2008 Miller Motorsports Park - Koni Challenge Series

Last season, the Grand-Am Cup division was renamed the KONI Challenge Series after KONI shock absorbers signed a three-year contract to act as the championship’s title sponsor. The 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.

Series cars are not that much different than 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 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 350 and 405-horsepower. Minimum weights range between 2,730 – 3,250-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 group in which engines typically produce between 170 and 240-horsepower. Vehicle’s weights vary from 2,200 – 2,925-pounds. The top speed for a car built to the Street Tuner regulations is approximately 135-mph. Popular makes found in this category are the Acura RSX, Acura TSX, Mazda RX-8, Mazda MX-5, Honda Accord, BMW 330i, Subaru Legacy, Chevrolet Cobalt and Mini Cooper S.

The 2008 Grand-Am KONI Challenge season consisted of eleven race weekends. Except for Daytona International Speedway, Watkins Glen International, Iowa Speedway and Miller Motorsports Park, all venues would have separate races for the Grand Sport and Street Tuner classes. This year’s schedule started in January at Daytona International Speedway. The next event on the calendar wasn’t until April at Virginia International Raceway. A month later, the series visited Lime Rock Park. In June, the teams traveled north of the border to compete at Mosport International Raceway. After Mosport, race weekends took place at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (Street Tuner only), Watkins Glen International and Barber Motorsports Park (Grand Sport only). In early August, the series made a stop at Iowa Speedway. A week later, 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.

Miller Motorsports Park in Utah hosted the penultimate round of the 2008 Gand-Am KONI Challenge Series. Sixty-one Grand Sport and Street Tuner teams raced on the twenty-five-turn 4.5-mile road course during the Sun Rich Gourmet 1000 weekend.

In a very competitive season, twelve Grand Sport drivers left Miller Motorsports Park with a mathematical chance of winning the championship.

Rounding the final corner at Miller Motorsports Park for the penultimate race of the Grand-Am 2008 KONI Challenge season are thirty Grand Sport competitors. Starting on the pole is the No. 25 C-Max / Unitech Racing Porsche 997, shared by Kris Wilson, David Russell and David Riddle. On the outside of the front row is the No. 41 The Racer’s Group prepared Porsche 997, driven by Andy Lally and Scott Schroeder.

The Turner Motorsports team won the Grand Sport category for the second consecutive year at Miller Motorsports Park. Last season, Don Salama and Will Turner were the winners. In 2008, the victory went to Matthew Alhadeff and Bill Auberlen in the No. 96 BMW M3. Auberlen drove the final stint of the event. An aggressive pass on the leader, Kris Wilson, with four-laps remaining, gave him first place and the win.

The C-Max / Unitech Racing team entered two Porsche 997 at Utah. Quicker of the two entries was the No. 25 Porsche shared by Kris Wilson, David Russell and David Riddle, which started on the pole. The team put Wilson in the car last and, he was leading the race with four laps to go. On the final restart, Wilson lost first place to Bill Auberlen. Then heavy contact with Charles Espenlaub resulted in a twelfth-place finish.

Sharing the No. 01 Georgian Bay Motorsports Chevrolet Cobalt SS was Eric Curran and the Street Tuner points leader, Jamie Holtom. Holtom was thirty-fourth quickest in qualifying and would start fourth in class. Curran, who hadn’t driven the car since Watkins Glen, moved into first place during the final stint and won by a margin of 0.872-seconds. The victory was the fourth of the year for Holtom and extended his points lead.

For the third time this season, RSR Motorsports put their two quickest drivers in the same car. At Miller Motorsports Park, the No. 196 Mini Cooper S was driven by B.J. Zacharias and Owen Trinkler. The Mini started on the Street Tuner pole – thirty-first overall. Unfortunately for the team, the Cooper S fell out of contention. Zacharias and Trinkler finished on the lead lap but were thirtieth overall and twelfth in class.

