2007 Miller Motorsports Park

Beginning in 2007, the Grand-Am Cup series was sponsored by KONI shock absorbers and renamed the KONI Challenge Series. The three-year agreement between Grand-Am and KONI called for the company to offer the richest purse in the series history - $100,000 per event. The winning Grand Sport team would earn $5,000 but the prize fund doubled to $10,000 if the car was equipped with KONI shock absorbers. Street Tuner competitors were competing for a similar payout - $3,750 to the winner and $7,500 if the vehicle is fitted with KONIs.

The 2007 season consisted of twelve race weekends and started in January at Daytona International Speedway, which was followed by a second event in Florida at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In April, the series would make their first visit to Iowa Speedway then move on to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Lime Rock Park. In June, the teams traveled north of the border to compete at Mosport International Raceway after this event, race weekends took place Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Watkins Glen International and Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. In August, teams made their second visit to Canada, where the action would take place on the streets of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. The penultimate round was held at Utah’s Miller Motorsports Park, with the finale being conducted at Virginia International Raceway. The Grand Sport and Street Tuner classes had separate races – the exceptions being Daytona, Watkins Glen and Miller Motorsports Park, where they competed in a single event.

The cars are relatively unchanged from their road-going counterparts – modifications are mandated mainly for safety – roll cages, window nets, etc. They also use spec DOT-approved tires produced by Hoosier. Based on performance potential, the cars were 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 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 GTO, Ford Mustang and Porsche 997.
Street Tuner (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, Acura TSX, Mazda RX-8, Mazda MX-5, Honda Accord, BMW 330i, Subaru Legacy, Chevrolet Cobalt SS and Mini Cooper S.

The penultimate round of the 2007 KONI Challenge series was held at Utah’s Miller Motorsports Park. Sixty-three drivers started the two-and-half-hour contest around the 4.5-mile twenty-five-turn road course.

A field of sixty-three KONI Challenge series competitors line up on Miller Motorsports Park front straight for the penultimate round of the 2007 championship. This was one of three events where Grand Sport and Street Tuner classes would race together. On the pole in the No. 99 Automatic Racing BMW M3 driven by David Russell. On the outside of the front row is Spencer Pumpelly in the No. 49 Marcus Motorsports Porsche 997.

Until the Miller Motorsports Park event, Will Turner and Don Salama had shared the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M3. This weekend, they stepped aside in favour of Joey Hand and Matthew Alhadeff. Alhadeff qualified the BMW fifth fastest and handed the car over to Hand on lap-12 of the contest. Late in the event, he was second, but the team’s fuel strategy allowed him to inherit first place and the victory when the race leader pitted.

It wasn’t until round nine at Barber that the Georgian Bay Motorsports team rebounded and demonstrated the skills that won them four races in 2006. At Miller Motorsports Park, Jamie Holtom qualified the No. 01 Chevrolet Cobalt third fastest. Holtom’s co-driver, Eric Curran, replaced him on lap-27. Curran moved up the order as leaders pitted for gas. The team gambled on a fuel strategy that paid off with a victory.

Hugh Plumb joined series regular, Craig Stanton, in round six at Mosport International Raceway. The pair began regularly finishing in the top-ten with their best result being a third place in the previous event at Trois-Rivieres. At Miller Motorsports Park, the No. 38 BGB Motorsports Porsche 997 started the race in twelfth position. Stanton was running third late in the race but a late pit-stop by the leader gave him a runner-up finish.

Qualifying fifth overall was the point’s leader, Jep Thornton, in the Automatic Racing BMW M3. Thornton and his driving partner, Jeff Segal, could secure the title this weekend with a good result. Their consistency during the year had paid off, but that would not be the case at Miller Motorsports Park. On lap-35, Segal pitted with a broken axle. Repairs were made and they finished eighteenth – not good enough to clinch the championship.

Recording the fastest lap during the qualifying session was David Russell in the No. 99 Automatic Racing prepared BMW M3. Sharing the BMW with Russell was Tom Long. This was the team’s second pole of 2007. They were also fastest at Iowa but were disqualified for a broken exhaust. In the race, Long and Russell were unable to match the pace of the leaders but moved up to a fifth-place finish when the TRG Porsche pitted for fuel.

The GOTO Racing team entered round four at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, but their Subaru Legacy was severely damaged in the race. They did not return to the series until the Miller Motorsports Park weekend but did it in style. Brian Lock grabbed the Street Tuner pole. Sharing the car with Lock was his brother, Mike. Brian led early in the contest, but poor fuel mileage relegated the team to a runner-up finish.

One of the many teams delivering their best result of 2007 at Miller Motorsports Park was Justin Hall and Magnus Karlsson. To date, the top finish for the drivers of the No. 58 BSI Racing Mazda MX-5 was a fifth place at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. For the start of the contest, they were gridded twenty-first in the Street Tuner category. Like many of the top finishers, the team used a risky fuel strategy to grab the final position on the podium.

An excellent qualifying effort by Adam Burrows put the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW 330i on the outside of the front row for the Street Tuner category. Burrows and his co-driver, Trevor Hopwood, led the class standings with just two events remaining. At the end of the race, they were in fifth place and held a five-point advantage over their main rivals, Karl Thomson and Billy Johnson, heading into the finale at Virginia International Raceway.

Kris Wilson and Dave Riddle co-drove the No. 25 Fioran / C-Max Racing Porsche 997. Riddle qualified the Porsche eighteenth overall and in the Grand Sport category. After Wilson took over the driving, the car began to move up the race order. On the final lap, he was in fourth place. But Wilson was one of the many beneficiaries of The Racer’s Group fuel error and he grabbed third place in the last corner.

