2005 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

2005 was the fifth consecutive year of the Grand American Road Racing’s Grand Am Cup Series for American and Foreign sports cars and sedans.

There was a significant restructuring of the classes in 2004. The season debuted with a single Grand Sport (GS) and Street Tuner (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 2,730 – 3,250-pounds, which is dependent on the motor configuration and displacement. The top speed for a Grand Sport car is approximately 160-mph. This class includes cars such as the Acura NSX, Cadillac CTS-V, 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. The top speed of a Sport Touring car is approximately 135-mph. Popular vehicles found in this group are the Acura RSX-S, Mazda RX-8, BMW Z3, BMW 330i, Chevrolet Cobalt SS and Mini Cooper S.

The cars competing 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 are placed in the Grand Sport or Sport Touring group.

The 2005 season consists of eleven race weekends and starts in February at Daytona International Speedway. New for this year is a Grand Sport only race in Santo Domingo. Returning to the United States, teams travel to California Speedway in early April. At the end of the month, the series competes at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Then there is a trip to the East Coast for race weekends at Watkins Glen International, Mosport International Raceway, Barber Motorsports Park, Trois-Rivieres (which would hold events for the Grand Sport and Sport Touring classes) and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The penultimate rounds take place at Phoenix International Raceway with the Twin 200s. The Grand Sport and Street Tuner teams will compete in separate races. While the finale is held in early October at Virginia International Raceway.

The EMCO Gears 200 was held at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on the thirteen turn 2.258-mile road course. This would be round eight for the Grand Am Cup Sport Touring competitors and race nine for the Grand Sport teams as they had an additional event in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republican.

Thirty-three Grand Am Cup Sport Touring teams are gridded on Mid-Ohio’s front straight for round eight. The series uses a split start with the Sport Touring group starting behind the Grand Sport competitors. On the pole is the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW 330i shared by Don Salama and Will Turner. Beside the Turner entry and, delivering their best qualifying performance of the year, is the Compass 360 / Racing BMW Z3.

Justin Marks and Bill Auberlen entered round nine fresh off their victory at Trois-Rivieres. They were quickest in the practice sessions at the Mid-Ohio and Marks grabbed the pole. In fact, he was also the fastest in GT qualifying for the EMCO Gears Classic. During the race, Marks battled for the lead with Spencer Pumpelly but handed the BMW over to Auberlen in first place. Aubelen drove the BMW to the team’s fourth win of 2005.

In the previous round at Trois Rivieres, Jamie Holtom and Andy Lally started tenth and finished fourteenth. At the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the pair were seeking some redemption. This weekend, Holtom qualified the No. 00 Georgian Bay Motorsports Chevrolet Cobalt sixth in Sport Touring. During his stint, Lally was in second but he took first place and the win when the leader, Don Salama, had contact with a lapped car.

Multimatic Motorsports drivers, David Empringham and Scott Maxwell, found themselves chasing the Turner Motorsport BMW all weekend. Empringham, the Grand Sport points leader’ was third fastest in qualifying. During his time behind the wheel, Empringham chased Justin Marks and Spencer Pumpelly. After the driver change, Maxwell found himself in seventeenth place but moved through the field to finish in the runner-up position.

The pole position for the Sport Touring category changed several times in the final minutes. After the checkered flag fell to end the session, Will Turner was quickest. Sharing the No. 95 BMW 330i with Turner was Don Salama. The pair were dominating the race and looked like they might score their first win of the season until a lapped Mini turned into Salama. He was knocked off course and returned to finish second in class.

The first lap through the ‘Carousel’ for the overall and Grand Sport leaders. It was mission accomplished for Turner Motorsport driver, Justin Marks, who wanted to beat the field into the first corner. Behind Marks is the second-fastest qualifier, Spencer Pumpelly driving Race Prep Motorsports Porsche 996. Following Pumpelly is the Multimatic Ford Mustang GT, piloted by the current points leader and third-place starter, David Empringham.

Spencer Pumpelly repeated his Trois-Rivieres qualifying performance and put the Race Prep Motorsports Porsche 996 on the outside of the front row. Mike Pickett was Pumpelly’s co-driver at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course round. During the first half of the race, Pumpelly traded the lead with the pole-sitter, Justin Marks. Pickett drove the final stint but issues with the No. 18 Porsche resulted in an eighteenth-place finish.

Fifth fastest during the Sport Touring qualifying session was Eric Curran driving the Bill Fenton Motorsports Acura RSX-S. Sharing the Acura with Curran was Bob Endicott. These two very quick drivers had two podium finishes together but hadn’t yet made it to the top step in 2005. Before the driver change, Curran moved into second place. During his stint, Endicott was passed by Don Salama and Andy Lally and finished third.

A surprise in the Sport Touring category was the speed of the No. 06 BMW Z3. Team owner Karl Thomson put young ‘hot shoe’ Billy Johnson in the driver’s seat for qualifying and he recorded the second quickest time. In addition to Johnson and Thomson, the BMW would also be raced by David Ciekiewicz. Johnson led until the first round of pit-stops. After the driver change, the team fell out of contention and finished eighth.

It was a great weekend for a local team, Team Sahlen. Ohio residents, Joe and Wayne Nonnamaker shared, the No. 40 Porsche 996. The former Grand Am Cup championship team started the EMCO 200 in seventh place. The final spot on the overall and Grand Sport podium was hotly contested during the final minutes of the event. The father and son team prevailed and captured third place - giving them their best result of the season.

