2004 Watkins Glen International

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 five of the 2004 Grand Am Cup series was conducted at Watkins Glen International. Teams would compete in The Glen 250 around the eleven-turn 3.337-mile road course.

A field of fifty-seven Grand Am Cup competitors heads in to turn one for The Glen 250 at Watkins Glen International. Side-by-side entering the first corner is the pole-winning Porsche 966 of Doncaster Racing and the Frederick Ford Mustang Cobra, which started second. Immediately behind the fastest qualifiers are the Shreinder Racing Ford Mustang, the Unitech Racing Nissan 350Z and the BGB Motorsports Porsche 996.

The Grand Sport point’s leader, Craig Stanton and his driving partner, David Murry, qualified forty-seventh overall and twenty-third in class. That seemed of little consequence as the pair maneuvered their way through the field and were in second place with less than fifteen minutes left on the clock. Murry passed the race leader, B.J. Zacharias just before a full-course caution with four laps remaining and held on for the win.

Turner Motorsport finally found the top step of the Sport Touring podium. The No. 97 entry, driven by Tim Pappas and Bill Auberlen, started fourth in class. Near the end of the contest, the duo was leading when they were passed by Lexus of Chuck Goldsborough and Ian James. The Turner BMW crossed the finish line in second place, but the Lexus had passed under a yellow and Papps and Auberlen were awarded the victory.

Doncaster Racing’s principal driver, Robert Julien, was again paired with fellow Canadian, Greg Wilkins. The No. 91 Porsche 966 started on the pole with Wilkins behind the wheel. He led much of the race until the pit-stop for fuel and a driver change. Julien moved up the race order and into the lead. He was unable to match the pace set by the Nissan of B.J. Zacharias and David Murry driving a Porsche. Julien finished third.

A surprise for the series regulars was the qualifying performance of the No. 15 Frederick Motorsports Ford Mustang Cobra shared by Corey Rudl and David Brown. The Ruhl/Brown Mustang was gridded on the outside of the front row. To date, the team’s best qualifying result was a tenth place at Mont-Tremblant. At Watkins Glen International, the team fell off the pace and finished thirteenth.

The Grand Am Cup Grand Sport podium for round five of the series at Watkins Glen International. In the center are the winners from TheRaceSite.com, David Murry and Craig Stanton. This was Stanton’s fourth victory of the season and extended his points lead. On the right are the runner-ups, Michiel Schuitemaker and B.J. Zacharias, who delivered their best result to date. Completing the rostrum is Greg Wilkins and Robert Julien.

Sharing the No. 2 Lexus IS300 was Ian James and the team principal, Chuck Goldsborough. They started The Glen 250 twenty-fourth overall and sixth in class. The Lexus moved past the race leading Turner Motorsport BMW during the second last caution period and held to position to the finish. However, the officials determined that the pass was under a yellow condition and Goldsborough and James were classified as the runner-ups.

Recording their best performance of the season was Schuitemaker Motorsports. Drivers, B.J. Zacharias and Michiel Schuitemaker captured a season-high fourth-place finish at Mont-Tremblant but outdid this result at Watkins Glen. Piloting the No. 35 Nissan, the pair started twelfth and moved into contention during the event. A late-race pass, by David Murry, just before the final caution period, dropped Zacharias to second place.

At Phoenix International Raceway, Bob Beede began starting to ‘rack up’ podium finishes. At Phoenix, he was third in Sport Touring, followed by the same result at Mont-Tremblant. In round five, at Watkins Glen International, Beede was back on the rostrum. This weekend, he was shared the No 29 Acura RSX-S with the team owner, Bill Fenton. The pair started second in class and were in third place at the checkered flag.

The No. 27 Bill Fenton Motorsports Acura RSX-S was remarkably fast in qualifying. At the end of the session, the Acura was quickest in the Sport Touring category and would start an incredible ninth overall in a field of fifty-seven starters. Driving the Acura were Bob Endicott and Eric Curran. The team dominated early in the event but after contact with the No. 3 Lexus, they fell off the pace and finished eighteenth in class.

