KUMHO, Mazda and B-K Motorsports learned the value of perseverance at tonight's American Le Mans Series Lone Star Grand Prix. Radio and fuel mapping problems dropped the team to last in class early in the race. But the team worked through those early issues and earned a well-deserved second place finish in the LMP2 class when the two class-leading Porsche Spyders both dropped out with roughly 20 minutes left in the two-hour-and-45 minute race.

Jamie Bach started the B-K car from the back of the field, where the team had been relegated following a rules infraction during qualifying. "It was pretty good initially working our way through traffic," said Bach. "It took a little bit to get up to speed, but overall I was pleased with the car and the KUMHO tires."

Shortly into the race the team lost radio contact with Bach when the bumpy track knocked the radio loose, pulling the wires out of the unit. The team used a pit board to communicate with Bach and signaled him to pit about 20 minutes into the race so they could adjust the fuel mapping. The team adjusted the fuel mapping and attempted to fix the radio before sending Bach back out.

It soon became apparent that the fuel mapping needed another slight adjustment, but the team couldn't convey that to Bach because the radio still wasn't working. Team manager Marcus Haselgrove decided to call Bach back in roughly 50 minutes into the race for fuel, tires, a driver change and another fuel mapping adjustment. Co-driver Guy Cosmo climbed into the car with one of the team's handheld radios wired to his helmet. But the scream of the Mazda engine was too much for the little radio.

"It almost worked for me," said Cosmo, "but I needed them to talk to me when I was going the slowest. The sound of the engine was just too loud for the radio."

The team used the pit board to communicate for the remaining pit stops, and the rest of the race was trouble-free. Cosmo continued climbing through the field as other teams fell by the wayside with problems of their own.

"This was probably one of the most abusive experiences of my life because the track was very bumpy, but it was also extremely enjoyable," said Cosmo. "The KUMHOs were great from start to finish. Throughout the double stint we put on the tires they didn't really fall off whatsoever. I was really pleased with them. This is really a great platform for us to go to Mid-Ohio and really take advantage of what we learned here."

In addition to its second place finish in LMP2, B-K finished 12th overall in the 23-car field, completing 127 laps. The team will pack up and head directly to Mid-Ohio. They'll participate in an ALMS media day in Columbus on Tuesday and then prepare for the race next weekend.