2008 Daytona International Speedway - Koni Challenge Series

Last season, the Grand-Am Cup division was renamed the KONI Challenge Series after KONI shock absorbers signed a three-year contract to act as the championship’s title sponsor. The agreement between Grand-Am and KONI called for the company to offer the richest purse in the series history - $100,000 per event. The winning Grand Sport team would earn $5,000, but the prize fund doubled to $10,000 if the car was equipped with KONI shock absorbers. Street Tuner competitors were competing for a similar payout - $3,750 to the winner and $7,500 if the vehicle is fitted with KONIs.

Series cars are not that much different than their road-going counterparts. Modifications are mandated mainly for safety – roll cages, window nets, etc. They also use spec DOT-approved tires produced by Hoosier. Based on performance potential, the cars are divided into one of two groups:

Grand Sport (GS): The quicker of the two classes - the group features the larger displacement engines as well as smaller four-cylinder motors with forced induction systems. The power-plants produce between 350 and 405-horsepower. Minimum weights range between 2,730 – 3,250-pounds, which is dependent on the motor configuration and displacement. This class includes cars such as the BMW M3, Pontiac GTO, Ford Mustang and Porsche 997.
Street Tuner (ST): The smaller displacement cars compete in this group in which engines typically produce between 170 and 240-horsepower. Vehicle’s weights vary from 2,200 – 2,925-pounds. The top speed for a car built to the Street Tuner regulations is approximately 135-mph. Popular makes found in this category are the Acura RSX, Acura TSX, Mazda RX-8, Mazda MX-5, Honda Accord, BMW 330i, Subaru Legacy, Chevrolet Cobalt and Mini Cooper S.

The 2008 Grand-Am KONI Challenge season consisted of eleven race weekends. Except for Daytona International Speedway, Watkins Glen International, Iowa Speedway and Miller Motorsports Park, all venues would have separate races for the Grand Sport and Street Tuner classes. This year’s schedule started in January at Daytona International Speedway. The next event on the calendar wasn’t until April at Virginia International Raceway. A month later, the series visited Lime Rock Park. In June, the teams traveled north of the border to compete at Mosport International Raceway. After Mosport, race weekends took place at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (Street Tuner only), Watkins Glen International and Barber Motorsports Park (Grand Sport only). In early August, the series made a stop at Iowa Speedway. A week later, teams made their second visit to Canada, where the action would take place on the streets of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. The penultimate round was held at Utah’s Miller Motorsports Park, with the finale being conducted at Virginia International Raceway.

The 2008 Grand Am KONI Challenge Series kicked off at Daytona International Speedway in late January. The event titled, the ‘Fresh from Florida 200’, was part of the 46th Rolex at Daytona weekend. Teams would compete on the twelve-turn 3.56-mile roval for three-hours.

The top qualifiers for round one of the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series at Daytona International Speedway. On the pole is the No. 46 Playboy / Palms Hotel sponsored BMW M3 of Tommy Constantine. Beside Constantine is No. 23 Wright Motorsports prepared Porsche 997, driven by Andy Hauck, III. Hauck was 0.649-seconds slower than the pole-sitter. A total of forty-two Grand Sport teams would start the Fresh from Florida 200.

A split-start was used for the Fresh from Florida 200. The first group to receive the green flag was the Grand Sport drivers. Leading the field into corner one at Daytona International Speedway is Fall-Line prepared BMW M3 of the pole-sitter, Tommy Constantine. Beside Constantine is the other front row starter, Andy Hauck, III in the No. 23 Porsche 977. Looking to make a move inside of the leader is Jon Miller driving a BMW M3.

Co-driving the No. 83 BGB Motorsports Porsche 997 were Tim Traver and Craig Stanton. Traver qualified the Porsche and was fourth fastest. He drove the first stint and was fourth place when he handed the car over to Stanton. With thirty-minutes remaining in the event, Stanton saw two of the leaders Doug Goad and Spencer Pumpelly encounter issues. He passed Tom Milner, before he encountered problems, for the victory.

