The entire crew of Autocon is standing tall after achieving a complete, points paying fourth place class finish at the Utah Grand Prix, as they debuted their brand new Creation CA06H/Judd in front of an enormous and enthusiastic group of fans at the world class Miller Motorsports Park Grand Prix of Utah.

What makes this such a great achievement is Autocon received the Creation just 10 days before the race weekend, and the car did not turn a wheel for the first time until a one day test less than 72 hours before going live in competition. The #12 entry completed each and every practice, qualifying and racing lap and finished 4th in the P1 class.

"We are very pleased with our initial event with the Creation," stated Autocon team owner/driver Michael Lewis. "This is a whole new kettle of fish for us. Virtually nothing is similar to the Lola that we ran last year and throughout the start of this season. To complete the race and score points says a ton about the quality of the car, the engine package, and our team in prepping the car in such short order.”

"This is our car for the future and all our efforts are to continue to learn what it wants to go fast. That means from a car prep perspective as well as from a driver standpoint,” added Lewis. “We went from an aero dependent car with a turbo (Lola) to a more mechanical grip car with a normal aspirated V10 (Creation) engine.”

Co-driver Bryan Willman was equally enthused. "This was my best race outing since Sebring in March. Even when this car was being difficult, it's much more tractable than the Lola. While I had some disagreements with it, I never felt it was trying to kill me."

Those disagreements, Willman said, had mostly to do with getting heat in the tires, and also tire pickup that is an inherent characteristic of Miller Motorsports Park that every team experienced. The team has set a June 21-22 test at Road Atlanta which will focus on establishing a base line set up, and especially one that will drive heat to the tires quickly.

The Creation chassis is indeed the future for Autocon and, with a mid-season update package that is currently being tested in Europe, it will be fully eligible for competition into future years in both the American Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

"We would love to compete at Le Mans," noted Lewis, who added that Willman and co-driver Chris McMurry competed there in 2003. "The arrival of the Creation allows our team to think in that direction, and excellent support from the factory and the European factory team are part of the plan to make that possible.”

The next race for the American Le Mans Series is the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix, set for 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 7 at Lime Rock Park. The race will be broadcast on CBS Sports at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 8. American Le Mans Radio will have live coverage at americanlemans.com, which also will feature IMSA Live Timing & Scoring.