The Grand Sport podium did not reflect the final results at Mont-Tremblant and the same could be said about the Sport Touring rostrum at Watkins Glen. Occupying the winner’s spot are Ian James and Chuck Goldsborough. An error during the contest caused series officials to give the victory to Tim Pappas and Bill Auberlen – Will Turner stood in for Auberlen. Goldsborough and James were demoted to second while Beede and Fenton finished third.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS
1	GS	Stanton / Murry	Porsche 996	The Race Site.com	64
2	GS	Schuitemaker / Zacharias	Nissan 350Z	Schuitemaker Motorsports	64
3	GS	Wilkins / Julien	Porsche 996	Doncaster Racing	64
4	GS	Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker	Porsche 996	The Race Site.com	64
5	GS	Powell / Borcheller	Cadillac CTS-V	Powell Motorsport	64
6	GS	Rosser / Collins / Said	Nissan 350Z	Unitech Racing	64
7	GS	Fox / Krohn	Porsche 996	G&W Motorsports	64
8	GS	Finlay / McDowell	Porsche 996	BGB Motorsports	64
9	GS	Shanaman / Shanaman	Porsche 996	The Race Site.com	64
10	GS	MacAlpine / Rehagen	Ford Mustang Cobra	Rehagen Racing	64
11	GS	Ellis / Fero	Pontiac Firebird	Rehagen Racing	64
12	GS	Picket / Pumpelly / Levitas	Porsche 996	Race Prep Motorsports	64
13	GS	Rudl / Brown	Ford Mustang Cobra	Frederick Motorsports	64
14	GS	Cronin / Hayner	Nissan 350Z	Unitech Racing	64
15	ST	Pappas / Auberlen	BMW 330i	Turner Motorsport	64
16	ST	James / Goldsborough	Lexus IS300	Team Lexus	64
17	GS	Ackley / Martin	Mustang Cobra SVT	Rehagen Racing	64
18	GS	Pew / Patterson	Pontiac Firebird	Michael Baughman Racing	64
19	ST	Fenton / Beed	Acura RSX-S	Bill Fenton Motorsports	64
20	ST	Turner / Salama / Auberlen	BMW 330i	Turner Motorsport	64
21	ST	Haskell / Tremblay	Mazda RX-8	SpeedSource	64
22	ST	Schlesinger / Tuaty	Mazda RX-8	SpeedSource	64
23	ST	Himes / Ellinger	BMW Z3	ICY / SL Motorsports	64
24	ST	Abello / Theetge	Mazda RX-8	SpeedSource	64
25	ST	Fanelli / Wellman	Mazda RX-8	SpeedSource	64
26	ST	Walker / Wollersheim	Mazda RX-8	SpeedSource	64
27	GS	Duarta / Morrison / Halsmer	Acura NSX	DAL Motorsports	64
28	ST	Probert / Olsen / Munson	BMW 330i	QuickSilver Motorsports	64
29	ST	Henderson / Herr	Toyota Supra	Road Runner Racing	64
30	ST	Trudeau / Thomson	BMW Z3	Compass360 Racing	64
31	ST	Eaton / Howard	Mazda RX-8	Southpaw Racing	64
32	GS	Stubbs / Masessa	Porsche 996	The Race Site.com	64
33	ST	Moorcones / Piper	Acura Integra R	Craftsman Motorsports	64
34	ST	Shep / Lewis	Mini Cooper S	Nuzzo Motorsports	64
35	GS	Plummer / Cosmo	Porsche 996	BGB Motorsports	64
36	GS	Linville / Heath	Nissan 350Z	Schuitemaker Motorsports	63
37	ST	Niemeyer / Coletti	Acura Integra R	Colletti Motorsports	62
38	GS	Picket / Pumpelly / Levitas	Porsche 996	Race Prep Motorsports	61
39	GS	Shreiner / Wilden	Ford Mustang Cobra	Shreiner Racing	60
40	ST	Curran / Endicott	Acura RSX-S	Bill Fenton Motorsports	60
41	ST	Roach / Kimball	Dodge Neon SRT4	Roach Racing	59
42	ST	Mady / Brumbaugh	Lexus IS300	Team Lexus	59
43	GS	Assentato / Longhi	Mustang Saleen	TF Racing	57
44	ST	Lally / Dumoulin	Lexus IS300	Team Lexus	54
45	ST	Pawley / Peele	Toyota Supra	J Pauley Motorsports	54
46	ST	Briody / Connolly	BMW 330ci	Matt Connolly Motorsports	50
47	GS	Istook / Bailey	Audi S4	LSCI Motorsports	50
48	GS	Grala / Yeakle / Ludwig	Pontiac Firebird	Michael Baughman Racing	48
49	GS	Nyberg / Skelton / Jonsson	Lotus Esprit	Hyper Sport Engineering	46
50	ST	Nuzzo / Pattee	Mini Cooper S	Nuzzo Motorsports	31
51	GS	Keravich III / Trinkler / Linder	BMW M3	Power Racing Team	22
52	GS	Kopperl / Camp	Ford Mustang Cobra	Frederick Motorsports	22
53	GS	Sofronas / Munson	BMW M3	Anchor Racing	22
54	ST	Potts / Potter / Allen	Audi S4	LM Racing	14
55	GS	Sheehan / Hainer / Istook	Audi S4	Istook / Aines Motorsport Group	13
56	GS	Thornton / Russell	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	13
57	GS	Kohler / Smith	Mustang Saleen	TF Racing	6

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