The front of the Street Tuner starting grid belonged to the i-MOTO Racing team. On the pole was Kuno Wittmer driving the No. 32 Cobalt Friction sponsored Acura TSX. Sharing the front row with Wittmer was team owner, Glenn Bocchino, in the No. 31 Acura. Bocchino missed earning the top spot by a margin of 0.268-seconds. There were forty-nine Street Tuner entries for the three-hour event at Daytona International Speedway.

The second group of Street Tuner competitors receives the Starter’s green flag for the Fresh from Florida 200. At the head of the field is the pole-sitter, Kuno Wittmer, in the i-MOTO Racing Acura TSX. Beside Wittmer is the No. 32 Acura of his teammate, Glenn Bocchino. But it would be the fourth-fastest qualifier, Toby Grahovec, in the No. 86 Classic BMW sponsored BMW Z4 that would lead the first fifteen laps of the race.

Car owner Glenn Bocchino qualified the No. 31 Acura / Cobalt Friction sponsored Acura TSX forty-sixth overall and second in the Street Tuner category. Sharing the Acura with Bocchino was Canadian Nick Wittmer. When Wittmer left the pits after the driver change, he was in fourth place. A different race strategy, not only, put the pair into the lead, but it also gave them a one-lap advantage at the finish.

Finishing second in the Grand Sport class was last season’s runner-up in the championship, Joe Foster. Foster drove the No. 55 Hyper Sport Ford Mustang in qualifying and was twenty-fourth fastest. Also piloting the Mustang were Jeff Courtney and Scott Maxwell. The team put Maxwell in the car for the final stint. Benefitting from the issues suffered by Doug Goad, Spencer Pumpelly and Tom Milner, he finished in the runner-up spot.

Sharing the No. 3 Blackforest Motorsports prepared Ford Mustang were Scott Turner and 2004 Grand Sport class champion, Terry Borcheller. Turner performed the qualifying duties and would start eighth in the Grand Sport category. Borcheller drove the last half of the contest and caught the leaders. Late in the race, he passed the BMW of last year’s champion, Jeff Segal, for third place and held the position to the finish.

Competing in the No. 32 Acura / Cobalt Friction sponsored Acura TSX were two experienced SCCA Pro Racing Speed World Challenge Touring Car drivers, Kuno Wittmer and Peter Cunningham. Wittmer qualified the TSX and put it on the class pole – forty-fifth overall. He led laps-16 to 33 before handing the car over to Cunningham. The pit strategy worked to the advantage of the other i-MOTO entry and the duo finished second.

Last season Karl Thomson and his teammate, Billy Johnson, won the Fresh from Florida 200 and came very close to capturing the Street Tuner title. This year, Thomson was paired with fellow Canadian, Travis Walker. Walker was in the No. 76 Compass360 Racing Acura TSX for qualifying and posted a time fastest enough for sixth in class. The pair moved into contention during the race and were in third place at the checkered flag.

The Racer’s Group entered three Porsche 997 in the Grand Sport category. The No. 39 Porsche received backing from The DigiTrust Group and Adam’s Polishes. The car was driven by Spencer Pumpelly and Duncan Ende. Ende was gridded in tenth place for the start of the event. With Pumpelly behind the wheel, the car moved into the lead. Unfortunately, the Porsche started smoking late in the race and Pumpelly retired.

