Alex Job Racing’s Bill Sweedler and Butch Leitzinger finished an exciting third place in today’s running of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) presented by Tequila Patron Northeast Grand Prix run at Lime Rock Park.
Sweedler took the start of the two-hour-and-forty-five-minute race and quickly improved from his fifth place grid position to third. On lap 25 Sweedler was hit by an LMPC car knocking off the front splitter, severely affecting the handling of the No. 23 Battery Tender/Robert Graham/William Rast/AJR/Porsche. The Westport, Connecticut resident recovered and handed the 23 over to Leitzinger on lap 63 in fifth place.
After the pit stops played out Leitzinger found himself in a constant battle for the final podium position with two different cars. The first was with the No. 68 who was running on fresher rubber. Finally with just one lap to go the Rebersburg, Pennsylvania resident passed the 54 for the last podium step to give the team their second consecutive podium finish.
“It was all about Butch, he did a hero job today,” Sweedler said. “He drove a stint with tires that were gone 30 laps previously and passed the points leader for the podium. I am sorry that I got in an incident. If it wasn’t for that little happening we would have probably been on the top of the podium – but that is racing. My hat is off to Butch, he did all of the work today.”
“From the beginning we wanted a long run set-up on the car,” Leitzinger said. “I couldn’t imagine that there would be that many long runs at this track, but that is the way it worked out. The set-up paid off. Greg (Fordahl, team engineer) and everyone on the AJR team did a great job with the car. Towards the end we made the right call going with no tires and a splash of gas. I couldn’t hold of Dion (von Maltke, the eventual winner), but we made up ground and finished third. It is a pleasure to be back with Alex and the team. It was a great reunion. I am so pleased they allowed me to come and play with them again.”
Team owner, Alex Job, had his strategy and car ready for a great race today. “We went with a long stint set-up on the car which proved to be the right way to go,” Job said. “Bill had a tough start when an impatient LMPC driver got into him and knocked the splitter off of the front. Butch did a real professional job today. The way he handles the traffic and keeps his times consistent is just amazing. You can tell he has a lot of laps around this track and knows how to pace the car in heavy traffic to lose as little time as possible. His last lap pass on the 54 was great to get the final podium position. A good day!”
Source: Alex Job Racing
