2001 Daytona - Motorola Cup

The 2001 Motorola Cup series opener was held at Daytona International Speedway. The two-hour race would be the last with Motorola as the title sponsor. The Berman Motorsport Group had managed the series for the previous six-years but when Motorola did not renew their contract Grand-Am took control. Until a new sponsor was found the series it would be called the Grand-Am Cup.

The 2001 edition of the Grand-Am Cup consisted of 10-events (Daytona (season opener and finale), Homestead-Miami, Phoenix International Raceway, Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, Mosport, Virginia International Raceway, Road America and Trois-Rivieres) for showroom stock cars. With a few exceptions the races were primarily 3-hours in length. The cars were relatively unchanged from their road going versions – modifications were mandated mainly for safety – roll cages, window nets, etc. They also used spec DOT-approved tires produced by Hoosier. Based on performance potential the cars were divided into four groups:

SGS - Super Grand Sport: The quickest of all groups, this class was introduced in 2000 for the fastest mass produced vehicles. Cars competing in this group included the Chevrolet Corvette C5, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Dodge Viper, Saleen Mustang SR, Porsche 911 Turbo, Porsche 996, etc.
GS - Grand Sport: This class included cars such as Pontiac Firebird, BMW M3, Acura NSX, Ford Mustang Cobra R, Porsche 993, etc.
ST - Sports Touring: Another new class for the 2000 season was Sports Touring. Popular vehicles found in this group were the BMW Z3 Coupe, Acura Integra Type R, BMW 328, Lexus GS 400, Lexus IS 300, Porsche Boxster, etc.
C2K – Compact 2000: It included the Honda Civic Si, Acura Integra GSR, Hyundai Tiburon, Mazda Miata, Mazda Protégé, Mazda 6, etc.

Close competitive racing with cars that fans could relate to contributed to the popularity of the series. It also provided an environment for automotive manufacturers to test and showcase their products.

The two-hour race for street stock cars took place Friday afternoon and was a support event for the Rolex 24-Hour. Seventy-seven qualifiers (12 – SGS, 35 – GS, 17 - ST and 13 – C2K) take the green flag. The two-hour race would be the last with Motorola as the title sponsor. The remaining nine rounds would be called the Grand-Am Cup.

Doug Goad and Devan Powell kicked off the Grand-Am Cup season by taking the checkered flag at Daytona International Speedway in the Powell Motorsport Chevrolet Corvette. They started from the pole and although the team suffered various mechanical problems (high oil temperatures and low oil pressure), they never fell out of the top three during the two-hour event.

The Power Team Racing Acura Integra Type R completed 49-laps and won the Sports Touring class. The car was driven by Jason Potter and Mike Keravich III started from the forty-third position on the grid and was the quickest Sport Touring team.

The No. 71 Grand Sport class BMW M3 of Steve Pfeifer and Mike Helton returns to the track after spinning at the West Horseshoe. The team only completed 11-laps and were the second team to retire from the event.

Sharing the No. 43 Planet Earth Motorsport Chevrolet Corvette were endurance racing veterans Joe Nonnamaker and Bill Pate. The pair started eighth and after 51-laps of racing finished second overall and in the SGS class. They contributed to an all Corvette podium.

Peter Halsmer and Bryan Johnson drove the class winning Honda Civic Si which started second in C2K. The car was prepared by the Honda America Racing Team (HART) which was a group of employees from the Honda’s manufacturing facility in Marysville, Ohio.

The No. 46 Ford Mustang Cobra R driven by Chuck Snipes and Peter Sachs started sixteenth overall and fourth in the Grand Sport class. The duo was able to improve upon their starting position and finish second in class and ninth overall.

The second Planet Earth Motorsports Acura Integra GSR was shared by Mike Fitzgerald and Neal Sapp. These two drivers were TC Kline Racing teammates during the 2000 World Challenge season. They both scored victories in the series and Sapp won the World Challenge Touring Car Rookie title. At the Daytona opener in 2001 they finished second in the C2K class.

