Lexington, OH --- Autocon Motorsports owner Mike Lewis and co-driver Chris McMurry saw the checkered flag today at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and were rewarded with a hard fought third place finish in the P1 class, and the first podium appearance for the team since entering the American Le Mans Series two years ago.

The weekend was full off ups and downs, marked by a fuel cell leak on the first day of practice, rain, cool temperatures, a newly repaved circuit, and a big hurry to find a suitable race set up in two practice sessions. In the end, it was all overcome by a memorable weekend that included Lewis earning a Founder’s Cup, which is awarded to the gentleman driver who runs lap times closest to those set by the race winner.

Festivities started with a much-needed Friday practice for all the teams who were curious figure out the new nuances of 13-turn course fresh off a multi-million dollar resurfacing. It was literally 45 minutes into the practice session before teams started putting quality laps together; cool air and an oily track made grip a rare commodity.

”Friday was a drag because the crew wrestled with a fuel cell leak, and so we weren’t able to practice which put us immediately behind,” said McMurry adding that the resolution for the leak ended up being only putting 22.3 gallons of fuel in the car rather than topping it off at 23.8 gallons; the leak was near the nozzle.

Saturday things began to come together. Lewis got in the car for the first time since Sebring, and the team made some set up changes just before qualifying that, says McMurry, made a big difference; “I turned a couple of laps just before qualifying, and the car had gone from its traditional push to an ugly oversteer that was not good.”

McMurry got down to a 1:16.034, about four seconds faster than the team had run all weekend, and the spirits of #12 JeanRichard-sponsored Lola AER were lifted back up by the impressive 6th overall (4th in class) qualifying effort that was eventually followed with a terrific race finish in Sunday’s main event shown nationwide on CBS.

"It feels terrific to get on the podium alongside such class teams as Audi and the Dyson group," stated Lewis. "This will give the whole team a shot in the arm for the rest of the season. Chris did a terrific job in qualifying with so few laps of practice.”

The call for the green flag didn’t get transmitted and McMurry got jumped by about five cars by turn two, and eventually battled back to 9th position overall, 3rd in class, before handing the car to Lewis on the team’s first pit stop 70 minutes from the start of the race.

“I wasn’t thrilled with my drive. I felt I should have handed the car to Mike in 4th or 5th overall. We’re all on a learning curve with this car, and most importantly we ended the day with a good result. Mike had a great run during his stint and the summation of our performance bodes well. The pieces are coming together,” said McMurry. 

Lewis turned the team’s fastest race lap at 1:17.961 on lap 105 of the 119 lap race, and battled back from a lazy spin in the keyhole on his second lap, that at that point, left Autocon in 18th overall. “It was baptism by fire today,” said Lewis who did only 8-10 practice laps before the race. “I got more and more comfortable with the car as the race wore on and I feel like a made a new friend today.”

Lewis' performance was recognized by ALMS officials as he was greeted at the podium by series founder Dr. Don Panoz to be awarded the Founder's Cup. "Mike really deserves this award," added McMurry. "He put his foot down and did a great job of moving back up the field, and setting our fastest time just before the race ended."

The next round for Autocon and the ALMS is the New England Grand Prix, set for July 1 at Lime Rock Park in CT. The race is scheduled for a 3 p.m. EDT start. CBS Sports will televise the event from 4 to 6 p.m. EDT on July 2.