When they started the 2012 season in Daytona, Al Carter and Hugh Plumb were among the top contenders to win the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge championship.
They had a very good first seven races where they led the championship, and their worst result was an eighth place finish. Several misfortunes in the last three races stopped Carter and Plumb’s effort to finish on the podium of the championship.
This was the second season for Al Carter and Hugh Plumb with Fall-Line Motorsports. They finished eighth last year in the 2011 series and finished fifth this year after the ten rounds of the 2012 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, which is seen as a very encouraging three spot progression when thinking about 2013.
Al Carter did a stellar job all season and Hugh Plumb confirmed that he is one of the best endurance racers of his generation. Satisfactorily, the #45 SceneTap B+ Foundation Jetset Magazine Fall-Line Motorsports team of Al Carter and Hugh Plumb finished first among all BMW teams and drivers entered in the 2012 Continental Tire series! Their races benefit the Andrew McDonough B+ (Be Positive) Foundation, which funds cuttingedge childhood cancer research and helps families of children with cancer.
Mid-July, thanks to their outstanding effort to take the B+ Foundation to the next level with their racing program, Carter and Plumb were joined by a new sponsor. Eagle Technology Systems is a pioneering company founded by visionary entrepreneur Joe Nolan that provides innovative technology equipment and uses the best available technologies to service its customers. Eagle has developed a partnership with avant-garde technology leaders, Prism Skylabs and SceneTap. An Eagle investee company, SceneTap operates within the bar and nightclub space. By the end of the year, SceneTap will be in over 20 cities and more than 500 bars and night clubs. B+ was named the official charity of the Eagle SceneTap program and fundraising events to benefit the B+ Foundation are held at most SceneTap market launches.
Another highlight of the season was when Ali McDonough, co-founder with dad, Joe and mom, Chris McDonough of the B+ Foundation, was selected by The NASCAR Foundation as one of four national finalists for the 2012 Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award. As a teenager, Ali experienced something that changed her life forever when her younger brother passed away in her arms after his courageous battle with leukemia. Since then, McDonough, 21, has devoted her life to help fight childhood cancer.
Each of the finalists is guaranteed a $25,000 donation to their cause from The NASCAR Foundation, with the national winner being awarded $100,000. The award is granted annually to one passionate NASCAR fan that has made a profound impact on children in his or her local community. The finalist who amasses the most votes will be declared the national winner, and will be announced by France live on stage during the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards on November 30.
The B+ Racing Program has been a huge success for the B+ Foundation in 2012. Not only have drivers Al Carter and Hugh Plumb enjoyed great success on the track, but a great deal of awareness has been generated for B+’s battle against childhood cancers. The B+ Heroes 200, generously underwritten by BCKSTGR this year and covered so well by the SPEED TV, was certainly a highlight of the year.
Of course, visiting with the children battling cancer during pre-race hospital visits was absolutely the ultimate highlight of the year for the team. Carter and Plumb put smiles on many children’s faces all season long. The “B+ Foundation Fighting Childhood Cancer Tour” took Carter and Plumb to six children’s hospitals this year to deliver a positive message and meet children battling cancer.
The 2013 eleven-race season will start in Daytona on January 25 and the B+ Foundation racing program of Carter and Plumb will continue to be supported by its current partners Eagle, SceneTap and Jetset Magazine but this time, their goal will be to win the championship!
Jetset Magazine:
New Jersey Race Review May 12, 2012
By Emmanuel Lupe Photo by Wes Duenkel Motorsport Photography
Before the start of The B+ Heroes 200 presented by BCKSTGR, the six Fall-Line Motorsports drivers were excited about their podium finish chances since they knew that their team worked hard after Homestead to give them cars capable of fighting with the best Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competitors in New Jersey. The 48 BMW M3 co-driven by Charles Putman and Charles Espenlaub scored a 2nd place finish and the 45 B+ Foundation – Jetset Magazine Fall-Line BMW M3 co-driven by Al Carter and Hugh Plumb finished 5th. The 46 BCKSTGR Fall-Line BMW M3 co-driven by Mark Boden and Mark Donohue finished 17th after a final lap incident while running in 4th place.
Fall-Line Motorsports is now 1st and 2nd in the team and driver championships and leads all of the BMW racing teams entered in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series. Charles Putman and Charles Espenlaub are leading the championship with 115 points after 4 races and Al Carter and Hugh Plumb are ranked second with 107 points.
The B+ Heroes 200 presented by BCKSTGR demonstrated that the Fall-Line Motorsports team is a very serious contender to win the 2012 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. The crews of the three cars are making progress race after race. They had great pit stops all day. The team strategy was perfect and even if a BMW of the Fall-Line team did not win in New Jersey, they are now leading the championship after 4 races which was the primary goal of the team going in.