Finishing 14-seconds behind the Sports Touring class winning Power Team Acura was the No. 0 Lexus GS400. This car was driven by Terry Borcheller and Chuck Goldsborough. At the third race of the year, in Phoenix, the team would debut the new Lexus IS300. Although the IS300 did not win in its first year it started to show promise by mid-season as the team regularly achieving podium finishes.

GM Engineer John Heinricy was the fastest qualifier in the No. 37 Chevrolet Corvette. According to the rules, the driver qualifying the car starts the race. A decision was made by the team to have co-driver Bill Lester start the event which meant the car would take the green flag from the back of the grid. Despite starting last and an accident late in the race Lester and Heinricy finished third overall and in the SGS class.

Starting from the twenty-fifth position and twelfth in the Grand Sport class was Robert Julien and Steven Goodbody. At the checkered flag, they had moved their Porsche 993 up to a tenth place finish which resulted in a third in class.

The Nonnamaker brothers finished third in the C2K class behind their teammates (Mike Fitzgerald and Neal Sapp) and the Honda America Racing Team (HART). It was about to be a long season as the rivalry between the Nonnamaker's Planet Earth Motorsport team and HART would last the entire year.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS
1	SGS	Powell/Goad	Chevrolet Corvette Z06	Powell Motorsport	51
2	SGS	J Nonnamaker/Pate	Chevrolet Corvette Z06	Planet Earth Motorsport	51
3	SGS	Lester/Hayner/Heinricy	Chevrolet Corvette Z06	Phoenix American Motorsports	51
4	SGS	Goolsby/Russell	Porsche 996	MST	51
5	SGS	Wortzman/Law	Porsche TT	Mical Motorsports	51
6	SGS	James/Steiner	Porsche TT	Motorsport Technologies	50
7	SGS	Gilbert/Holt	Chevrolet Corvette Z06	Gilbert Racing	50
8	GS	Meindl/Shreiner	Ford Mustang Cobra R	DG Racing	50
9	GS	Snipes/Sachs	Ford Mustang Cobra R	Snipes Ford Motorsport	50
10	GS	Goodbody/Julien	Porsche 993	Fiorano Racing	50
11	GS	Camp/Gabel	Ford Mustang Cobra R	Alegra Motorsports	50
12	GS	B Shanaman/S Shanaman	Pontiac Firebird	Wind River Racing	49
13	GS	Levitas/Bavavo	Porsche 993	Turbo Performance Center	49
14	GS	Briody/Meindl	Ford Mustang Cobra R	DG Racing	49
15	GS	Maxwell/Miller	Pontiac Firebird	Mostly Motorsports	49
16	GS	Houk/Kohler	Ford Mustang Cobra R	TF Racing	49
17	GS	Liebengood/Lloyd	BMW M3 Coupe	Competition Preparation	49
18	ST	Keravich III/Potter/Lally	Acura Integra R	Power Team Racing	49
19	ST	Borcheller/Goldsborough	Lexus IS300	Team Lexus	49
20	SGS	Hornkohl/McAndrew	Dodge Viper	Team Matthew	48
21	C2K	Johnson/Halsmer	Honda Civic Si	Honda of America Racing Team	48
22	C2K	Wi Nonnamaker/Sapp/Fitzgerald	Acura Integra GSR	Planet Earth Motorsport	48
23	GS	Mears Jr/Shep	Porsche 911	Speedsource	48
24	GS	Theetge/Hebert	Acura NSX	Theetge/Hebert	48
25	C2K	Wa Nonnamaker/Wi Nonnamaker/Fitzgerald	Acura Integra GSR	Planet Earth Motorsport	48
26	GS	Black/Danaher	Pontiac Firebird	Bill Black Autosports	47
27	ST	Safina/Lowman	Porsche 944 S2	Alegra Motorsports	47
