2003 Watkins Glen International - Grand Am Cup

The 2003 Grand Am Cup season consisted of eleven race weekends. The championship kicked off in January at Daytona International Speedway, which was followed two months later by an event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Beginning in May, the teams crisscrossed the United States, making a visit to Phoenix, Arizona and then back to the east coast for a stop at Barber Motorsport Park in Alabama. The championship made their final west coast swing of the year to Fontana, California. Round six was held at Watkins Glen International, which was followed by the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Next on the schedule was a visit to Canada for races at Mosport International Raceway and Le Circuit Mont Tremblant. The penultimate race weekend was held at Virginia International Raceway with the finale taking place at Daytona.

Most races were 3-hours in length and were scheduled as a support event for the Rolex Sports Car series. Mosport was the only weekend when the Grand Am Cup series competed without the Rolex championship.

The cars racing in the series 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 Hoosier. Based on performance potential, the cars were divided into one of four groups:

Grand Sport (GS I and GS II): Grand Sport is the quicker of the two groups - this division 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. The GS I category includes cars such as the Porsche 993 Turbo, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Dodge Viper and Saleen Mustang SR. The Acura NSX, Audi S4, BMW M3, Nissan 350Z and Pontiac Firebird are examples of vehicles competing in GS II.
Sport Touring (ST I and ST II): The smaller displacement cars compete in the ST category. Engines in this group typically produce between 220 and 280-horsepower. Popular vehicles found the ST I class are the Acura RSX, Audi A4, Lexus IS300, Porsche Boxster, BMW Z3 Coupe and Acura Integra Type R. The ST II group includes the Mazda MX-5, Honda Civic EX, Chevrolet Cavalier Z24, Acura Integra LS, Dodge Neon and Mazda Protege.

With the exception of Phoenix, Barber, Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen, these four classes competed on the track at the same time.

At Watkins Glen International, the Grand Sport and Sport Touring categories competed in separate 250-mile races (with a 3-hour limit) around the eleven-turn 3.337-mile road course. Sport Touring teams would compete late Friday afternoon while the Grand Sport contest was the last event on Saturday’s schedule.

Thirty-two Grand Sport I and II drivers head into to corner one for the start of round six at the very wet Watkins Glen International. Leading the way is the Robert Julien, who qualified third in the Doncaster Racing Porsche GT3 Cup. Immediately behind Julien is the Porsche of Michael Levitas and Devon Powell driving a Chevrolet Corvette. On the right is the quickest in GS II competitor, Paul Zube piloting the No. 04 Audi S4.

At Watkins Glen International, Michael Levitas put the No. 18 Porsche on the pole. Levitas lost the lead on the wet track when the team elected to start on slick tires. Eighteen laps later, the tire decision proved to be the right choice as he grabbed first place. After the pit-stops, Levitas’ teammate, Randy Pobst, was in third place. With just three laps remaining, Pobst moved into the lead and held on for the victory.

Darren Law and Chris Dyson shared the No. 6 G&W Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup. This was only the second time this season that they shared the driving duties. Dyson was responsible for qualifying the Porsche and was sixth fastest. They were in contention during the sixty-four-lap event. During the final stint, Law was behind the wheel and in the lead. Unable to hold off Randy Pobst, he finished in the runner-up position.

A damp track and all-wheel-drive gave Paul Zube an advantage in qualifying. Driving the Istook/Aines Motorsports Audi S4, Zube not only captured the GS II pole but also started on the outside of the front row. The wet track began to dry at the beginning of the event. At the mid-point of the contest, the rain returned and the No. 04 Audi slid off course. Zube and Don Istook were classified twenty-fifth overall.

Baughman Racing entered three Pontiac Firebirds in the GS II category. Fastest on the Baughman team in qualifying was the No. 46 Firebird driven by Brett Shanaman. He was sixth in GS II and would start fourteenth overall. Shanaman had reason to be confident as he won the event in 2000 with his father, Sam. He and his teammate, Michael Baughman, moved to the front and earned their first victory of the season.

Robert Julien and JF Dumoulin entered Watkins International with a string of five podium finishes and the GS I point lead. Julien qualified the No. 119 Porsche and was third fastest. During the contest, the pair-maintained pace with the leaders. Dumoulin drove the last half of the race and was in fourth place when the track went green for the final time. Rather than risking the team’s point lead, he held his position.

