2013 Daytona International Speedway - Continental Sports Car Challenge

KONI’s sponsorship agreement with the Grand-Am Cup series ended with the final race of 2009. Replacing KONI in 2010 was Continental Tire – the championship was renamed the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) series. Little changed as the result of this new partnership – the series continued with the same classes and ran as a support event for the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car championship.

The 2013 season consisted of eleven race weekends and started in January at Daytona International Speedway which was followed by the series’ first visit to Circuit of the Americas. In April, the championship would make a stop a Barber Motorsports Park and then two-weeks later, move on to Road Atlanta. Round five took place at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course which was followed by Watkins Glen International. At the end of July, teams made their way to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Next on the schedule were Road America and Kansas Speedway. The penultimate round was held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with the finale taking place at Lime Rock Park.

The cars are relatively unchanged from their road going versions – 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 - this group features the larger displacement engines as well as smaller four-cylinder motors with forced induction systems. The power-plants produce between 400 and 500-horsepower. Minimum weights range between 2,900 – 3,300-pounds which are dependent on the motor configuration and displacement. This class includes cars such as the BMW M3, Aston Martin Vantage, Ford Mustang Boss 302 R, Porsche 997, Porsche Carrera, Chevrolet Camaro GS.R and Nissan 370Z.
Street Tuner (ST): The smaller displacement cars compete in this class in which engines typically produce between 220 and 280-horsepower. Popular vehicles found in this group are the Nissan Altima, Porsche Boxster, Mazda Speed 3, Mazda MX-5, Honda Accord Si, BMW 328i, Volkswagen Jetta and BMW 128i.

Round one, of the 2013 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, was held at Daytona International Speedway. Competitors would race around the twelve-turn, 3.56-mile roval for two-hours, thirty-minutes in The BMW Performance 200.

The start of round one of the 2013 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge for the Grand Sport class. On the pole is Jade Buford driving the No. 55 Multimatic Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage. Sharing the front row with Buford is the Roush Performance Ford Mustang Boss 302 R driven by Jack Roush, Jr. There were a total of thirty-four Grand Sport entries for the season opener.

Qualifying last year’s winning Grand Sport entry was Jack Roush, Jr. Roush was the second quickest in the Roush Performance Ford Mustang Boss 302 R that he would share with Billy Johnson. Roush started the race but had to make an unscheduled pit-stop early in the contest to replace a flat tire. Johnson moved into the lead during the final stint. Despite pressure from David Empringham, he held on for the victory.

On Thursday afternoon, Jade Buford scored his first Grand Sport pole position driving the No. 55 Multimatic Motorsports prepared Aston Martin Vantage. Buford shared the driving duties with Canadian, Scott Maxwell. Maxwell and Buford took turns leading the race – Maxwell led for the last time on lap-37 of 63. Then the pair fell down the race order and finished twelfth in class.

The first wave of Grand Sport cars was followed by the slower Street Tuner category. Leading the field of thirty-three Street Tuner competitors is the pole-sitter, Ryan Ellis driving the i-Moto Racing.com Mazda Speed 3. Next to Ellis, on the front row is the BimmerWorld Racing prepared BMW 328i with Tyler Cooke behind the wheel.

The quickest Street Tuner entry in the final practice session was the Skullcandy Nissan Altima driven by Vesko Kozarov. After qualifying, Kozarov and team principal, Lara Tallman were gridded nineteenth in class and fifty-fourth overall. They made good progress during the race. With forty-minute remaining in the contest, Kozarov moved into the lead. He held the position which gave the team their first victory.

The always quick Rum Bum sponsored Porsche 997 was raced by Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi. Plumb and Longhi started fifth overall and in the Grand Sport category. On lap-4 of the race, Longhi passed Jade Buford for the lead. He maintained first place for fourteen more circuits. Plumb drove the last half of the event and moved from seventh to third. Unable to challenge the leaders, he finished third overall.

Ryan Ellis waited until the last lap of qualifying to grab the Street Tuner pole position. Sharing the i-Moto Racing.com Mazda Speed 3 with Ellis was Mat Pombo. Pombo and Ellis were in contention early in the contest but slipped down the race order as the event wore on. At the checkered flag, they were twenty-second in class and forty-sixth overall – one lap behind the victorious Nissan.

Second quickest in the Street Tuner qualifying session was Tyler Cooke. Cooke drove the No. 81 BimmerWorld Racing prepared BMW 328i with Gregory Liefooghe. The pair led a majority of the laps during the first half of the contest. They found themselves second in class as the event came to a conclusion. They closed on the class leader but were unable to pass and finished second by a margin of 1.715-seconds.

In the center are the overall and Grand Sport winners from Roush Performance, Jack Roush, Jr. and Billy Johnson – the pair won last year’s event. On the right side of the podium are the runner-ups and drivers of the Rum Bum sponsored Porsche 997, Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi. Competing the rostrum are defending series champions, David Empringham and John Farano.

Defending Grand Sport champion, David Empringham topped the timesheets in the opening practice session. Empringham‘s co-driver in the Multimatic Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage was John Farano. Empringham led a total of five laps and was in second place as the event neared its end. He attempted to put pressure on the race leader, Billy Johnson but fell short by 1.812-seconds.

