The much anticipated visit to Mosport International Raceway produced a mixed bag of experiences, from two practice sessions in the rain, to welcoming a new driver to the team, turbo challenges ultimately fixed before the start of the race, to fast laps immediately into the race, and then a premature ending to the race in a lap 9 accident.

“Yeah, we had just about everything this weekend. Too bad it ended as it did, at the hands of some erratic driving in the GT2 class because our best looked to be yet to come, and a good outcome seemed very likely,” said team owner Mike Lewis.

The first practice day, Friday, newly signed driver John Graham, backed by the NHLPA and The Pavillions, assumed a lot of the track time, after Chris McMurry did some shake down laps. “It was great to be back in a prototype, and to see many friends in the paddock,” said Graham who is also racing in the NASCAR Busch Seires.

Saturday started with a dry morning session that, despite being dogged by turbo problems, the team managed to produce a lap time that ultimately led to an 8th place starting grid position. Qualifying was not to occur until later in the afternoon, but remnant rains from a southern hurricane caused the canceling of the session, and series officials opted to use morning session times to determine starting positions for the race.

“I’ve driven much in the rain, so we made good use of the practice session in the rain, and then we went out again in the qualifying session-turned practice session,” said McMurry. “I never thought I’d be asking to go out in the rain, but it was fun, and we needed to test some engine mapping changes aimed at making the car more drivable in difficult wet conditions.”

As if by design, the rains, which fell for more than 24 hours, parted just before the start Sunday’s race. The team installed a new turbo overnight, and when the green flag dropped at 3 p.m. EDT, the JeanRichard, NHLPA Autoncon Lola was running its fastest laps of the weekend immediately.

“The car was great. There’s no question our lap times were going to plummet. We really hadn’t run in dry conditions with the turbo functioning properly until the race started. So, I felt like I was still getting acclimated as the race began,” added McMurry.

Just settling in for a long opening stint, McMurry began the process of lapping slower traffic, first two Porsches, then two BMWs, then another Porsche, and next up was Scott Maxwell in a Panoz Esperante. McMurry waited behind the Panoz through turn two and then went for the pass when Maxwell opened the door on the entry of turn three.

Then, inexplicably, Maxwell turned in on the #12 car, clipped the left rear quarter panel, and sending McMurry into a spin. A few seconds later one of the BMW cars, not seeing the confusion ahead, blasted into the left front quarter, effectively bringing Autocon’s day to an end. The car limped back to the pits, although the damage was too significant.

“This is the second time we’ve had this experience with the Panoz, where they open the door, and then close it. Usually the open door is the invite to make the pass. It happens all the time in sports car racing,” said Lewis. “I’m not sure what Maxwell was doing.”

“I am disappointed, especially since John didn’t get in the car today,” said McMurry, who added that the Panoz has been involved in more incidents during the season, and not just with Autocon. “We had a really good car even with very little practice time. Mike and the entire crew worked their butts off to fix a turbo issue and we were ready to race.”

Team owner Mike Lewis was not pleased. “Chris has a lot of experience and knows how to manage traffic. I feel he had every right to make the pass on the Panoz, but that is the risk of multi-class racing, and these things happen.”

John Graham, a native of Ontario was looking forward to his first ride with Autocon, and will now wait until the Monterey Sports Car Championship. “John is going to race five races with us next year and he didn't get a fair shake this weekend due to weather and our early departure from the race,” stated Lewis. “We have invited him to join us at Laguna Seca for the season finale to make up for this shortened weekend. He showed in his limited practice time at Mosport that he can contribute to our success in the future.”

The next round of the American Le Mans Series is the 1,000-mile/10-hour Petit Le Mans, scheduled for 11:45 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2006. SPEED will provide live television coverage, and American Le Mans Radio and IMSA Live Timing & Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.