ELKHART LAKE, WI, August 11, 2013 – Tony Burgess and Chris McMurry finished second today in the Orion Energy Systems 245 at Road America. Last year, Dyson Racing won the American Le Mans Series race here, setting the record for the closest ever overall finish in ALMS history and in 2010, the team came in second, setting the record at the time for the closest ever ALMS overall finish.

The race got under way under a steady light rain.  Chris McMurry started the #16 P1 Lola Mazda and drove a careful stint in the wet, settling into a top-five pace and moving back up to second as the track dried.  Chris stopped under green for slicks and fuel forty-five minutes into the race. The car rejoined the race fifteenth and Chris worked his way back up to second again when he pitted for tires, fuel and driver change    to Tony Burgess. The determining race call for the Dyson car came with the decision to pit for fuel only at the end of the race’s third yellow with fifty-five minutes remaining.  While the other front running cars had to stop for fuel before race end, Tony was able to save fuel while driving a competitive pace and take the car home for the third consecutive top-two finish for the team  at Road America.

Team Manager Michael White said, “It was a collective call between myself, race engineer Vince Wood and assistant race engineer, Dillon Brout. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Would it be a better gamble to fuel under yellow, run hard, and hope we have another yellow for a final splash, or hope that we could save fuel and make that our last stop but still push them to the point where they would have to pit under green? Tony did a super job bringing it home.” 

Tony Burgess enjoyed a close contest with Marino Franchitti the last part of the race.  “We  had a very interesting battle with Marino,” noted Tony.  “Because we were pursuing a lean fuel strategy, we had the exact same speed down the straight and it was all about the corners. When you can stay ahead of a driver like Marino in the corners and stay ahead of him overall, you know you are doing a good job.  This is one of my most satisfying finishes because there were no forced errors on the track.  We accomplished exactly what we wanted to do.  It was a good day.”

Chris McMurry disclosed that “it was somewhat of a new experience for me. It is a bit miraculous, but with about 80 ALMS races under my belt, I have never raced in the rain before!  So that was something new for me and it went well.  The team did a great job and once it got dry again, the car was rocking and rolling just like it has been all weekend.  It was great to start second and finish second. Muscle Milk did a great job with no hiccups and the Delta Wing ran very well today. It was great to start second and finish second. This is going to be a race to remember, especially since it is my home track.  Definitely a good day.”