2006 Mid-Ohio - Grand-Am

The 2006 Grand American Road Racing Championship (Grand Am) was the seventh season of the series. A business model which controlled costs, had stable rules and avoided being dependent on automotive manufacturers attracted many private teams. Based on the failure, of its predecessor, the United States Road Racing Championship in 1999 critics suggested that the Grand Am would suffer a similar fate. This was proving not to be the case as entries were continuing to grow with each year.

In the first season of Grand Am competition there were five classes but in 2005 the series had reduced the number to two categories:

Daytona Prototype (DP): This class was introduced in 2003 and was established to replace the two existing Sports Racing Prototype groups. To control costs, the cars used a tube frame chassis rather than the expensive composites used to construct most prototype race cars. Also, expenses were contained by limiting modifications and implementing rules that would be in place for five years. Approved to produce the first generation of Daytona Prototypes - for a cost of approximately $400,000 were: Riley Technologies, Doran Designs, Crawford Race Cars, Fabcar Engineering, Chase Competition Engineering, Picchio and Multimatic. Costs were also controlled by restricting the engines to production based motors supplied by Pontiac, Lexus, BMW, Porsche, Ford and Infiniti. Engine displacement was used to determine the weight of a car and whether a five or six-speed transmission could be utilized.
Grand Touring (GT): In 2004, there were two production-based classes: Grand Touring and Super Grand Sport which initially competed in the Grand Am Cup division. These two categories were combined into a single class in 2005. Participating in this group are manufacturers such as Porsche, BMW, Chevrolet, Mazda, Ferrari and Pontiac. As with the Daytona Prototypes, engine displacement was used to establish the weight of different makes and models.

As in the past, the season opened in January with the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway and ended in Utah at Miller Motorsports Park. In between these two venues, there were events at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Long Beach, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Lime Rock Park, Watkins Glen, Barber Motorsports Park, Mid-Ohio, Virginia International Raceway, Phoenix International Raceway and Infineon Raceway. There was a total of fifteen events with the series competing at Daytona and Watkins Glen twice.

Mid-Ohio was race ten of the fifteen rounds contested during the 2006 Grand-Am season. Forty-five entries started the EMCO Gears Classic around the 2.258-mile thirteen-turn road course.

The front row for the 2006 EMCO Gears Classic. On the pole is the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Crawford DP03 driven by Patrick Long and Mike Rockenfeller. Sharing the front row is the Gainsco Auto Insurance sponsored Riley MK XI shared by Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty. The Job and Gainsco entries were fourth and fifth quickest in qualifying but penalties assessed to the three fastest car gave them first and second on the grid.

The No. 12 Pontiac-powered Riley MK XI was the third fastest car at the conclusion of qualifying. After the session, a technical inspection determined that the Riley was too wide and it was sent to the rear of the grid for the start. During the race drivers, Adrian Fernandez and Mario Haberfield moved through the field. A single stop strategy on lap-41 allowed them to take the lead late in the contest and hold on for the victory.

This is all that was left of the GT pole-winning Matt Connelly BMW M3 after an incident on lap-93. Joey Hand and Chris Gleason shared the M3. Hand was behind the wheel and went off track when he and Paul Edwards made contact while battling for the lead. The BMW hit a drainage ditch causing the car to flip multiple times and land on its roof. Hand suffered some injuries but was at the track the following day.

Robin Liddell was third in the GT class when the BMW of Joey Hand and Paul Edwards in the Pontiac GTO-R made contact. The incident allowed Liddell to slip into the lead and when officials ended the race under a caution, he and his teammate, Wolf Henzler were assured of the win. They were victorious in the previous round at Watkins Glen – this marked the third time they were first in class at the checkered flag.

The penalty imposed on the three fastest qualifiers moved the No. 23 Alex Job entry to the top of the grid. Patrick Long and Mike Rockenfeller shared the Porsche-powered Crawford DP03 and were originally scheduled to start fourth. Unfortunately, they encountered an electrical issue which caused the battery to go flat. The pair dropped down the order and finished thirty-fourth overall and twentieth in class.

Paul Edwards was second in the GT category as the race drew to a conclusion. Edwards was battling with the class-leading BMW of Joey Hand when the two made contact on the back straight. He slowed when Hand’s car when end-over-end allowing third-place Robin Liddell to take the lead. Edwards maintained his position allowing him and his teammate, Kelly Collins to finish second.

Benefitting from a post-qualifying technical inspection, was the Bob Stalling entry which moved from fifth to second on the starting grid. The No. 99 Pontiac-powered Riley MK XI was raced by Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty. Fogarty moved into the lead on lap-41 and led for thirty circuits before he pitted for fuel and surrendered the lead the Fernandez entry. He and Gurney would grab the final spot on the class podium.

Eighteen Grand Touring cars line-up behind the Daytona Prototypes. The fastest qualifier was Joey Hand in the No. 21 Matt Connelly BMW M3 which he shared with Chris Gleason. Beside Hand are the winners of the previous round at Watkins Glen, Robin Liddell and Wolf Henzler. Behind the front row is the second Tafel Racing entry driven Andrew Davis and Jim Tafel and the Corvette of Leighton Reese and Tim Gaffney.

The No. 76 Krohn Racing Riley MK XI was one of the three entries that failed the post-qualifying technical inspection - the team was moved from the pole position to twenty-fifth. The car was driven by Colin Braun and Jorg Bergmeister. As was the case with the winning Fernandez team, they overcame the penalty and moved through the field and were second overall and in class at the checkered flag.

