Alton, VA – ElginRacing proved that perserverance and determination are key to finishing endurance races. The defending champions were faced with mechanical failures costing them the lead at the SCCA 13 Hour Endurance Race at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) on October 24, 2015. Drivers David Jacobs, Greg Obadia and Todd Lamb expertly piloted the ElginRacing 2012 Ford Mustang BOSS 302R from P17 to finishing the race in fifth place overall and fourth in class.
Friday evening Todd Lamb qualified the #00 BOSS 302R .079 seconds behind the pole winner, Raver Motorsports’ Superlite Coupe with a lap time of 1:55.438. The crew noticed an exhaust leak during qualifying and immediately began repairing a cracked header with welding help from Jason Marks of Bimmerworld. The crew worked until the early Saturday morning to rebuild and prepare the car for the 13 hour race.
Greg Obadia took the green flag from the front row at 9:15 am and immediately began battling for the lead with the Superlite Coupe and the two of the Tullman Walker Racing Porsches. Raver Motorsports experienced the first of three axle failures during Lap 34 and went into the garage for repairs. The Tullman Walker #69 GT3 Cup car and ElginRacing traded the lead back and forth for the next six hours.
What started as a slight whine in the drive line grew to a deafening level. This was followed by extreme vibration throughout the car during Lamb’s stint that could be heard and seen by the viewers watching the live in-car stream via RaceCast.me. Lamb drove the Mustang to the garage where the crew determined that the pinion bearing in the rear axle had failed. The entire MEATHEAD Racing crew, along with support from Cheapskate Racing, fitted the car with a replacement rear axle. The ElginRacing car was back on the track with only one hour and five minutes lost.
Despite getting back into the race in seventeenth place, Todd Lamb worked his way through traffic at sunset to end his stint in seventh place. Greg Obadia moved into sixth place during his stretch. David Jacobs, charged with double-stinting, had to manage multiple full course cautions brought out by several on-track incidents. Jacobs advanced to fifth place overall and took the checkered flag at 10:15 pm.
“Our finish at this year’s 13 Hour epitomizes our team’s commitment and perseverance,” said Ben Jacobs, owner of ElginRacing, “Elgin’s Greg Obadia, Todd Lamb, David Jacobs and Jimmy Padgett, MEATHEAD Racing's crew and the racing community contributed to a successful performance. It’s great to win a race, but even better to earn respect and support.”
The ElginRacing Team ended their winning 2015 season with a Top 5 finish at the 13 Hour Endurance race on Saturday. ElginRacing began their season with their second consecutive overall victory at the Devil in the Dark 12 Hour Endurance Race in New Jersey. David Jacobs and Greg Obadia took home first place trophies at their first SCCA Majors race weekend in Spec Racer Ford Gen 3 (SRF3) at Summit Point Motorsports Park. Greg Obadia recently became the 2015 SCCA MARRS SRF3 season champion.
ElginRacing would not have been able to take the checkered flag without the support of Jimmy Padgett, Francois Bru and John Chang. MEATHEAD Racing, led by Mike Collins, and crew members Ryan Vens, Ian Brooks, Jonathan Bergeron, Kyle Roberts, Nick Bruni, Max Wagner, Adam Crandall, Daniela Mielke, Natascha Russ and Karen Dildei, each of whom worked tirelessly to keep the team in contention. ElginRacing was very fortunate to receive additional mechanical support from Cheapskate Racing and Bimmerworld. The NCR SCCA volunteers did an outstanding job to host a great event.
ElginRacing would also like to thank Ford Racing, JC Performance Group, Radial Tire, OG Racing, Hoerr Racing Products, Piper Motorsport, Roush Performance, Brembo, Sparco, Paul’s Automotive Engineering, CorteX Racing, Penske Racing Shocks, ATL Fuel Cells, Rehagen Racing, Racing Electronics, Capaldi Racing, Mox Engineering and Insigner Performance for their technical support and assistance.
Racer Connect and ElginRacing partnered to provide an in-car live feed at an SCCA endurance race for the first time. The RaceCast.me live streaming technology provided fans from around the world the opportunity to follow the action.
The team has already begun preparing for the 2016 season.
