2010 Watkins Glen International - Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge

Last season was the final year of the Grand-Am Road Racing’s contract with KONI. In 2010, Grand-Am partnered with Continental Tire. The series was renamed the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Obviously, this new arrangement also meant that after ten-years, teams would no longer be competing on Hoosier spec DOT-approved tires.

The cars in the series are relatively unchanged from their road-going counterparts – modifications are mandated mainly for safety – roll cages, window nets, etc. They also used spec DOT-approved tires produced by Continental. Based on performance potential, the cars were 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 2,900 – 3,300-pounds, which is dependent on the motor configuration and displacement. This class includes cars such as the BMW M3, Ford Mustang, Porsche 997 and Porsche Carrera.
Street Tuner (ST): The smaller displacement cars compete in this class in which engines typically produce between 170 and 240-horsepower. Popular vehicles found in this group are the Volkswagen GTI, Acura TSX, Mazda RX-8, Mazda MX-5, Honda Civic Si, BMW 328i, Chevrolet Cobalt SS and Mini Cooper S.

The 2010 season consisted of ten race weekends and started in January at Daytona International Speedway, which was followed by a second event in Florida at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In April, the series would visit Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama and then move on to Virginia International Raceway. Round five would be conducted at Lime Rock Park. This would be the first of two race weekends where the Grand Sport and Street Tuner classes competed separately. The teams traveled Watkins Glen International in June and after this event, race weekends took place at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and New Jersey Motorsports Park. In August, teams made the trip to Canada, where the action would take place on the streets of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. This would be the penultimate round and was the second weekend that the two classes had their own race. The finale was held at Utah’s Miller Motorsports Park.

Watkins Glen International hosted round six of the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Competitors would race around the eleven-turn 3.337-mile road course for two-and-a-half hours in an event titled the Continental Tire 150 at The Glen.

The pole-sitter, Bryan Sellers, driving the Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3 leads the field of thirty-two Grand Sport entries into Watkins Glen International’s first turn for round six of the 2010 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series. Immediately behind Sellers is his teammate and second-place starter, Charlie Putman, in the No. 48 BMW. Trailing Putman is the third Fall-Line entry of Andrew Hendricks.

In an outstanding qualifying performance, Charlie Putman recorded the second-fastest time in the No. 48 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW. Putman started the race but spun on the first lap in the ‘Inner Loop.’ He recovered and his teammate, Charles Espenlaub, took over the driving during the first pit-stop. Espenlaub maneuvered his way to the front and went unchallenged to win by a margin of 1.037-seconds.

The Street Tuner point leaders were Lawson Aschenbach and David Thilenius. In qualifying at Watkins Glen International, Thilenius was third fastest in the No. 74 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si and would start thirtieth overall. Aschenbach was leading with five minutes left in the race when the second and third place drivers had contact. At that point, he was able to cruise to their second win of the season.

The contact between the Chevrolet Cobalt of Jamie Holtom and Josh Hurley in a Volkswagen, with just five minutes remaining in the race, allowed Ryan Eversley to inherit a runner-up finish. Eversley and his co-driver, Zach Lutz, shared the No. 75 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si. Lutz performed the qualifying duties and started fourth in the Street Tuner category. Their result gave Compass360 a one-two finish.

Fall-Line Motorsports owner Mark Boden enlisted the services of Bryan Sellers for the Continental Tire 150 at The Glen. It proved to be the right decision as Sellers put the No. 46 on the overall and Grand Sport pole. In fact, Fall-Line entries captured the first three positions on the starting grid. During the race, they would stay on the lead lap but lose contact with the front runners and finish in ninth place.

The round six Grand Sport podium at Watkins Glen International. In the center, are the winners from Fall-Line Motorsports, Charles Espenlaub and Charlie Putman. This was Putman’s first series victory and the second for Espenlaub. Standing on the right side of the rostrum are the second-place finishers and current point leaders, Joey Hand and Michael Marsal. Completing the podium are Terry Borcheller and Andrew Hendricks.