The Sport Touring points leader, David Haskell, was responsible for the qualifying the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8. He and Sylvain Tremblay would start third in Sport Touring. The pair were unable to maintain the pace of the class leaders and finish fifth. After the race, Haskell was still on top of the standings by two points over his teammate, Tremblay and seven markers over Don Salama and Will Turner, third in the title chase.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS
1	GS	Marks / Auberlen	BMW M3	Turner Motorsport	82
2	GS	Empringham / Maxwell	Ford Mustang GT	Multimatic Motorsports	82
3	GS	Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker	Porsche 996	Team Sahlen	82
4	GS	Rosser / Murry	Porsche 996	Fiorano Racing	82
5	GS	Wilkins / Lacey	Porsche 996	Doncaster Racing	82
6	GS	Stanton / Pumpelly	Porsche 996	Race Prep Motorsports	82
7	GS	Skelton / Foster	BMW M3	Anchor Racing	82
8	GS	Plummer / Cosmo	Porsche 996	BGB Motorsports	82
9	GS	Wellon / Ellis / Rossi	Porsche 996	Knobel Racing	81
10	GS	Keravich III / Trinkler	BMW M3	Power Racing Team	81
11	GS	Segal / Longhi	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	81
12	GS	Schuitemaker / Zacharias	Nissan 350Z	Schuitemaker Motorsports	81
13	GS	Kohler / Smith / Martin	Mustang Saleen	TF Racing	81
14	ST	Holtom / Lally	Chevrolet Cobalt	Georgian Bay Motorsports	81
15	ST	Salama / Turner	BMW 330ci	CSL Racing	81
16	ST	Curran / Endicott	Acura RSX-S	Bill Fenton Motorsports	81
17	ST	Fitzgerald / Pfeffer	BMW 330i	Turner Motorsport	81
18	GS	Lehmann / Lacy	Ford Mustang GT	Champion Motorsports	81
19	ST	Haskell / Tremblay	Mazda RX-8	SpeedSource	80
20	GS	Rossi / Fox	Porsche 996	Knobel Racing	80
21	GS	Traver / Miller	Porsche 996	BGB Motorsports	80
22	GS	Brown / Foster	Porsche 996	Performance Imports	80
23	ST	Stewart / Plumb	Acura TSX	Stewart Motorsport	80
24	GS	Stanton / Pumpelly / Pickett	Porsche 996	Race Prep Motorsports	80
25	ST	Povoledo / Walker	Acura RSX-S	Kensai Racing	80
26	GS	Thornton / Russell	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	79
27	ST	Johnson / Ciekiewicz / Thomson	BMW Z3	Compass360/Racing	79
28	ST	Colembie / Tuaty	BMW Z4	TC Kline Racing	79
29	ST	Milner / Connolly	BMW 330ci	Matt Connolly Motorsports	79
30	ST	Lepper / Roach	Chevrolet Cobalt	Franklin American Mortgage	79
31	ST	Halpin / Briody	BMW 330ci	Matt Connolly Motorsports	79
32	ST	Liebl / Fenton	Acura RSX-S	Bill Fenton Motorsports	79
33	ST	Holtom / Magner	Chevrolet Cobalt	Georgian Bay Motorsports	79
34	ST	Sellers / Braun	Mazda RX-8	Southpaw Racing	79
35	GS	Zavodsky / MacAlpine / Rehagen	Mustang Cobra SVT	Rehagen Racing	79
36	GS	Gue / Jeannette	Ford Mustang GT	Multimatic Motorsports	79
37	ST	Guenette / Altenburg	Mazda RX-8	SpeedSource	79
38	ST	O'Shaughnessy / Schwartzott	Acura TSX	Kensai Racing	79
39	ST	Schiff / Mason	BMW Z4	TC Kline Racing	79
40	GS	James / Nastasi	Ford Mustang GT	Blackforest Motorsports	70
41	GS	Scott / Probert	BMW M3	Anchor Racing	79
42	GS	Sahlen / Nonnamaker	Porsche 996	Team Sahlen	78
43	ST	Abello / Espenlaub	Mazda RX-8	SpeedSource	78
44	GS	Bupp / Corso	Nissan 350Z	Eastern Competition Promotorsports	78
45	ST	Toussaint / Pignataro	Mini Cooper S	Nuzzo Motorsports	78
46	ST	Robinson / Mitchell III	Mazda RX-8	Play Therapy Racing	78
47	ST	Bisignano / Walker	Mazda RX-8	SpeedSource	78
48	ST	Crowe / Becker	Mazda RX-8	Southpaw Racing	76
49	ST	Launi / Champagne	Chevrolet Cobalt	Georgian Bay Motorsports	76
50	ST	Moorcones / Poscente	Acura Integra R	Radial Motorsports	75
51	GS	McCalmont / Law	Porsche 996	Zoom Motorsports	68
52	GS	Kapudija / Pecorari	Mustang Cobra SVT	Rehagen Racing / Speedquest	61
53	ST	Fonte / Stoddart	Mazda Protege	Fountain Motorsports	51
54	ST	Pattee / Nuzzo	Mini Cooper S	Nuzzo Motorsports	51
55	GS	Guindon / Camirand	Cadillac CTS-V	Powell Motorsport	40
56	GS	Putman / Courtney	Porsche 996	Knobel Racing	38
57	GS	Hainer / Hand	BMW M3	Anchor Racing	35
58	GS	Krohn / Jonsson	Porsche 996	Krohn Racing / TRG	34
59	ST	Schmitt / Roush	Honda Accord	HART	25
60	ST	Dobson / Schlesinger	Mazda RX-8	SpeedSource	24
61	ST	Wong / Diedrick	Nissan Sentra SE-R	DEI Racers Group	22
62	GS	Alhadeff / Sigal	Porsche 996	Fiorano Racing	17
63	GS	Finlay / McDowell	BMW M3	Finlay Motorsports	10
64	GS	Powell / Knowles	Cadillac CTS-V	Powell Motorsport	9
65	GS	Wortzman / Wilden	BMW M3	Zoom Motorsports	4

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