The B+ Heroes 200 presented by BCKSTGR will be televised on SPEED TV Saturday, May 26 at 2:00 PM ET. The next race is the EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio on Saturday, June 9.
Fall-line Motorsports Maintains 2nd and 3rd Place in 2012 Championship Despite Difficult Homestead Race
April 28th 2012
Fall-Line Motorsports worked very hard all winter and since the first race of the season to prepare their BMW M3s and lead the way of the BMW top teams. Fall-Line came to Homestead with the desire to do well and achieve another strong performance in a Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race with their three BMW M3s. The result is that neither one of the three cars entered by Fall-Line was able to keep up with the leading cars in the race nor finish in the top five in Southern Florida. The competition seems to now have a serious advantage over the BMW GS cars which have been running with added weight since Daytona. The field does not look too even any longer and it is tough to compete with the leading Porsches, Subaru, Aston Martins and Ford Mustangs.
Despite this disadvantage the Fall-Line drivers did their job and drove hard to score the best result they could. The 45 B+ Foundation – Jetset Magazine Fall-Line BMW co-driven by Al Carter finished 8th. The 46 BCKSTGR Fall-Line BMW co-driven by Mark Boden and Bryan Sellers, 24th due to several incidents and the 48 OMP Fall-Line BMW co-driven by Charles Putman and Charles Espenlaub, 6th.
After three races, the Fall-Line Motorsports 45 and 48 BMWs were able to stay in the top three in the championship. The 48 OMP Fall-Line BMW of Putman and Espenlaub is now ranked 2nd in points with 83 points after Homestead and the 45 of Carter and Plumb is 3rd with 81 points.
Everything started well on Friday with the 45 B+ Foundation BMW of Carter and Plumb. Carter qualified 5th fastest and was able to drive a perfect stint handing the car to Hugh Plumb in 6th place. During the pit stop the door latch of the 45 car broke and this caused a nightmare to the drivers all day They lost 14 spots in the first pit stop to fix the door and 10 spots again in the second pit stop due to additional repairs needed to fix the door. Despite that unfortunate incident, Hugh Plumb was able each time to return to the top ten and was able to salvage an 8th place overall.
The 46 BCKSTGR BMW of team principle Mark Boden and Bryan Sellers was looking for redemption after the unfortunate accident at Barber. Boden qualified 11th on Friday afternoon. In the race Boden had a rough time and was hit during his stint and handed the car to Sellers during a well executed pit stop by the Fall-Line crew. During his stint Bryan Sellers started to show some great potential before he too got hit three times by different cars and ultimately the damage inflicted by the 52 car resulted in the retirement of the 46 BCKSTGR M3 that finished 24th in class.
Charles Putman qualified the 48 OMP Fall-Line BMW in 10th place on Friday. After a competitive stint Putman handed the car to Espenlaub. The 48 was running great on Saturday. At some point in the race Espenlaub was fighting for the top spot but with the parity level in the series right now Espenlaub and Putman had to settle with 6th overall.
Once again the Fall-Line Motorsports team has been one of the most serious, successful BMW contenders in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge and is now looking forward to the next race at New Jersey Motorsports Park in two weeks, The B+ Heroes 200 presented by BCKSTGR.
The next race on May 12 is co-sponsored by two of the Fall-Line Motorsports sponsors, The B+ Foundation and BCKSTGR. The B+ Heroes 200 presented by BCKSTGR race is scheduled for Saturday, May 12. The B+ Foundation and BCKSTGR will use this race to promote the fight against childhood cancer and will host the Heroes at the track.
The Kia 200 at Homestead Miami Speedway race will be televised on SPEED TV Saturday, May 12 at noon ET.
Photos by Wes Duenkel Motorsport Photography
Al Carter and Hugh Plumb Take The Jetset Magazine
#45 BMW Back To The Podium at Barber!
Al Carter and Hugh Plumb came to race in Alabama after a very long break and had some secret podium expectations. Their wishes were fulfilled and after an epic 2.5 hours racing battle on the road course of Barber Motorsports Park, Alabama, they finished third in the second round of the 2012 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge last Saturday.
A year ago, Carter and Plumb started their B+ racing program and scored their first podium finish together at the 2011 Grand Prix of Miami. Like in 2011 it took only two races for Carter and Plumb to find their way to the podium. They became two of the most serious contenders to win the championship.
After two rounds, Carter and Plumb who scored a 4th place finish in the Daytona BMW Performance 200 season opener, now share the 1st place of the 2012 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge driver point standings with Charles Espenlaub and Charles Putman.
The #45 B+ Foundation Jetset Magazine BMW team and the #48 Fall-Line team are both leading the 2012 CTSCC team championship after two races.
The next race is the Kia 200 at Homestead Miami Speedway on April 28 at 2:45 PM ET.