Ryan Eversley and Kyle Gimple drove the No. 75 Honda Civic Si prepared by Compass 360 Racing. Eversley was the fastest Street Tuner competitor in many of the practice seasons. He and his teammate, Gimple started the race third in class. During the event, Eversley and Gimple remained on the lead lap. Their steady performance allowed them to capture the last spot on the Street Tuner podium.

The 2013 Street Tuner podium at Daytona International Speedway. In the center are the class winning drivers, Vesko Kozarov and Lara Tallman. Tallman was the first woman to score a Street Tuner victory since Sarah Cattaneo in 2011. Taking the runner-up spot on the right side of the podium are Greg Liefooghe and Tyler Cooke. The final position on the rostrum belonged to Kyle Gimple and Ryan Eversley.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	GS	Johnson / Roush, Jr.	Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	63	-
2	GS	Plumb / Longhi	Porsche 997	63	-
3	GS	Farano / Empringham	Aston Martin Vantage	63	-
4	GS	Mancuso / Montecalvo	Aston Martin Vantage	63	-
5	GS	Curran / Aschenbach	Chevrolet Camaro GS.R	63	-
6	GS	Edwards / Bell	Chevrolet Camaro GS.R	63	-
7	GS	Click / McGovern	Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	63	-
8	GS	Fox / Wilson	Aston Martin Vantage	63	-
9	GS	Norman / Pumpelly	Porsche Carrera	63	-
10	GS	Miller / James	Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	63	-
11	GS	Kasemets / Marsal	Aston Martin Vantage	63	-
12	GS	Buford / Maxwell	Aston Martin Vantage	63	-
13	GS	Randall / Wilden	Porsche Carrera	63	-
14	GS	Falgueras / Ortiz	Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	63	-
15	GS	Zacharias / Bell	Nissan 370Z	63	-
16	GS	Golinello / Levine	Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	63	-
17	GS	McCalmont / Michaelian	Chevrolet Camaro GS.R	63	-
18	GS	Ecklin, Jr. / Phillips	BMW M3	63	-
19	GS	Sandberg / Espenlaub	BMW M3	62	-
20	GS	Martin / Sterling, Jr.	Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	62	-
21	GS	Abello / Quester	Porsche 997	62	-
22	GS	Yarosz / Capaldi	Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	62	-
23	GS	Davey / Skeen	Chevrolet Camaro GS.R	62	-
24	GS	Robert Maranda	Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	62	-
25	ST	Kozarov / Tallman	Nissan Altima Coupe	62	-
26	ST	Liefooghe / Cooke	BMW 328i	62	-
27	ST	Eversley / Gimple	Honda Civic Si	62	-
28	ST	Rogers / Thomas	BMW 328i	62	-
29	ST	McGehee / Friedman	Porsche Boxster	62	-
30	ST	O'Doski / Carbonell	Mazda MX-5	62	-
31	ST	Colborn / Jordan	Honda Civic Si	62	-
32	ST	Anthony, Jr. / Newell	Honda Civic Si	62	-
33	ST	McIntosh / Lock	Nissan Altima	62	-
34	ST	Combs / Mosing	BMW 328i	62	-
35	ST	Taylor / Baas	Volkswagen Jetta	62	-
36	ST	Fergus / Trinkler	Honda Civic Si	62	-
37	ST	Whitis / Long	Mazda MX-5	62	-
38	ST	Novich / Dyer	Honda Civic Si	62	-
39	ST	Cattaneo / Puskar	Honda Civic Si	62	-
40	ST	McCumbee / Saini	Mazda MX-5	62	-
41	ST	Kleinubing / Clunie	Mazda Speed 3	61	-
42	ST	Quinlan / Weisberg	Porsche Boxter	61	-
43	ST	Eich / Schmitt	Honda Civic Si	61	-
44	ST	Leroux / Leroux	Honda Civic Si	61	-
45	ST	Weisberg / Straus	Porsche Boxter	61	-
46	ST	Pombo / Ellis	Mazda Speed 3	61	-
47	GS	Janco / Miller	Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	60	-
48	GS	Carter / Plumb	BMW M3	60	-
49	ST	Bocchino / Hacquard	Mazda Speed 3	60	-
50	ST	Contre / Sanchez Jr.	BMW 128i	59	-
51	ST	Safina / Kanavas	BMW 128i	57	-
52	ST	Giovanis / Murry	BMW 328	56	-
53	ST	Burrows / Mason	Honda Civic Si	55	-
54	GS	Aquilante / Spaude	Subaru WRX-STI	49	-
55	GS	Heylen / Ave	Dodge Challenger	44	-
56	ST	Borcheller / LaMarra	BMW 128i	42	-
57	GS	Sellers / Boden	BMW M3	41	-
58	ST	Valiante / Gilsinger	Honda Civic Si	41	-
59	ST	Altberg / Duez	Volkswagen Jetta	40	-
60	GS	Atterbury / Blackstock	Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	36	-
61	GS	Mucke / Randall	Porsche Carrera	34	-
62	GS	Mucke / Turner	Aston Martin Vantage	32	-
63	GS	Fraser Wellon	Porsche 997	28	-
64	GS	Auberlen / Dalla Lana	BMW M3	25	Mechanical
65	ST	Strelzoff / Bloum	BMW 328i	23	-
66	ST	David Thilenius	Honda Civic Si	12	Off Course
67	ST	McAleer / Miller	Mazda MX-5	12	-
68	ST	Alvarez / Perez	Volkswagen Jetta	11	Mechanical

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