Park Place Motorsports earned its second consecutive GRAND-AM Sports Car Series podium tonight. The team repeated the second-place performance in the two-hour and 45-minute SFP Grand Prix at the Kansas Speedway with their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.
Park Place Motorsports driver and team principal Patrick Lindsey (Santa Barbara, Calif.) took the green flag fifth on the GT grid in the No. 73 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car and held to strategy in the race’s early going. He turned the Porsche over to Patrick Long (Playa del Rey, Calif.) with just over two hours remaining in the race. Long joined the field after quick pit work by the Dallas-based crew and shortly thereafter took the lead. America’s only Porsche factory driver held the top position until the eventual race winner, the No. 63 Ferrari of Alessandro Balzan (Italy) and Leh Keen (Charleston, S.C.), moved to the point. A late race strategy call to only fuel the No. 73 and not take new tires helped close but not overcome the gap to the leader. The team’s performance guaranteed them their third podium finish of the season.
Long said: “It was an eventful night. Ultimately, strategy was our strong suit and what kept us upfront. Pace-wise we were really good but it was super tight amongst a lot of cars. The differentiator was down to making the call when to fuel. We played our cards right. My stint started off in a pretty tight battle with the 61 car but I kept reminding myself it was a long race. But, it was nice to lead a few laps. That final pit stop when we decided only to top-up was ultimately why we had a shorter stop at the end. We were able to capitalize and hold that track position with good pace. To be on the podium for the second race in a row is a great accomplishment for the team. Now on to Laguna and try and do one better.”