After wildly contrasting fortunes in the opening two rounds of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) this weekend’s race at Barber Motorsports Park marks the real start to the season for CJ Wilson Racing according to driver Stevan McAleer.
The trip to Alabama comes as team owner CJ Wilson’s own season starts, the race weekend at the end of the first week of the Major League Baseball season, Wilson already having started his first game of the season for the Los Angeles Angels.
Running in the Street Tuner (ST) class of the series the team started with a frustrating race at Daytona International Speedway with New York domiciled, Glasgow born McAleer and co-driver Marc Miller forced out of the race with a blown engine, punctured by debris from incident ahead of them on track.
However, the pairing took victory at the Circuit of the Americas last month, with teammates Chad McCumbee and Jason Saini finishing seventh in the sister ModSpace Mazda MX-5.
Former NASCAR Sprint Cup driver McCumbee had scored pole at the Texas track, establishing both he and the rest of the CJWR team at the head of the class field, with title credentials backed up by the race win, secured with a last lap pass by McAleer.
“After the initial euphoria had died down, Marc and I realized that the most important part of getting CJ his first Grand Am win, as a team owner, was that it really did put us back in the title hunt,” explained McAleer. “Like with CJ, Marc and I both feel like the season and the title chase starts right now, this weekend at Barber.”
The CTSCC field faces a two hour, 30-minute race at the 2.4 mile Barber Motorsports Park, with the team hopeful that both cars will be at the front of the field again at another track that features a similar mix of corners to the Austin track.
“ModSpace is very excited to see both CJ Wilson cars return to the track,” stated William Mann, VP of motorsports for sponsors ModSpace. “Coming off of a win and a pole at CoTA, both of these teams continue to improve and work together. We look forward to another top-finish this weekend.”
