2014 Watkins Glen International - Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge

In 2013, there were negotiations were underway that resulted in the merging of the Grand American Road Racing Association and the America Le Mans Series. There was little impact on the Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge (CTSC) – the series continued with the same classes but ran as a support event for the new Tudor United Sportscar Championship. The amalgamation resulted in the CTSC championship competing at some new venues.

The 2014 season consists of twelve race weekends. It starts in January at Daytona International Speedway, followed by the series’ first visit to Sebring International Raceway since the days of the Motorola Cup in 2000. In May, teams travel to the West Coast for an event at California’s Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The championship will then return to the East to make a stop at Lime Rock Park during the Memorial Day weekend. Two weeks later, the series moves on to Kansas Speedway, followed by Watkins Glen International. Round seven takes place north of the border at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. At the end of July, teams make their way to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Next on the schedule are Road America and Virginia International Raceway. The penultimate round will be held at Circuit of the Americas with the finale taking place in early October at Road Atlanta.

The cars are relatively unchanged from their road-going versions – modifications are mandated mainly for safety – roll cages, window nets, etc. They also use spec DOT-approved tires produced by Continental. Based on performance potential, the cars are divided into one of two groups:

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 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.

Watkins Glen International was round six of the twelve conducted during the 2014 Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge season. Drivers would compete on the eleven-turn 3.40-mile road course for two-hours and thirty-minutes in the Continental Tire 150 at The Glen.

The first twenty-five-minutes of the contest were run under a full course yellow. Two incidents damaged eight cars, of which five were unable to restart the race.

The Grand Sport pace lap for round six of the 2014 Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge at Watkins Glen International. Leading the field of twenty-five competitors into corner nine is the pole-winning No. 01 CKS Autosport Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R shared by Eric Curran and Lawson Aschenbach. Next to the CKS Camaro is a similar model entered by Stevenson Motorsports and driven by Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis.

At Watkins Glen International, the No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R duo of Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis won their second Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge race of the season. Davis was responsible for qualifying the Camaro and started on the outside of the front row. Liddell drove the final stint and passed the leader, Lawson Aschenbach, with forty-five-minutes left in the event.

Last year at Watkins Glen, Kyle Gimple and Ryan Eversley finished second in the Street Tuner category. In 2014, they would redeem themselves. Gimple qualified the No. 75 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si and was third in class. He kept the Honda in contention before the driver change. Eversley chased the class-leading Porsche of Remo Ruscitti until it ran out of fuel. Eversley inherited the top spot and claimed the victory.

B.J. Zacharias missed capturing his and co-driver, Brad Jaeger’s first victory by 0.169-seconds. Jaeger was eighth fastest in qualifying. During his time in the No. 14 Nissan 370Z, he kept pace with the leaders. Zacharias drove the second half of the race and as it came to a conclusion, he found himself closing on Robin Liddell, who was running out of fuel. Zacharias closed on Liddell but had to settle for second place.

The Nonnamaker brothers, Wayne and Will earned their second consecutive Street Tuner podium at Watkins Glen International. In the previous round at Kansas Speedway, they scored a runner-up result. The No. 42 Team Sahlen Porsche Cayman started thirty-sixth overall and crossed the finish line in third place. However, the No. 5 CJ Wilson Mazda failed the post-race inspection and the Nonnamakers were awarded second.

It was a character-building weekend for the Grand Sports points leader, Trent Hindman. Hindman shared the No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3 with John Edwards. Hindman qualified and started third overall. Shortly after the driver change, Edwards had contact with the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R of Andy Lally. The BMW was damaged, but the crew made repairs and the drivers were able to finish nineteenth in class.

The Street Tuner pace lap for round six of the 2014 Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge at Watkins Glen International. On the pole is the No. 3 CJ Wilson Racing Mazda MX-5 piloted by Tyler McQuarrie and Marc Miller. Starting in the second spot is the No. 50 BERG Racing Porsche Cayman of John Weisberg and Cody Ellsworth. There were thirty-four Street Tuner cars entered in this event.

Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi won three Continental Tire Sportcar Challenge races last season on the way to the Grand Sport championship. But this year, the pair didn’t find the top step of the podium until round four at Lime Rock Park. The No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche 997 started in the seventh position. After sixty-two laps of competition, the duo earned the final spot on the class rostrum.

Sharing the No. 93 HART Honda Civic Si were Chad Gilsinger and Michael Valiante. Valiante was splitting his time between the Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge and TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. Their season got off to a slow start, but in the previous round at Kansas Speedway, they grabbed the win. At Watkins Glen, the duo started fifth in class and inherited a third-place finish after the No. 5 Mazda disqualification.

The No. 5 CJ Wilson Racing Mazda MX-5 was co-driven by Stevan McAleer and Chad McCumbee. The Mazda started fifty-sixth overall and thirty-first in the Street Tuner category. After an exceptional run, the pair crossed the finish line second in class. Unfortunately, the post-race technical inspection revealed the Mazda was installed with unapproved bushings. McAleer and McCumbee were disqualified.