The 2008 KONI Challenge Series podium for the Grand Sport class at Miller Motorsports Park. Standing on the top step are Bill Auberlen and Matthew Alhadeff. This was the Turner Motorsport team’s second consecutive victory at Miller. On the right side of the rostrum scoring, the second runner-up finish of the year is Duncan Ende and Spencer Pumpelly. Completing the podium are the third-place finishers, Ray Mason and Billy Johnson.

Thirty-two Street Tuner drivers enter Miller Motorsports Park’s final turn, called Release, for the penultimate round of 2008 KONI Challenge Series. On the class pole is the No. 196 RSR Motorsport Mini Cooper S that was shared by sports car veterans, Owen Trinkler and B.J. Zacharias. Beside the RSR Mini is the No. 171 APR Motorsport Volkswagen GTI, which was piloted by Ian Baas and Dion von Moltke.

To date, The Racer’s Group driver’s, Duncan Ende and Spencer Pumpelly, best finish was a second place in round two at Lime Rock Park. At Miller Motorsports Park, Ende qualified the No. 39 Porsche 997 third fastest. On the pre-grid, the team discovered a shredded belt. Ende pitted on the pace and started last but was in ninth place at the driver’s change. Pumpelly worked his way to the front and finished in the runner-up position.

Ian Baas and Dion von Moltke earned the first podium finish for the three-car APR Motorsport effort. Von Moltke qualified the No. 171 Volkswagen GTI thirty-second overall and second in the Street Tuner category. As the race came to an end, Baas found himself a distant second to the leader, Eric Curran. The final full-course caution bunched the field. Baas had to balance conserving fuel and challenging for the win, he finished second.

In the two previous rounds, Trois-Rivieres and New Jersey, Ray Mason and Billy Johnson captured podium finishes. In qualifying a Miller Motorsports Park, Mason set the nineteenth fastest time driving the No. 52 Ford Mustang GT and started the three-hour event. When Johnson got behind the wheel, he moved the Mustang up the order and benefitted from the contact between Kris Wilson and Charles Espenlaub to finish third.

The second Georgian Bay Motorsports entry was driven by Kirk Spencer and rookie, Ashley McCalmont. McCalmont qualified and started the No. 00 Chevrolet Cobalt SS seventh in the Street Tuner category. She was fifth in class when she handed the car over to Spencer. He fell out of the top-ten but battled through the field and was in third place at the checkered flag. This was their first podium finish of the season.

