Alliance AutoGas FiveTales Racing Earns Spot in Top 5 at ChampCar Race

After a four month hiatus in the ChampCar Endurance Series due to COVID-19 restrictions, FiveTales Racing, which consists of Blossman Gas employees Scott Prewitt and Jake Weidie, as well as Alliance AutoGas employee David Kennedy, was eager to be back on track. The team competed in the Racing Radios 14 Hours on July 11^th at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Race Start

Weidie started behind the wheel in the morning for the first stint of the race. After starting 4^th, he quickly worked his way to the lead by the end of the first lap and remained on top of the leader board when the day’s first full course yellow flag fell a few laps later. As the cars and drivers began to settle into the race, FiveTales Racing remained inside the top five until a piece of bodywork on the front end of the car started to separate from the splitter. After a few stops to try and fix the issue with no success, the team decided to send the car back out as it was.

Midway

The afternoon phase of the race saw the rate of attrition begin to increase as competitors battled hot temperatures and mechanical issues. Several teams throughout the early afternoon were forced to make lengthy repairs in the garage area. However, not much had change in the FiveTales pit box as the car made lap after lap without fault. Thanks to consistent driving from all three drivers, FiveTales had jumped back into the top five and were running second in class. This pace continued into the evening as driver changes and pit stops continued to go smoothly.

Home Stretch

As the sun fell behind the grandstand of Charlotte Motor Speedways front stretch, the cool air brought new life into the drivers who were looking to bring their cars to the finish. David Kennedy, who had driven an incident free race and ran consistent lap times throughout the day, pulled the car back down pit road to end his final stint of the race with two and a half hours remaining.

Next to climb back into the car for his final stint was Scott Prewitt, who similarly ran a clean and consistent race throughout the day. The added difficulty of running at night did not interfere with that consistency and Prewitt was able to bring the car back to pit road for the team’s final pit stop. As Prewitt exited the car for the last time, it was Weidie who would race to the finish. As he brought the car to the finish line, and after fourteen hours of racing between the team, FiveTales Racing completed its best finish yet in the ChampCar Endurance Series coming in at 4^th place.

“Overall, the team was able to avoid trouble and mistakes throughout the day and ran a consistent pace. All of us felt confident that we had a fast car coming into the race, and I am glad we were able to finish top 5,” says Weidie. The next event for FiveTales Racing is currently unknown with COVID-19 restrictions still being in place. All sponsors of the team, including Everdure by Heston Blumenthal, Blossman Gas, and Alliance AutoGas congratulate FiveTales Racing on a great race at Charlotte!