Racing Shocks, Custom Performance Engineering, Paul's Automotive Engineering, KohR Motorsports, ATL Fuel Cells, Capaldi Racing, Brembo, Hoosier Tire, Hoerr Racing Products and RacerConnect also played a critical role in supporting ElginRacing’s efforts.
RacerConnect has archived the race footage on RaceCast.me's website: http://racecast.me/replays/219-12hr-of-njmp-2016-replays
The ElginRacing Team (left to right): Bryan Natale, Ian Brooks, Max Wagner, Kyle Roberts, Ryan Vens, Jonathon Bergeron, Jimmy Padgett, Greg Obadia, Todd Lamb, David Jacobs, Mike Collins, Francois Bru, John Chang, Kori Joyce, and Jessie Mirande. (Not pictured: Ben Jacobs, Wendy Collins and Karen Dildei)
ElginRacing posted updates, images and videos from the race on its Facebook page: www.facebook.com/elginracing.
