Chevrolet Racing

Chevy Racing–CAMARO Z/28.R AT ROAD AMERICA: Chevrolet Leaving with Grand Sport Points Lead

CAMARO Z/28.R AT ROAD AMERICA: Chevrolet Leaving with Grand Sport Points Lead
Fifth-place finish for Davis, Liddell retains Manufacturer Championship lead for Chevrolet

ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. (Aug. 9, 2015) – Chevrolet left Road America on Saturday with its Manufacturer Championship lead in the Continental SportsCar Challenge’s Grand Sport (GS) class. Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis drove their Stevenson Motorsports No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R to a fifth-place fifth in GS at Road America.

In addition to holding first place in the Manufacturer standings, Davis and Liddell retained their advantage in the GS Driver’s Championship, as did the No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports entry in the Team standings with three races – and 105 points – left in the season.

“Today was a very difficult race for all of our Camaro Z/28.Rs,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Program Manager for the Camaro Z/28.R. “The most important part is that Robin and Andrew were able to secure a top-five finish for Chevrolet and the Stevenson Motorsports effort. It appears that the championship will go down to the final race, and it will take a high level of teamwork to maintain our points advantages.”

Kyle Marcelli and Martin Barkey placed sixth in Mantella Autosport’s No. 80 MRBP Camaro Z/28.R after running 12th at one point.

Stevenson Motorsports No. 9 Camaro Z/28.R retired with 45 minutes left when Lawson Aschenbach ground to a halt on track with a mechanical issue. He and Matt Bell were credited with a 13th-place finish in class.

The next round of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge is set for 1:25 p.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 22 from Virginia International Raceway with live video on IMSA.com. Television coverage on FOX Sports 1 is scheduled for 9 a.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 6.

ANDREW DAVIS, STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS NO. 6 CHEVROLET CAMARO Z/28.R – FINISHED FIFTH: “In general, it was a very difficult stint. You’re trying to outdrive the massive loss in straight-line speed, and you just can’t. No matter how good and perfect you are in the corners and under braking, you get swallowed up and driven away from. But over the course of the run, a few of the cars came back to us, so it was nice to get in front of a couple them. But even a couple of the backmarker cars just zipped away on the straightaway. We lost a lot of time in traffic and to the lead pack. We’ll soldier through. Our Camaro Z/28.R ran as well as it possibly could. I’m proud of how our guys prepped it. Every position counts.”

ROBIN LIDDELL, STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS NO. 6 CHEVROLET CAMARO Z/28.R – FINISHED FIFTH: “We’re trying to drive sensibly because we have a points lead and we’re trying maintain that with three races to go. In the end, we try and treat each weekend the same and maximize our points and results as best we can. To be honest, I feel we managed to do that today. I don’t think we could have finished any higher.”

KYLE MARCELLI, MANTELLA AUTOSPORT NO. 80 MBRP CHEVROLET CAMARO Z/28.R – FINISHED SIXTH: “This whole program is still new for Mantella Autosport. Martin (Barkey) was driving hard, and he was a little frustrated because he didn’t think he could keep up the pace he thought he could. But he kept it on the road and didn’t make mistakes. He gave me a good car at the first stop. The Camaro Z/28.R was great. It was pretty quick for what we have to work with. We needed a late yellow to give us a fighting chance, and we got that. It was a fun race today, and that’s all that matters.”

MATT BELL, STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS NO. 9 CHEVROLET CAMARO Z/28.R – FINISHED 13TH: “It’s one of those things. If there’s bad luck to be had, it goes our way. The Camaro Z/28.R was set up perfectly. We didn’t touch anything all weekend. Maybe we made a couple clicks here or there. This morning we made a decision to make a change that would make the car better over a run. And it worked. The Camaro was great handling-wise all day. We were just down on power the whole time. I really noticed it right behind the No. 6 car, and it was just slowly getting worse on the straights. We knew something was wrong. Maybe I got it too hot. We’re trying some new things on the cooling system that maybe didn’t help out so well. We’re doing what we can. It’s just another missed opportunity.”

LAWSON ASCHENBACH, STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS NO. 9 CHEVROLET CAMARO Z/28.R – FINISHED 13TH: “It was just really unexpected. Coming out of The Carousel, everything was feeling really good. It happens in racing. I know everyone at Chevrolet is working hard on these cars, as well as Pratt & Miller and Stevenson Motorsports. We’ve had a tough year, but we’ll rebound. We’ll get this thing back up there sooner or later. It’s been a rough patch the last couple races. It happens. It takes perseverance, dedication and focus, and sure enough you’re back up front before you know it. The Camaro Z/28.R was on rails. I was really happy with the balance. Within a lap, Robin and I were running nose-to-tail and pushing as hard as we could to stay ahead of everyone that we were running ahead of at the time. It just didn’t work out today.”