An unexpected finish for Carter and Plumb's BMW at Laguna Seca

Al Carter and Hugh Plumb came to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, 9th round of the 2012 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge with a check list of things they needed to accomplish to have a perfect weekend. Two of the items on their list were to finish on the podium and regain the top three spot in the 2012 team point standings. This was an achievable goal, even knowing that the competition had become very hard to beat.

#45 SceneTap – B+ Foundation BMW: Al Carter, Hugh Plumb

Photo by: Wes Duenkel

Al Carter and Hugh Plumb spent Friday working on their race setup and had smiles on their faces when Saturday afternoon came since they had a feeling that their Fall-Line BMW would be able to fight with some of the best championship contenders.

On Saturday morning Al Carter qualified 11th. At the start Carter was able to stay with the leaders and out of trouble. He pitted on lap 14 in 8th place right after the first full course caution and handed the wheel of the #45 BMW to teammate Hugh Plumb.

Everything started really well in the race for Plumb who was extremely competitive. He went from 29th to 3rd in only 15 laps. After looking like a potential winning contender, Plumb's #45 SceneTap - B+ Foundation - Jetset Magazine was well on its way to fulfill the top items on its driver's check list. But like it happened a month earlier in Indianapolis, an unexpected accident caused by another competitor came to spoil the day of Carter and Plumb and ruined their plan to score a podium finish and return to a 2012 championship podium contender position. Hugh Plumb was running in the top five at the time and well on his way to a possible victory, when he got hit in the back bumper by the #14 Nissan that sent the #45 BMW straight to the gravel trap leaving Plumb stuck in it. After the help of the tow truck, the #45 car was able to rejoin the race one lap down and had to finish 16th in class.

With this result, the #45 SceneTap - B+ Foundation - Jetset Magazine Fall-Line team lost a position in the 2012 team point standings and is now ranked 5th after nine races. Al Carter is ranked 5th in the driver championship and Hugh Plumb is 6th before Lime Rock.

There is one race to go, September 28-29 at Lime Rock Park, for Al Carter Hugh Plumb to take their #45 SceneTap - B+ Foundation - Jetset Magazine Fall-Line BMW to victory lane. Lime Rock has always been a good track for the BMW M3s and both drivers are hoping that it will be the case when they visit the iconic 1.5 mile Connecticut road course in less than three weeks.

Al Carter and Hugh Plumb and their sponsor SceneTap continued to promote the fight against childhood cancer throughout the Laguna Seca weekend and on Saturday night a post race party gathered a great number of CTSCC drivers, team members, race officials and fans at LALApalooza in Monterey to promote the SceneTap partnership with the Carter and Plumb racing program as well as The B+ Foundation. September is national Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and fighting childhood cancer is what The B+ Foundation does 24/7. 46 kids are diagnosed every day with cancer and, thanks to programs like this one, more people hear about childhood cancer and get an opportunity to help and donate to non-profit organizations like The B+ Foundation.

Source: B+ Racing