Tommy Constantine put the No. 46 BMW M3 on the overall and class pole for round one of the 2008 Grand-Am KONI Challenge series. Sharing the M3 with Constantine was sports car veteran, Mike Borkowski. Constantine lost the top spot before the end of the first lap to the BMW of Jon Miller. The pair remained on the lead lap during the three-hour contest but could not manage the pace of the leaders and finished tenth.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS
1	GS	Traver / Stanton	Porsche 997	BGB Motorsports	76
2	GS	Foster / Maxwell / Courtney	Ford Mustang GT	Hyper Sport	76
3	GS	Turner / Borcheller	Ford Mustang GT	Blackforest Motorsport	76
4	GS	Thornton / Segal	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	76
5	GS	Miller / Russell	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	76
6	GS	Canney / Plumb	Ford Mustang GT	Rehagen Racing	76
7	GS	Espenlaub / Putman	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	76
8	GS	Schroeder / Lally	Porsche 997	TRG	76
9	GS	Nastasi / Empringham	Ford Mustang GT	Blackforest Motorsport	76
10	GS	Constantine / Borkowski	BMW M3	Playboy Racing	76
11	GS	Roush / Martin	Ford Mustang GT	Rehagen Racing	76
12	GS	Carroll / Eversley	Porsche 997	Marcus Motorsports	76
13	GS	Jenkins / Boden	BMW M3	Playboy Racing	76
14	GS	Rossi / Abello	Porsche 997	Ranger Sports Racing	76
15	GS	Barron / Selznick	Porsche 997	BGB Motorsports	76
16	GS	Click / McGovern	Ford Mustang GT	Rehagen Racing	76
17	GS	Gullatta / Slone	Ford Mustang GT	Rehagen Racing	76
18	GS	Goad / Collyer	Pontiac GTO	Spirit of Daytona	76
19	GS	Seafuse / Gue	Ford Mustang GT	JBS Motorsports	76
20	GS	Grigsby / Heath	Porsche 997	Cardisport Racing	76
21	GS	Kent / Kossmann	Ford Mustang GT	Emerald Hill Motorsports	75
22	GS	Safina / Gabel	Porsche 997	BGB Motorsports	75
23	GS	Soltero / Betances	BMW M3	Kinetic Motorsports	75
24	GS	Fromberg / Stretch	Porsche 997	Murillo Racing	75
25	ST	Wittmer / Bocchino	Acura TSX	i-MOTO Racing	75
26	GS	Weinberg / Oberto	Pontiac GTO	Spirit of Daytona	74
27	ST	Wittmer / Cunningham	Acura TSX	i-MOTO Racing	74
28	ST	Thomson / Walker	Acura TSX	Compass360 Racing	74
29	ST	Lamb / Thilenius	Acura RSX-S	Bill Fenton Motorsports	74
30	ST	Holtom / Curran	Chevrolet Cobalt	Georgian Bay Motorsports	63
31	ST	York / Miller	Acura TSX	Compass360 Racing	74
32	ST	Schmitt / Lewis	Honda Accord	HART	74
33	ST	Workman / Schultz	BMW 330i	V-Pack Motorsport	74
34	ST	Burrows / Hopwood	Acura TSX	Compass360 Racing	74
35	ST	Leroux / Leroux	Acura TSX	LRT Racing	73
36	GS	Bengoa / Santiago	Ford Mustang GT	Blackforest Motorsport	73
37	GS	Skavnes / Hemmingston	Subaru Legacy	ICY/Phoenix Racing	73
38	GS	Rosenblum / Aquilante	Subaru Legacy	ICY/Phoenix Racing	73
39	ST	Lamb / Maia	BMW Z4	Classic BMW	73
40	ST	Grahovec / Kleinubing	BMW Z4	Classic BMW	73
41	GS	Hennessey / Gimbert / Varsha	Ford Mustang	Blackforest Motorsport	73
42	ST	Bell / Mirzayan	BMW 330i	Turner Motorsport	73
