In a fierce battle during Friday's season-opening at Daytona in the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge, Bill Auberlen led 22 of the final 25 laps to give himself and Matt Bell the victory in the three-hour race.
Auberlen passed Ken Wilden on Lap 70, then fought off Hugh Plumb for a lap before the caution flag flew on Lap 72. That gave Auberlen his second GS victory in three races and Bell his first-ever GS triumph in his first career class start. The duo drove the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3. Plumb drove the No. 61 Ford Mustang GT to second with Jack Roush Jr. Wilden joined polesitter Dean Martin, who led a race-high 23 laps, one more than Auberlen. In ST, Lawson Aschenbach (co-driver Pete Iannucci) traded the paint with second-place finisher Kristian Skavnes (polesitter Andrew Aquilante) and third-place finisher Travis Walker (Matt Pritiko). Defending race winner Craig Stanton took sixth in the No. 83 Porsche 997. The next race on the KONI Sports Car Challenge circuit will be March 14-15, with split-class races at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida. Recent Articles
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