Photo by John Thawley Despite all the challenges thrown at the B-K Motorsports #8-P2 Lola/B07-40/Mazda, the team's Road America outing was in good shape by the time the cars too the grid Saturday for round 8 of the American Le Mans Series Championships. The Mazda/Lola LMP2 car qualified 8th in class and 10th overall.

A problem at before race start immediately put Ben Devlin behind the field and he was not allowed to regain his position according to IMSA rules. A yellow flag for a first turn incident immediately put Ben back in the running. He short pitted for four tires and fuel at the 13 minute mark.

After 21 minutes running the green flag was back out and the race was underway. Ben settled in and kept the Mazda moving in the right direction with solid lap times. He pitted again at 1hr 6min running... again for fuel and tires with no driver change.

By 5:23PM, lightening is visible and storms appear to be moving into the area. Within 5 minutes there is rain being reported at several locations around the track. With the skies opening up, by 5:30pm, Ben is in the pits for fuel and the car is shod in Kumho rain tires. Ben remains in the car.

At 5:34PM IMSA officials put the race under caution due to weather and close the pits. The pits remain closed until 5:42PM. Within 10 minutes, the situation is worsening with severe lightening directly overhead.

At 6:35PM, the starter notifies the field that the track will go green in one lap. With 2hr 30min running, the race is back underway. Though the rain has subsided, the track remains damp and treacherous.

Suddenly Devlin is off track at turn 14 and deep into the gravel. Officials report there is a small fire in the back of the car as they try to tow the car out of the corner. Ben manages to get the car back to the pits with no damage. The crew fuels the car and puts on a new set of rain tires while Jamie Back takes over the wheel.

With team orders of "no heroics," Jamie pilots the car safely into dusk. He  pulls into the pits at the 3hr mark for a routine stop of fuel and tires.

Jamie continued to push on in the less than perfect conditions and maintained a sold pace. With 15 minutes remaining in the race, he pitted for the last time taking on four tires and a splash of fuel. He went on to finish the race in 11th position overall and 8th in class.

The next round of the American Le Mans Series is the Mobil 1 presents Grand Prix of Mosport from Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. The race will start at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 26 and will be broadcast live on SPEED. American Le Mans Radio and IMSA's Live Timing and Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.

The American Le Mans Series features 12 races in 2007, including the prestigious season-opening Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring (March 17) and the 1,000-mile/10-hour Petit Le Mans. All other races are sprint endurance formats, ranging from an hour, 40 minutes at Long Beach to four hours at both Road America and the Series finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. All events are televised by CBS, NBC or SPEED.