28	ST	Gaughran/Piscelli	Acura Integra R	The Spirit of Miami	47
29	GS	Ziegelman/Argetsinger	Pontiac Firebird	Phoenix American Motorsports	47
30	C2K	Fenton/Beede	Honda Civic Si	Bill Fenton Motorsports	47
31	ST	Ratcliff/Ellinger	Mercedes-Benz 190E	RC Imports	47
32	GS	C Thompson/J Thompson/Lynch	Mazda RX-7	Deleon Motorsports	47
33	GS	Weickardt	Ford Mustang Cobra R	Gilbert Racing	47
34	ST	Matz/Linder/Keravich	Acura Integra R	Power Team Racing	47
35	ST	Tauty/Underwood	Porsche Boxster	Speedsource	47
36	ST	Lorriman/Mandeville	Nissan Maxima	Nissan Competition	46
37	ST	Schlesinger/Gelfand	Porsche Boxster	Speedsource	46
38	C2K	Schmitt/Adams	Honda Civic Si	Honda of America Racing Team	46
39	C2K	Kowalski/Lassally	Acura Integra GSR	Motorsport Technologies	46
40	C2K	Baglier/Luffy	Mazda MX6	Baglieracing	46
41	C2K	Starita/Dubinsky	Acura Integra GSR	PCI Racing	46
42	ST	Carter/Prasatthong	BMW 328i	Carter Motorsports	45
43	GS	Hilliar/Webb/Delvecchio	Ford Mustang Cobra R	Jacobs Motorsports	45
44	ST	Fairbanks/Gue	Lexus IS300	Team Lexus	45
45	C2K	Coyle/Mazziotti	Acura Integra GSR	Lucas Motorsports	45
46	C2K	Stewart/Himes	Honda Civic Si	Red Line Motors	45
47	ST	Bunting/Rocca	Acura Integra R	The Spirit of Miami	44
48	GS	Solomon/Bye	Ford Mustang Cobra R	TF Racing	44
49	ST	Van Sicklen/Endicott	Acura Integra R	King Motorsports	44
50	GS	Yarosz/Masessa/Aquilante	Pontiac Firebird	Phoenix American Motorsports	42
51	GS	Istook/Rutherford IV	Audi S4	Istook/Aines Motorsport	41
52	C2K	Magner/Del Vecchio	Chevrolet Cavalier Z24	WTF Engineering	41
53	GS	Baughman/Espenlaub	Pontiac Firebird	Mike Baughman Racing	40
54	GS	Duke/Schuler	Ford Mustang Cobra R	TF Racing	40
55	SGS	Brown/DeFontes	Saleen Mustang SR	TF Racing	38
56	GS	Pappas/MacLean/Foster	BMW M3	Franz Blam Racing	38
57	GS	Weinberg/Hayner	Pontiac Firebird	Phoenix American Motorsports	37
58	ST	Gleason/Gauthier	Acura Integra R	The Spirit of Miami	35
59	SGS	Bourassa/Stewart	Porsche Turbo	Team Hurricane Racing	34
60	GS	Tremblay/Haskell	Porsche 911	Speedsource	29
61	ST	Trask/Patch	BMW Z3 Coupe	Villaconn International	27
62	GS	Jacobs/Langhorne/Delvecchio	Ford Mustang Cobra R	Jacobs Motorsports	27
63	GS	Hyberg/Anderson	BMW M3	Jonak Brothers Racing	26
64	GS	Sherk/Baxter	Acura NSX	Jcomp	26
65	SGS	Lacey/Wilkins	Ford Mustang Cobra R	Doncaster/Multimatic	26
66	GS	Martin/McDougall	Audi S4	R.A.C.E. Team	25
67	GS	England/Mitchell II	Pontiac Firebird	Kent Motorsports	25
68	C2K	Roediger/Kane	Honda Del Sol	Lucas Motorsports	24
69	SGS	Kohler/Smith	Saleen Mustang SR	TF Racing	21
70	GS	Mountain/Creger	Audi S4 Turbo	Team Hurricane Racing	20
71	SGS	Cox/Park	Chevrolet Corvette	Mallett/MTI Racing	19
72	ST	White/Shaffer	BMW Z3 Coupe	Villaconn International	19
73	ST	Pawley/Henderson	Toyota Supra	J Pawley Motorsports	16
74	GS	Assentato/Longhi	Ford Mustang Cobra R	D.M.A. Racing	12
75	GS	Helton/Pfeifer	BMW M3	RTG Ltd	11
76	GS	Samis/Reynolds	Pontiac Firebird	Century Racing	9
77	GS	Ma Dillard/Mi Dillard	Pontiac Firebird	Century Racing	4

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