Eric Curran and Lawson Aschenbach could often be found near the top of the timesheets after qualifying, but the same could not be said for their race results. In the five starts prior to Watkins Glen, their season highlight was a runner-up finish at Laguna Seca; however, the other results were outside the top-ten. In round six, the No. 01 CKS Autosport Chevrolet Camaro Z.28.R was gridded on the pole but finished seventh.

It was heartbreak again for the two young Canadian drivers, Remo Ruscitti and Adam Isman. In the previous round at Kansas, the pair was in control when, Ruscitti had a pit violation, which resulted in a drive-through penalty. At Watkins Glen International, the No. 04 Autometrics Motorsports Porsche Cayman was in first place when the car ran out of fuel in the closing laps. The pair was classified twenty-fourth in class.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	GS	Liddell / Davis	Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R	62	-
2	GS	Zacharias / Jaeger	Nissan 370Z	62	-
3	GS	Plumb / Longhi	Porsche 997	62	-
4	GS	Lally / Bell	Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R	62	-
5	GS	Rezzetano / Aquilante	Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	62	-
6	GS	Maxwell / Buford	Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	62	-
7	GS	Curran / Aschenbach	Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R	62	-
8	GS	Bell / Cameron	Nissan 370Z	62	-
9	GS	Barkey / Marcelli	Porsche 997	62	-
10	GS	McCalmont / Michaelian	Chevrolet Camaro GS.R	62	-
11	GS	Marsal / Kimber-Smith	BMW M3	61	-
12	GS	Geraci / Lewis / Bavaro	Porsche 997	61	-
13	ST	Gimple / Eversley	Honda Civic Si	61	-
14	GS	Ecklin, Jr. / Phillips	Aston Martin Vantage	61	-
15	ST	Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker	Porsche Cayman	61	-
16	ST	Gilsinger / Valiante	Honda Civic Si	61	-
17	ST	Pombo / Pombo	Mazda MX-5	61	-
18	ST	Jonsin / Lewis	Porsche Cayman	61	-
19	GS	D'Arcy / Argetsinge	BMW M3	61	-
20	ST	Leroux / Leroux	Honda Civic Si	61	-
21	GS	Kleeman / McIntosh II	Nissan 370Z	61	-
22	ST	McQuarrie / Miller	Mazda MX-5	61	-
23	ST	Borcheller / LaMarra	BMW 128i	61	-
24	ST	Cattaneo / Trinkler	Honda Civic Si	61	-
25	ST	Mosing / Foss	BMW 328i	61	-
26	GS	Bize / Levine	Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	60	-
27	ST	Friedman / Martin	Porsche Cayman	60	-
28	ST	Liefooghe / Cooke	BMW 328	60	-
29	ST	Zimmermann / Fergus	BMW 328i	60	-
30	ST	Vance / Miller	Honda Civic Si	60	-
31	ST	Strelzoff / Bloum	BMW 128i	60	-
32	ST	Rogers / Thomas	BMW 328	60	-
33	GS	Riddle / Wilson	Aston Martin Vantage	60	-
34	ST	Belluardo / Uglum	Porsche Cayman	60	-
35	GS	Yarosz / Calvert	Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	60	-
36	ST	Giovanis / Murry	BMW 328	60	-
37	ST	Probert / Mosing / Piscitell	BMW 328i	60	-
38	ST	Abdolvahabi / Thilenius	Hyundai Genesis	60	-
39	ST	Doherty / Heitkotter	Nissan Altima	59	Not Running
40	ST	Sahlen / Nonnamaker	Porsche Cayman	58	-
41	GS	Hindman / Edwards	BMW M3	58	-
42	ST	Murcott / Machavern	BMW 128	58	-
43	ST	Ruscitti / Isman	Porsche Boxster	56	Not Running
44	ST	Pobst / Carbonell	Mazda MX-5	56	-
45	ST	Eich / Boehm	Honda Civic Si	49	-
46	ST	Weisberg / Schultz	Porsche Boxster	47	Not Running
47	ST	Clay / Briedis	BMW 328i	46	-
48	ST	Landy / Buras	Hyundai Genesis	34	Not Running
49	GS	Golinello / Galante	Ford Mustang Boss 302R	33	Not Running
50	ST	Jones / Kozarov	Nissan Altima	20	Not Running
51	ST	Weisberg / Ellsworth	Porsche Boxster	20	Not Running
52	GS	Montgomery / Tarpley	Chevrolet Camaro GS.R	20	Not Running
53	ST	Fassnacht / Long	Mazda MX-5	12	Not Running
54	GS	Mason / Kleinubing	Subaru WRX-STI	1	Not Running
55	GS	Carter / Sandberg	Porsche 997	0	Not Running
56	GS	Farano / Empringham	Nissan 370Z	0	Not Running
57	GS	Mantella / Wilkins	Aston Martin Vantage	0	Not Running
58	GS	James / Johnson	Ford Mustang Boss 302 R	0	Not Running
59	ST	McAleer / McCumbee	Mazda MX-5	61	Excluded

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