Sharing the No. 23 TPC Racing Porsche GT3 Cup was Andy Lally and Michael Schrom. Schrom drove the overall and class-winning Porsche with Kevin Buckler, Timo Bernhard and Jorg Bergmeister in this year’s Rolex 24. Lally qualified seventh fastest and started on slicks. He was able to remain on the lead lap as the damp track transitioned to dry conditions. Lally was one of four drivers battling for the win but at the finish, he was third.

The Planet Earth Motorsports duo of Joe and Wayne Nonnamaker were looking to rebound after a disappointing outing at California Speedway. At Fontana, the GS II class leaders finished a discouraging eleventh in class. At Watkins Glen International, the team encountered more issues and started from the rear of the field. But the pair was able to overcome this deficit and finished in the runner-up position.

This was the second race of the season for Dean Martin and Larry Rehagen. They finished a distant tenth in race one at Daytona International Speedway. The duo shared the No. 52 Rehagen Racing prepared Ford Mustang Cobra SVT. During the qualifying session, Rehagen was the second quickest GS II competitor and started ninth overall. Unfortunately, the team’s bad luck continued and they retired after thirty-nine laps.

One of the three Baughman entries was shared by Frank Del Vecchio and Bob Ward. With credit going to Del Vecchio, they were gridded twentieth overall and ninth in GS II for the start of the 250-mile event. The pair used the same strategy as their teammates in the class winning No. 46 Pontiac Firebird. At the checkered flag, Del Vecchio and Ward had moved through the field and captured the last position on the GS II podium.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS
1	GS I	Levitas / Pobst	Porsche GT3 Cup	TPC Racing	64
2	GS I	Dyson / Law	Porsche GT3 Cup	G&W Motorsports	64
3	GS I	Lally / Schrom	Porsche GT3 Cup	TPC Racing	64
4	GS I	Julien / Dumoulin	Porsche GT3 Cup	Doncaster Racing	64
5	GS I	Davis / Cawley	Porsche GT3 Cup	Foxhill Racing	64
6	GS I	Wellman / Tremblay	Porsche GT3 Cup	SpeedSource	63
7	GS I	Weinberg / Altenburg	Chevrolet Corvette	Powell Motorsport	63
8	GS II	Shanaman / Baughman	Pontiac Firebird	Baughman Racing	63
9	GS I	Mears Jr / Haskell / Lewis	Porsche GT3 Cup	SpeedSource	63
10	GS II	Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker	Porsche 911	Planet Earth Motorsport	63
11	GS II	Ward / Del Vecchio	Pontiac Firebird	Baughman Racing	63
12	GS II	Beaver / Smith	Porsche 996	TPC Racing	63
13	GS II	Barber / Borcheller	BMW M3	Bell Motorsports	62
14	GS II	Assentato / Longhi	Mustang Cobra R	TF Racing	62
15	GS I	Powell / Goad	Chevrolet Corvette	Powell Motorsport	62
16	GS II	Schuitemaker / Zacharias	Nissan 350Z	Schuitemaker Motorpsorts	62
17	GS II	Seafuse / Seafuse	Mustang Cobra R	JBS Motorsports	62
18	GS II	DeFontes / Brown	Mustang Cobra R	Frederick Motorsports	61
19	GS I	Lynn / France	Porsche GT3 Cup	dds Racing	61
20	GS II	Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker	Porsche 911	Planet Earth Motorsport	61
21	GS II	Masessa / Prilika	Porsche 993	G&W Motorsports	61
22	GS II	Abello / Tremblay / Schlesinger	Porsche 911	SpeedSource	60
23	GS II	Ackley / Snyder	Mustang Cobra SVT	CMA Sports	58
24	GS II	Knowles / Liebengood	BMW M3	Competition Preparation	56
25	GS II	Istook / Zube	Audi S4	Istook / Aines Motorsport	48
26	GS II	Rehagen / Martin	Mustang Cobra SVT	Rehagen Racing	39
27	GS I	Wilson / Merzon / Murry	Porsche GT3 Cup	Case-It Racing	36
28	GS II	Mountain / Lapcevich	Mustang Cobra R	Frederick Motorsports	34
29	GS I	Huang / Hall	Chevrolet Corvette	Silverstone Racing Services	32
30	GS I	Kohler / Smith	Saleen SR	TF Racing	30
31	GS I	Lacey / Wilkins	Porsche GT3 Cup	Doncaster Racing	28
32	GS II	Yeakle / Baughman / Shannonman	Pontiac Firebird	Baughman Racing	19
32	GS II	Jones / Hilliar	Chevrolet Camaro	Precision Motor Werks	3

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