43	ST	Rivera / Knowles	Mazda RX-8	Brass Mitchell Racing	73
44	ST	McCalmont / Spencer	Chevrolet Cobalt	Georgian Bay Motorsports	72
45	ST	Pritiko / Boyer	Chevrolet Cobalt	Predator Auto Sport	72
46	ST	Mitchell / Knowles	BMW Z4	Brass Mitchell Racing	72
47	ST	Davis / Smith	BMW 330i	Kinetic Motorsports	72
48	GS	Webster / Biscevic	Nissan 350Z	No Hot Wire Racing	72
49	ST	Pobst / White	Volkswagen GTI	APR Motorsport	72
50	ST	Skeen / Hunt	Chevrolet Cobalt	Team Cobalt California	72
51	GS	Davis / Milner	Porsche 997	Motorsport Technology Group	71
52	GS	Johnson / Law	Porsche 997	Motorsport Technology Group	71
53	ST	Tucker / Zabinski	Volkswagen GTI	APR Motorsport	71
54	ST	Hickman / Hickman	Mazda RX-8	Hickman Motorsports	71
55	ST	DeBoer / Smurzynski	Chevrolet Cobalt	Project Motorsports	71
56	ST	Roach / Bovenberg / Perez	Chevrolet Cobalt	Team Cobalt California	71
57	ST	Matz / Rowen	BMW 330i	Fountain Motorsports	71
58	ST	Sahlen / Nonnamaker	Mazda RX-8	Team Sahlen	70
59	ST	Schmidt / Danyliw	Chevrolet Cobalt	GS Motorsports	70
60	ST	Stuard / Brumbaugh	Mazda RX-8	Roar Racing	70
61	ST	Smalley / Trinkler	Mini Cooper S	RSR Motorsports	70
62	ST	Long / O'Doski	Mazda MX-5	Freedom Autosports	70
63	ST	Carbonell / Dempsey	Mazda RX-8	Roar Racing	70
64	GS	Jonsson / Ducote	BMW M3	Kinetic Motorsports	70
65	ST	Willard / Wilden	Chevrolet Cobalt	GS Motorsports	70
66	ST	Whitis / Daniels	Mazda MX-5	Freedom Autosports	70
67	ST	Congleton / Johnson	Mini Cooper S	RSR Motorsports	69
68	ST	London / Gramisci	BMW 330i	Fountain Motorsports	69
69	ST	Baglier / Luffy	Mazda 6	Baglieracing	69
70	GS	Pumpelly / Ende	Porsche 997	The Racer's Group	67
71	GS	Salama / Ortiz	BMW M3	Turner Motorsport	66
72	GS	Riddle / Wilson	Porsche 997	BGB Motorsports	66
73	ST	Lira / Kennedy	Mazda RX-8	Daytona Mazda	63
74	ST	Metzger / Reade	Dodge SRT-4	SDS Performance Racing	59
75	ST	Baas / von Moltke	Volkswagen GTI	APR Motorsport	59
76	GS	Masessa / Lohghi	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	56
77	ST	Darling / Mary Katharine	Volkswagen GTI	GSM Motorsports	56
78	GS	Skelton / Middlebrooks	Ford Mustang GT	Hyper Sport	52
79	ST	Diaz / Pombo	Mazda RX-8	Pipelayer Racing	50
80	GS	Hauck / Zacharias	Porsche 997	Wright Motorsports	50
81	ST	Flint / Bosch	Dodge SRT-4	SDS Performance Racing	42
82	ST	Kuitwaard / Robinson	Mazda RX-8	Brass Mitchell Racing	41
83	GS	Nixon / Arnold	Porsche 996	Bullett Racing	41
84	ST	Smith / Smith	Mazda RX-8	Maxwell Paper Racing	40
85	GS	Brian Grandon	Ford Mustang GT	Rehagen Racing	30
86	ST	Istook / Cohen	Audi TT	GSM Motorsports	28
87	GS	Mark Ackley	Ford Mustang GT	CMA Motorsports	14
88	GS	Wellon / Ellis	Porsche 997	Ranger Sports Racing	10
89	GS	Auberlen / Alhadeff	BMW M3	Turner Motorsport	9
90	ST	Haskell Armengol	Mazda RX-8	SpeedSource	0
91	ST	Beede / Liebl	Acura RSX-S	Bill Fenton Motorsports	0

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