Eddie Cheever’s Porsche-powered Crawford DP03 was raced by Christian Fittipaldi and Hoover Orsi. When the penalties had been handed out after qualifying, Fittipaldi and Orsi found themselves third on the grid. During the race, Orsi was involved in an incident with Burt Frisselle, driving the Synergy Racing Doran JE4. The duo finished nineteenth in the Daytona Prototype category and thirty-second overall.

The Chip Ganassi entry was the third car deemed to be too wide and put to the rear of the Daytona Prototype field. Driven by Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz, the Lexus-powered Riley was originally scheduled to start second. It would only get worse for the usually very competitive duo. Pruett was sixth when he was an innocent bystander in an incident between the Cheever and Synergy Racing entries. He and Diaz finished thirty-sixth.

Tafel Racing entered two very quick Porsche GT Cup cars. The No. 73 was shared by Andrew Davis and team principal, Jim Tafel. At the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, they qualified third in the Grand Touring category and thirtieth overall. Their best finish to date was a fifth in class at Mexico City. This weekend would be their worst result of the 2006 season as, after only four laps, they were the first team to retire.

The second The Racer’s Group Pontiac GTO-R was driven by Marc Bunting, R.J. Valentine and Andy Lally. The trio teamed up to win the rounds at Virginia International Raceway and Lime Rock Park. They started the EMCO Gears 200 thirty-second overall and fifth in class. A poorly timed pit-stop caused the team to lose a lap but they still managed to finish third in class and retain the points lead.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	DP	Fernandez / Haberfeld	Riley Mk XI Pontiac	99	-
2	DP	Bergmeister / Braun	Riley Mk XI Ford	99	-
3	DP	Gurney / Fogarty	Riley Mk XI Pontiac	99	-
4	DP	Taylor / Angelelli / Briscoe / Magnussen	Riley Mk XI Pontiac	99	-
5	DP	Wallace / Leitzinger	Crawford DP03 Pontiac	99	-
6	DP	Dalziel / Figge	Riley Mk XI Pontiac	99	-
7	DP	Negri / Patterson	Riley Mk XI Lexus	99	-
8	DP	Donohue / Law	Fabcar FDSC/03 Porsche	99	-
9	DP	Borkowski / Constantine	Riley Mk XI Lexus	99	-
10	DP	Valiante / Finlay	Crawford DP03 Ford	99	-
11	DP	France / Haywood	Fabcar FDSC/03 Porsche	99	-
12	DP	Ruhlman / Bingham	Riley Mk XI Pontiac	99	-
13	DP	Borcheller / Brix	Doran JE4 Ford	98	-
14	DP	Drissi / Gentilozzi	Crawford DP03 Ford	98	-
15	DP	Krohn / Jonsson	Riley Mk XI Ford	98	-
16	DP	Morgan / Morgan	Riley Mk XI Porsche	97	-
17	DP	Lewis / Stanton	Riley Mk XI BMW	96	-
18	GT	Henzler / Liddell	Porsche GT3 Cup	96	-
19	GT	Edwards / Collins	Pontiac GTO.R	96	-
20	GT	Lally / Bunting / Valentine	Pontiac GTO.R	95	-
21	DP	Duno / Beretta	Riley Mk XI Pontiac	94	-
22	GT	Lacey / Wilkins	Porsche GT3 Cup	94	-
23	GT	Gaffney / Reese	Chevrolet Corvette	94	-
24	GT	Murry / Keen	Porsche GT3 Cup	94	-
25	GT	Gleason / Hand	BMW M3	93	Accident
26	GT	Valentine / Zacharias	Porsche GT3 Cup	93	-
27	GT	Lux / James	Porsche GT3 Cup	93	-
28	GT	Beachman / Fitzgerald	Chevrolet Corvette	92	-
29	GT	Workman / Arnold	Chevrolet Corvette	91	-
30	GT	Levitas / Pumpelly / Angelone	Porsche GT3 Cup	90	-
31	GT	Toussaint / Connolly	BMW M3	89	-
32	DP	Fittipaldi / Orsi	Crawford DP03 Porsche	89	-
33	GT	MacLeod / Sigal	BMW M3	88	-
34	DP	Long / Rockenfeller	Crawford DP03 Porsche	88	-
35	GT	Hupfer / McKenzie	Porsche GT3 Cup	88	-
36	DP	Pruett / Diaz	Riley Mk XI Lexus	85	-
37	DP	Frisselle / Frisselle	Doran JE4 Porsche	83	-
38	GT	Auberlen / Alhadeff	BMW M3	80	-
39	DP	Gidley / McDowell	Crawford DP03 Ford	70	Did Not Finish
40	DP	Goad / Camirand	Crawford DP03 Pontiac	69	Did Not Finish
41	DP	Cummins / Ave	Riley Mk XI Pontiac	57	Did Not Finish
42	GT	Nearn / Johnson	Porsche GT3 Cup	38	Did Not Finish
43	GT	Baas / Pumpelly / Pobst	Porsche GT3 Cup	25	Did Not Finish
44	DP	Tuttle / Cochet	Riley Mk XI Pontiac	25	Did Not Finish
45	GT	Davis / Tafel	Porsche GT3 Cup	4	Did Not Finish

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