Roush Jr. & Johnson Take Mid Ohio Continental Tire Challenge

Continental Tire Challenge Winning Mustang with Jack Roush Jr. and Billy Johnson

In a race fraught with full course yellows, the Mustang started by Jack Roush, Jr., and finished by Billy Johnson overcame an eighth place starting position and a field of 62 cars to win at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course today in the preliminary race of the EMCO Classic. Roush and Johnson led a heated battle among the GS contestants to the checkered flag, as the final two laps were the deciding factor following a late full course caution in the final minutes. The Rum Bum Porsche piloted by Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi faded to third with overheating problems after starting on the pole. Eric Curran and Lawson Aschenbach took second in their Camaro. In the ST class, Michael Valiente and Chad Gilsinger won from the pole for the Honda American Race Team (HART) and were clearly the class of the field. Valiente is pulling double duty today racing in the Grand Am feature event later this afternoon in the #90 Spirit of Daytona DP machine.

The Grand AM race should be a real barn burner even though there are fewer than 12 DP cars entered this weekend. The #99 Gainsco entry wheeled by Jon Fogarty took pole position and should be hard to beat this weekend with teammate Alex Gurney. The new Corvette DP chassis has been strong so far this season and took the top five starting positions for this afternoon's sprint race which is scheduled for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Perennial favorites Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas will start from sixth today and have their work cut out for them in their Ganassi Racing Telmex BMW Riley. Twenty-six cars will take the green flag for the EMCO Gears Classic today and I'll have more on that later today. Until then here's a slide show from the Continental Tire Challenge Race.