Leading the field of thirty-seven Street Tuner competitors into Watkins Glen International’s first corner for round six of the 2010 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series is the pole-sitter, Justin Piscitell in the Team MER Mazda Speed 3. Behind Piscitell is the BimmerWorld BMW 328i of the second-fastest qualifier, David White and the third-place starter, David Thilenius driving the Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si.

The Grand Sport points leaders entering round six at Watkins Glen were Joey Hand and Michael Marsal. The pair opened the season at Daytona with a thirteenth-place finish but captured victories at VIR and Lime Rock. At Watkins Glen, Marsal started in the tenth place. Hand drove the final stint and finished second, but their lead in the championship was reduced to one marker over the race winners Espenlaub and Putman.

Starting twenty-seventh overall and first in the Street Tuner category was Justin Piscitell. Sharing the No. 03 Team MER Mazda Speed 3 with Piscitell was the 2008 SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge Rookie of the year, Jason Saini. Piscitell led the first three laps of the race before surrendering the position to the Honda Civic of David Thilenius. On the twenty-fifth circuit, the team retired and were classified thirty-fifth in class.

Sharing the third Fall-Line Motorsport entry were Andrew Hendricks and Terry Borcheller. In a superb qualifying effort, Hendricks was third fastest. Borcheller drove the final stint and kept the No. 45 BMW M3 in contention. At the conclusion of the Continental Tire 150 at The Glen, they were in third place. This was not their best finish of the season. The duo captured a runner-up result in round two at Homestead.

APR Motorsport entered two Volkswagen GTI in the Street Tuner category. Co-driving the No. 181 Volkswagen were Josh Hurley and Kevin Stadtlander. In qualifying, Stadtlander was the fifteenth fastest in class and would start forty-seventh overall. During his time behind the wheel, Hurley caught the lead group. He tangled with Jamie Holtom and spun but was able to recover and capture a third-place finish.

The Street Tuner podium for round six of the 2010 Grand-Am Continental Tires Sports Car Challenge. Lawson Aschenbach and David Thilenius stand in the center after winning for the second time this season. On the right side of the rostrum are their Compass360 teammates and the runner-ups, Ryan Eversley and Zach Lutz. The final position of the podium is occupied by Kevin Stadtlander and Josh Hurley.

