2004 Phoenix International Raceway

On October 15, 2003, a significant restructuring of the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series and Grand Am Cup classes was announced. Starting next year, the Grand Sport I (GS I) cars would be called Super Grand Sport (SGS) and compete in the Rolex Sports Car Series. Following this news, there were changes in the Grand Am Cup category. In 2004, there would be a single Grand Sport (GS) and Sport Touring (ST) class.

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, Pontiac Firebird, Ford Mustang, Nissan 350Z and Porsche 996.
Sport Touring (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 Acura RSX, Mazda RX-8, BMW Z3, BMW 330i, Acura Integra Type R and Mini Cooper S.

While the classifications changed the rules remained the same. 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 Hoosier. Based on performance potential, the cars are placed in the Grand Sport or Sport Touring group.

The 2004 season consists of ten race weekends and starts in January at Daytona International Speedway, which is followed by a second event in Florida at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In April, the series will make a visit to Phoenix International Raceway for the Twin 200s. The Grand Sport and Sport Touring teams will compete in separate races. Then the series travels north of the border to compete at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant. After this event, race weekends will take place Watkins Glen International, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and a second visit to Homestead-Miami Speedway. The final three rounds will be conducted in October and start with Virginia International Raceway. The penultimate weekend is at Alabama’s, Barber Motorsport Park, with the finale taking place at California Speedway.

Round three of the 2004 Grand Am Cup season was held at Phoenix International Raceway. The series conducted separate races for the Grand Sport and Sport Touring classes. The Grand Sport teams would compete Friday evening on Phoenix’s 1.51-mile roval in the Twin 200.

The start of round three for the Grand Am Cup Grand Sport competitors at Phoenix International. On the pole is the No.33 Unitech Racing Nissan 350Z of Mike Cronin, Jr. Beside Cronin, Jr. is the point’s leader, Craig Stanton, in TheRaceSite.com sponsored Porsche 996. In the second row is Canadian, Greg Wilkins in the Doncaster Racing prepared Porsche 996 and the No. 35 Nissan 350Z driven by Michiel Schuitemaker.

Craig Stanton and Terry Borcheller won the first two rounds of the season driving, the No. 44 Porsche 996. The Grand Sport point’s leaders scored their third victory of the year at Phoenix. The pair topped the timesheets in the two practice sessions and Stanton qualified on the outside of the front row. Borcheller took the lead in the race and went on to grab the win when the Unitech Nissan encountered problems.

Last year’s Grand Sport I champions, Doncaster Racing, were having a difficult start to the season. In the first two races of the season, they only managed fifteenth and nineteenth place finishes. At Phoenix International Raceway, the team was back on form. Greg Wilkins was sharing the Porsche with the team’s primary driver, Robert Julien and was third quickest in qualifying. Julien was in second place at the end of the race.

It was an eventful weekend for the second Unitech Racing entry. Sharing the No. 23 Nissan 350Z was Blake Rosser and Kelly Collins. Rosser was to qualify the Nissan, but the session was cut short when he caused an incident. The pair started second last in the twenty-eight car field. They moved up the order and inherited a third-place finish when the Nonnamaker Porsche was penalized for an aggressive pass.

The second TheRaceSite.com Porsche 996 was shared by the father and son team of Joe and Wayne Nonnamaker. The senior Nonnamaker qualified the Porsche and was seventeenth fastest. Wayne was in fourth place with six-laps remaining in the event when he clipped the Istook / Aines Motorsport Audi S4, causing it to spin. Nonnamaker was penalized ten-seconds for the aggressive move and finished fourth.

The No. 33 Unitech Racing Nissan 350Z driven by Mike Cronin, Jr. and Stu Hayner finished third in the opening round at Daytona International Speedway. The team struggled in race two at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but at Phoenix, Cronin put the Nissan on the pole. They were competitive and led for more than half the contest before a half-shaft failed on lap-75. The crew repaired the car and they returned to finish twentieth.

The round three Grand Am Cup Grand Sport podium at Phoenix International Raceway. In the center are the winners from TheRaceSite.com, Craig Stanton and Terry Borcheller. The pair had a commanding lead in the Driver’s points after three victories and three races. Standing on the left and earning their first rostrum of the year are Greg Wilkins and Robert Julien. Completing the podium are Blake Rosser and Kelly Collins.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS
1	GS	Stanton / Borcheller	Porsche 996	The Race Site.com	128
2	GS	Wilkins / Julien	Porsche 996	Doncaster Racing	128
3	GS	Rosser / Collins	Nissan 350Z	Unitech Racing	127
4	GS	Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker	Porsche 996	The Race Site.com	127
5	GS	Crescentini / Pobst	Audi S4	LM Racing	127
6	GS	Plummer / Cosmo	Porsche 996	BGB Motorsports	126
7	GS	Picket / Pumpelly	Porsche 996	Race Prep Motorsports	126
8	GS	Thornton / Russell	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	126
9	GS	Schuitemaker / Zacharias	Nissan 350Z	Schuitemaker Motorsports	125
10	GS	MacDonald / Brown	Ford Mustang Cobra	Frederick Motorsports	125
11	GS	Powell / Weinberg	Cadillac CTS-V	Powell Motorsport	125
12	GS	Shreiner / Lapcevich	Ford Mustang Cobra	Shreiner Racing	125
13	GS	Wortzman / McCalmont	BMW M3	Zoom Motorsports	125
14	GS	Snipes / Sachs	Cadillac CTS-V	Snipes Motorsport	123
15	GS	MacAlpine / Rehagen	Ford Mustang Cobra	Rehagen Racing	123
16	GS	Duarta / Bailey	Acura NSX	DAL Motorsports	122
17	GS	Masessa / Nonnamaker	Porsche 996	The Race Site.com	120
18	GS	Stubbs / Camp	Ford Mustang Cobra	Frederick Motorsports	120
19	GS	Zavodsky / Martin	Mustang Cobra SVT	Rehagen Racing	118
20	GS	Cronin / Hayner	Nissan 350Z	Unitech Racing	100
21	GS	Kohler / Smith	Mustang Saleen	TF Racing	78
22	GS	Smith / Levitas	Porsche 996	Race Prep Motorsports	69
23	GS	Assentato / Earl	Mustang Saleen	TF Racing	52
24	GS	Yeakle / Baughman	Pontiac Firebird	Michael Baughman Racing	48
25	GS	Duarta / Bailey / Morrison	Acura NSX	DAL Motorsports	24
26	GS	Krohn / Fox	Porsche 996	G&W Motorsports	21
27	GS	Hainer / Istook	Audi S4	Istook / Aines Motorsport Group	15
28	GS	Sofronas / Munson	BMW M3	Anchor Racing	0

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