May 11, 2017
AUSTIN, Texas—Freedom Autosport had a solid race at Circuit of the Americas on Friday, earning two top-five finishes for the Mazda MX-5. Round three of the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Series featured a combination of skilled driving and quick pit stops to give the team solid results in the ST class.
Chad McCumbee and Stevan McAleer finished fourth in the No. 25 ModSpace/Spartan Cargo Trailers Mazda MX-5. McCumbee qualified third and stayed in the top-three throughout his stint in the two-hour race. McAleer battled for third in the final half-hour of the race, crossing the finish line just 0.2-second behind third.
Andrew Carbonell and Liam Dwyer finished fifth in the No. 26 Freedom Autosport/Semper Fi Fund Mazda MX-5. Dwyer teamed up with teammate Robby Foley during the first hour to charge through the field and into the top-ten. Carbonell continued that effort after getting behind the wheel during a caution that saw three flawless pit stops from the Freedom Autosport crew.
Foley and Britt Casey, Jr. finished 11th in the No. 27 TRUMPF Mazda MX-5 after a weekend of challenges. They missed qualifying due to a mechanical issue, so Foley started the race from the back of the ST grid. After teaming up with Dwyer, though, Foley moved into the top ten before handing over to Casey. Contact with another car resulted in an unexpected pit stop, but Casey was able to forge ahead to secure 11th.
Stevan McAleer:We were close to stealing that last spot on the podium, and I gave it everything I had. We’re always fighting for the podium and I told the team on the radio if I got one opportunity I was going to take it. I actually passed for third on the last lap, but the other car had more straight-line speed and beat me to the finish line.
Chad McCumbee:It was a relatively uneventful race for us. We had a solid ModSpace Mazda MX-5 all weekend, and we fell just a tiny bit short of the podium. We’ve got our work cut out for us this year with some of the other cars in the series having found some speed, and our guys are working super hard. I think we have some good racetracks coming up, and hopefully we can start challenging for podiums on a weekly basis.