Racing for a Cure
Jetset Magazine is Racing with B+ to Fight Childhood Cancer.
By Emmanuel Lupe Photos by Wes Duenkel & Emmanuel Lupe
Jetset Magazine recently announced a partnership with one of the fastest growing national childhood cancer foundations, The B+ Foundation. The affluent lifestyle magazine and B+ are racing in the 2012 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. The No. 45 Jetset Fall-Line Motorsport BMW, co-driven by cancer survivor Al Carter and Hugh Plumb, already finished fourth in the first race at Daytona and is one of the top contenders to win the 2012 championship.
The logos of The B+ Foundation and Jetset Magazine are displayed on one of the three cars entered by the Fall-Line Motorsports team. In the first race in January, Fall-Line Motorsports accomplished a very exciting feat not many professional teams have previously achieved. Not only did the three Fall-Line BMWs finish second, third and fourth, another Fall-Line built BMW car finished fifth in the race, and Fall-Line won two of the three podium positions in the BMW Performance 200.
Charles Putman and Charles Espenlaub finished second, while team owner Mark Boden and Bryan Sellers finished third. Fall-Line also took the fourth place with the 45 B+ Foundation Jetset Magazine BMW of Al Carter and Hugh Plumb. This exceptional result proved that the team’s hard work in the last 12 months has already started to pay big dividends. The GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge is the most competitive series in North America, and the Fall-Line organization, which has a strong association with the BMW brand and racing image, was able to make a bold statement during the Daytona season opener.
B+ isn’t just a blood type. For sports-car drivers Carter and Plumb, it’s a battle cry. Carter and Plumb competed in the BMW Performance 200 at Daytona on Jan. 27. They logged some 66 laps during the 2.5-hour race, and every time their BMW M3 zoomed by the gallery, thousands of gearheads were exposed to the blue-and-white B+ logos on its hood, roof and doors.
No, they’re not bragging about their college grade-point averages. They’re telling the world about a Delaware teen who never saw his high school graduation. Andrew McDonough died from complications of leukemia five years ago July, six months after the previously healthy 14-year-old collapsed and went in septic shock at a soccer tournament.
After the episode, doctors didn’t expect him to survive the week. But over the next 167 days, he fought death at a Wilmington hospital, despite multiple life-threatening infections and brain surgery. His father, Joe, quit work to stay by his son’s side. Andrew’s battle galvanized the community, which rallied behind the slogan “B Positive” a nod to Andrew’s blood type and the family’s upbeat motto.
On the afternoon of July 14, 2007, he succumbed to the disease, dying in the arms of his sister, Ali, but through his father and the B+ movement, Andrew’s legacy lives on. The family created the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed not only to honor his life and raise money for research of pediatric cancers, but also to provide financial support to those affected by the illness. Because of Plumb, Carter and Fall-Line Motorsports, their message has gone national.
Carter and Plumb, teammates in the Continental Tire Series GS classification, finished fourth in the season opener at Daytona, and because of their cars’ traveling billboard, the B+ Foundation shared in the exposure. Carter, a stock trader and Hodgkin’s lymphoma survivor from Delaware, was amazed by the buzz that B+ had generated in Wilmington and approached McDonough about displaying the logo on their race car. “Everybody knows about B+ [in Delaware],” Carter says. “Everybody knows about the kids. I’m in this series that races across the country. These race cars that we have, they’re an advertising vehicle.”
Their commitment runs far deeper than just marketing and photo opportunities. Before every tour stop, they visit local children’s cancer centers and meet with the kids.
“If you can bring a smile to the faces of kids that are going through the worst possible thing, then that’s amazing,” Plumb says. “That’s what I’m there to do.”
Adds McDonough, “When I tell kids there’s a B+ race car, their eyeballs go three inches high. There’s something special about kids and racing. For a couple of minutes, they forget they have cancer.” Last year, The B+ Foundation, Carter and Plumb presented a check to Dr. Mary Lou Schmidt to start her clinical trials named “The B+ Foundation Childhood Cancer Clinical Trials Powered by Grand-Am Racers,” since most of the $50,000 donation was raised in the GRAND-AM paddock from race car drivers, team owners and fans. In 2012, the program will include fundraisers to benefit B+ and pre-race promotions to increase awareness of the foundation in major U.S. markets where the Continental Tire championship races.
The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation honors its namesake’s memory and aims to “do good.” During the 10 races of the 2012 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Carter and Plumb visit kids with cancer in hospitals before racing events to make a positive difference and keep the B+ message alive through outreach efforts and talks. The foundation also provides financial assistance to families of children with cancer, and in 2011, B+ gave more than $500,000 in aid to families, and nearly $300,000 to research efforts.
To learn more about The B+ Foundation and to help B+ to eradicate childhood cancer, check BePositive.org.