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS
1	GS	Espenlaub / Putman	Fall-Line Motorsports / BMW M3	64
2	GS	Marsal / Hand	Turner Motorsport / BMW M3	64
3	GS	Borcheller / Hendricks	Fall-Line Motorsports / BMW M3	64
4	GS	Plumb / Stone	Sevenson Motorsports / Chevrolet Camaro GS.R	64
5	GS	Johnson / Roush	Roush Performance / Ford Mustang GT	64
6	GS	Bertheau / Pumpelly	The Racer's Group / Porsche 997	64
7	GS	Michaelian / Wilden	Rehagen Racing / Ford Mustang GT	64
8	GS	Winchester / Martin	Rehagen Racing / Ford Mustang GT	64
9	GS	Boden / Sellers	Fall-Line Motorsports / BMW M3	64
10	GS	Ende / Carroll	BGB Motorsports / Porsche Cayman	64
11	GS	Jeannette / Montecalvo	Multimatic Motorsports / Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	64
12	GS	Jenkins / Dumoulin	BGB Motorsports / Porsche Cayman	64
13	GS	Gue / Seafuse	JBS Motorsports / Ford Mustang GT	64
14	GS	Heath / Kulman	Euro Motorworks Racing / Porsche 997	64
15	GS	Ellis / Wellon / Rossi	Ranger Sports Racing / Porsche 997	64
16	GS	Adams / Phillips	Capaldi Racing / Ford Mustang GT	64
17	GS	Potter / Keen	Magnus Racing / Porsche Cayman	64
18	GS	Cosmo / Tetreault	BGB Motorsports / Porsche Carrera	64
19	GS	Musser / McCutchen	Momentum Race Group / Chevrolet Camaro GS.R	63
20	GS	Altenburg / Weickardt	Momentum Race Group / Chevrolet Camaro GS.R	63
21	GS	Hillestead / Waddell	Automatic Racing / BMW M3	63
22	ST	Aschenbach / Thilenius	Compass360 Racing / Honda Civic Si	63
23	ST	Lutz / Everley	Compass360 Racing / Honda Civic Si	63
24	ST	Stadlander / Hurley	APR Motorsport / Volkswagen GTI	63
25	ST	Galati / Johnson	HART / Honda Civic Si	63
26	ST	Cunningham / Wittmer	RealTime Racing / Honda Civic Si	63
27	ST	Thomas / Heumann	BimmerWorld / BMW 328i	63
28	ST	Long / Whitis	Freedom Autosport / Mazda Speed 3	63
29	ST	Straus / Schultz	V-Pack Motorsport / BMW 330i	63
30	ST	Clay / White	BimmerWorld / BMW 328i	63
31	ST	Kuitwaard / Tesler-Mabe	Compass360 Racing / Honda Civic Si	63
32	GS	Atterbury / Murry	Mitchum Motorsports / Chevrolet Camaro GS.R	63
33	ST	Hebert / Hamelin	89 Racing Team / Honda Civic Si	63
34	ST	Burrows / Hopwood	Kinetic Motorsports / Kia Forte Koup	63
35	ST	Jensen / Gerrard	RRT Racing / BMW 328i	63
36	ST	Prey / Sigal	Prey Racing / Porsche Boxster	63
37	ST	Halpin / Stehly	APR Motorsport / Volkswagen GTI	62
38	ST	Kennedy / London	Next Generation Motorsports / BMW 330	62
39	ST	Lally / Jonsson	Kinetic Motorsports / Kia Forte Koup	62
40	ST	Kleinubing / Hacquard	i-Moto / Mazda Speed 3	62
41	ST	Nonnamaker / Sahlen	Team Sahlen / Mazda Speed 3	62
42	ST	McHaffie / McHaffie	Freedom Autosport / Mazda Speed 3	62
43	ST	Liefooghe / Kirby	Compass360 Racing / Honda Civic Si	62
44	GS	Plumb / Bacardi	Rum Bum Racing / BMW M3	62
45	ST	Giovanis / Dewey	Next Generation Motorsports / BMW 330	62
46	ST	Leroux / Leroux	LRT Racing / Honda Civic Si	62
47	ST	Lepper / Schmidt	GS Motorsports / Chevrolet Cobalt SS	62
48	ST	DeMan / Ferguson	DeMan Motorsports / Porsche Boxster	62
49	ST	Bosch / Kennedy	Next Generation Motorsports / BMW 330i	61
50	GS	Bucknum / Bell	Sevenson Motorsports / Chevrolet Camaro GS.R	60
51	ST	Talbot / Domont	Matt Connolly Motorsports / Mazda MX-5	60
52	ST	Holtom / Danyliw	GS Motorsports / Chevrolet Cobalt SS	59
53	ST	Lamb / Bocchino	i-Moto / Mazda Speed 3	59
54	GS	Dalla Lana / Auberlen	Turner Motorsport / BMW M3	51
55	ST	Cattaneo / Mirzayan	RSR Motorsports / Mini Cooper S	49
56	GS	Maxwell / Foster	Multimatic Motorsports / Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	47
57	ST	Leroux / Cabrera	LRT Racing / Acura TSX	47
58	ST	Riley / Riley	Riley Racing / Mazda RX-8	45
59	ST	Tallman / Kozarov	CA Sport / Honda Civic Si	40
60	GS	Lux / Mitten	JBS Motorsports / Ford Mustang	35
61	GS	Panzer / Snyder	CMA Motorsports / Ford Mustang GT	29
62	ST	Quinlan / Sheehan	3D Racing / BMW 330	26
63	GS	McGovern / Click	Jim Click Racing / Mustang Boss 302 R	25
64	ST	Piscitell / Saini	Team MER / Mazda Speed 3	25
65	GS	Gutierrez / Buford	Racers Edge Motorsports / Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	23
66	ST	Zacharias / Conway	RSR Motorsports / Mini Cooper S	23
67	GS	Serralles / Ludwig	CMA Motorsports / Ford Mustang GT	15
68	ST	Brown / Olson	Next Generation Motorsports / BMW 330	6
69	GS	Spaude / Aquilante	Subaru Road Racing Team / Subaru WRX-STI	6

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