The overall and Grand Sport podium for round eleven of the KONI Challenge series at Miller Motorsports Park. In the center are the winners from Turner Motorsport, Joey Hand and Matthew Alhadeff - plus the team owner, Will Turner. Standing on the right side of the rostrum and scoring their best result of the season are the runner-ups, Hugh Plumb and Craig Staton. Completing the podium are Kris Wilson and Dave Riddle.

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS
1	GS	Joey Hand / Will Turner / Matthew Alhadeff	BMW M3	44
2	GS	Hugh Plumb / Craig Stanton	Porsche 997	44
3	GS	Kris Wilson / Dave Riddle	Porsche 997	44
4	GS	Andy Lally / Ted Ballou	Porsche 997	44
5	GS	Tom Long / David Russell	BMW M3	44
6	GS	Mark Ackley / Todd Snyder	Ford Mustang GT	44
7	GS	Bret Seafuse / James Gue	Ford Mustang GT	44
8	GS	Jim Click / Mike McGovern	Ford Mustang GT	44
9	GS	Nick Longhi / Nick Ham	BMW M3	44
10	GS	Gunnar Jeannette / Auston Harris	Ford Mustang GT	44
11	GS	Mike Johnson / Bob Heniff	Porsche 997	44
12	GS	Fraser Wellon / Barry Ellis	Porsche 997	44
13	GS	Rick Skelton / Patrick Dempsey	Ford Mustang GT	44
14	ST	Eric Curran / Jamie Holtom	Chevrolet Cobalt	43
15	ST	Brian Lock / Mike Lock / Chris Lock	Subaru Legacy	43
16	GS	Augie Pabst III / James Burke	Ford Mustang GT	43
17	ST	Justin Hall / Magnus Karlsson	Mazda MX-5	43
18	ST	Al Mitchell / Tony Rivera	BMW Z4	43
19	ST	Jose Armengol / David Haskell	Mazda RX-8	43
20	ST	Trevor Hopwood / Adam Burrows	BMW 330i	43
21	ST	Karl Thomson / Billy Johnson	Acura TSX	43
22	ST	Aaron Povoledo / Beau Buisson	Acura TSX	43
23	ST	Toby Grahovec / Pierre Kleinubing	BMW Z4	43
24	ST	Chuck Hemmingson / Kristian Skavnes	Subaru Legacy	43
25	ST	Al Lamb / Leo Maia	BMW Z4	43
26	ST	Jamie Slone / Andrew Carbonell	Mazda RX-8	43
27	GS	Marcelo Abello / Frank Rossi	Porsche 997	43
28	ST	David Rosenblum / Tarzan Yamada	Subaru Legacy	42
29	ST	Chip Van Vurst / Ricky Diaz	Mazda RX-8	42
30	GS	Joe Foster / Scott Maxwell	Ford Mustang GT	42
31	ST	Todd Buras / Christian Miller	Mazda MX-5	42
32	ST	Daniel Colembie / Ward Sluys	BMW 330i	42
33	ST	Randy Smalley / BJ Zacharias	Mini Cooper S	42
34	ST	Rick Johnson II / Mark Congleton	Mini Cooper S	42
35	GS	Spencer Pumpelly / Darren Law / Jim Lowe	Porsche 997	41
36	ST	Steve Kent / Gunter Schmidt / Andrew Danyliw	Chevrolet Cobalt	41
37	ST	Will Nonnamaker / Joe Sahlen	Mazda RX-8	40
38	GS	Jep Thornton / Jeff Segal	BMW M3	40
39	GS	Keith Rossberg / Dan McKeever	Ford Mustang GT	40
40	GS	Duncan Ende / Grant Maiman	Porsche 997	40
41	GS	Tim George Jr / Conrad Grunewald	BMW M3	39
42	ST	Guy Cosmo / VJ Mirzayan	BMW 330i	38
43	GS	Jon Miller / Serge Glazunov Jr	BMW M3	38
44	ST	John Schmitt / Shane Lewis	Honda Accord	37
45	ST	Derek DeBoer / Tom Smurzynski / Mallory Smurzynski	Chevrolet Cobalt	33
46	GS	Phil Mahre / Steve Mahre	Ford Mustang GT	33
47	ST	Nick Wittmer / Glenn Bocchino	Acura TSX	32
48	GS	Charles Espenlaub / Charles Putman	BMW M3	30
49	GS	Derek Sabol / Ian James	BMW M3	29
50	GS	Mike Halpin / Byron Smith	BMW M3	24
51	ST	Matt Pritiko / David Tuaty	Acura RSX-s	24
52	GS	John Bibbo / Scott Schroeder	Porsche 997	21
53	ST	Sam Schultz / Seth Thomas	BMW 330i	20
54	GS	Daniel DiLeo / Bryan Sellers	Porsche 997	14
55	ST	Jim Briody / Gary St Amour	BMW 330i	12
56	GS	Adam Pecorari / Jason Kluge	Ford Mustang GT	9
57	ST	Tyler Givogue / Kurt Kossmann	Chevrolet Cobalt	7
58	ST	Kuno Wittmer / Nick Esyian	Acura TSX	7
59	GS	Nic Jonsson / Bryan Ortiz	BMW M3	4
60	GS	Ken Wilden / Dean Martin / Jack Roush, Jr	Ford Mustang GT	4
61	GS	John Mayes / Michael Auriemma	Porsche 997	4
62	GS	Bill Auberlen / Chris Gleason	BMW M3	4
63	GS	Steve Jenkins / Mark Boden	BMW M3	0

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