Brumos Racing Birmingham race report

Brumos Scores 2nd Podium of Season in Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park

#59 Brumos Racing Porsche: Andrew Davis, Leh Keen

Photo by: Mike Geng

Jacksonville, FL: Brumos Racing always enjoys returning to Birmingham’s scenic Barber Motorsports Park, but the Porsche 250 offers added incentive. The first GRAND-AM Rolex Series event at Barber that was sponsored by Porsche was in 2004, but a Porsche has yet to claim the victory there. Brumos was hoping to reverse that trend, but well aware of the challenges they would face in doing so. Although they did not reach the top step of the podium this year, Brumos did put their #59 Porsche GT3 in Victory Lane with a hard-fought 3rd place finish.

In a weekend shared with the IndyCar Series, track time was limited and conditions were less than optimal. Warm temperatures, a rough track surface, and rubber buildup from the IndyCars all made for low grip. Struggles continued as the #59 ended qualifying in 8 th place following a session cut short by a yellow flag.

Starting driver Andrew Davis is very familiar with the challenges of Barber, given his role as a Porsche Sport Driving School instructor, and found the result particularly meaningful. “I am thrilled with our podium here at Barber,” he said. “Many of my family members are here, so it’s nice to be able to spray some champagne and have them here to enjoy the podium with me. I am so proud of Brumos Racing – the race was a tough one, but the strategy calls and the pit stops really made the difference. I’m not sure we had the car that was going to win this race, but we obviously have a winning team. I do have to give special thanks to our driving mentor, Hurley Haywood. When we qualified poorly, he told us what he wanted us to do and what he expected from us. I also have to thank Leh Keen for another superb job. To be able to drive a car that was handling the way it was and hold on to the podium, despite the fierce competition, was quite an accomplishment. I am really proud of his effort and to have Leh as my teammate.”

For Leh Keen, the weekend was all about never giving up. “I can’t say enough about the Brumos guys,” he said. “When we came off the truck, the car was actually pretty decent, we just didn’t realize it at the time, since we were slipping and sliding around due to low grip. We made a lot of changes and got closer to where we needed to be, but the guys never quit. They kept working hard and kept a good attitude. We all came to the track on race day with smiles on our faces and ready to do a good job, all the way through the last lap. Andrew did a great job in the opening stint and drove a smart race. We had good strategy and the crew delivered clean, fast pit stops that put us where we needed to be leaving the pits. In the end, it all paid off with a podium. Now, Brumos has two podiums in a row for the first two races of the season, so we are off to a great start for 2012.”

The third place finish moves Brumos into a tie for 2 nd place in the GT standings, just three points out of the lead. Action resumes on April 29th, as the Rolex Series heads south to Homestead-Miami Speedway for Round 3 of the 2012 season.