The penultimate podium for the 2008 KONI Challenge Street Tuner division. Occupying the top step are Georgian Bay Motorsports’ drivers, Eric Curran and Jamie Holtom. The points leader, Holtom would only have finish twenty-fifth or better to clinch the title. Standing on the right side of the rostrum are the runner-ups, Dion von Moltke and Ian Baas. Completing the podium are Ashley McCalmont and Kirk Spencer.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS
1	GS	Auberlen / Alhadeff	BMW M3	Turner Motorsport	44
2	GS	Pumpelly / Ende	Porsche 997	The Racer's Group	44
3	GS	Mason / Johnson	Ford Mustang GT	Rehagen Racing	44
4	GS	Foster / Maxwell	Ford Mustang GT	Hyper Sport	44
5	GS	Canney / Plumb	Ford Mustang GT	Rehagen Racing	44
6	GS	Seafuse / Gue	Ford Mustang GT	JBS Motorsports	44
7	GS	Roush / Martin	Ford Mustang GT	Rehagen Racing	44
8	GS	Thornton / Segal	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	44
9	GS	Miller / Stanton	Porsche 997	BGB Motorsports	44
10	GS	Lamb / Molloy	BMW M3	Kinetic Motorsports	44
11	GS	Salama / Ortiz	BMW M3	Turner Motorsport	25
12	GS	Riddle / Wilson / Russell	Porsche 997	BGB Motorsports	55
13	GS	Davis / DiLeo	Porsche 997	Maxwell Paper Racing	44
14	GS	Traver / Sofranas / Hyatt	Porsche 997	BGB Motorsports	44
15	GS	Click / McGovern	Ford Mustang GT	CMA Motorsports	44
16	GS	Jonsson / Bocchino	BMW M3	i-MOTO / Kinetic Motorsports	44
17	ST	Holtom / Curran	Chevrolet Cobalt	Georgian Bay Motorsports	44
18	ST	Baas / von Moltke	Volkswagen GTI	APR Motorsport	44
19	GS	Wellon / Ellis	Porsche 997	Ranger Sports Racing	44
20	GS	Jenkins / Boden	BMW M3	Playboy Racing	44
21	ST	McCalmont / Spencer	Chevrolet Cobalt	Georgian Bay Motorsports	44
22	ST	Long / O'Doski	Mazda MX-5	Freedom Autosports	44
23	ST	Pritiko / Boyer	Chevrolet Cobalt	Predator Auto Sport	44
24	ST	Burrows / Hopwood	Acura TSX	Compass360 Racing	44
25	ST	Rivera / Ott	Mazda RX-8	Brass Mitchell Racing	44
26	ST	Wittmer / Cunningham	Acura TSX	i-MOTO Racing	44
27	ST	Wilden / Willard	Acura TSX	Compass360 Racing	44
28	ST	Whitis / Daniels	Mazda MX-5	Freedom Autosports	44
29	ST	Bell / Mirzayan	BMW 330i	Turner Motorsport	44
30	ST	Trinkler / Zacharias	Mini Cooper S	RSR Motorsports	44
31	ST	Arnold / Schultz / Workman	BMW 330i	V-Pack Motorsport	44
32	ST	Tallman / Kozarov	Acura RSX-S	CA Sport	44
33	ST	Beede / Pumb	Honda Civic Si	Bill Fenton Motorsports	44
34	ST	Pobst / White	Volkswagen GTI	APR Motorsport	44
35	ST	Smalley / Trinkler / Johnson	Mini Cooper S	RSR Motorsports	44
36	ST	Fenton / Thilenius	Honda Civic Si	Bill Fenton Motorsports	44
37	ST	Smalley / Congleton	Mini Cooper S	RSR Motorsports	44
38	ST	Saini / Barnes	Mazda RX-8	Team MER	44
39	GS	Skavnes / Aquinlante	Subaru Legacy	ICY/Phoenix Racing	44
40	ST	Miller / Holland	Honda Civic Si	Compass360 Racing	43
41	GS	Constantine / Borkowski	BMW M3	Playboy Racing	43
42	GS	Hickman / Hickman	Ford Mustang	Hickman Motorsports	43
43	GS	Maher / Biscevic	Nissan 350Z	No Hot Wire Racing	43
44	GS	Rossi / Abello	Porsche 997	Ranger Sports Racing	43
45	ST	York / Rowen	Acura RSX-S	Compass360 Racing	43
46	GS	Riddle / Wilson	Porsche 997	BGB Motorsports	42
47	ST	Wittmer / Bocchino	Acura TSX	i-MOTO Racing	42
48	GS	Espenlaub / Putman	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	41
49	GS	Julien / Aronson	Porsche 996	DragonSpeed	41
50	ST	Lamb / Maia	BMW Z4	Classic BMW	39
51	GS	Schroeder / Lally	Porsche 997	The Racer's Group	36
52	GS	McKeever / Burke	Ford Mustang	Larry Miller Racing	36
53	ST	Kent / Danyliw	Chevrolet Cobalt	GS Motorsports	33
54	GS	Fromberg / Sellers	Porsche 997	Maxwell Paper Racing	33
55	ST	Long / Asselta / Staveley	Mazda MX-5	Freedom Autosports	31
56	ST	DeBoer / Smurzynski	Chevrolet Cobalt	Project Motorsports	23
57	GS	Cameron / Finlay	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	11
58	ST	Bovenberg / Lepper	Chevrolet Cobalt	Team Cobalt California	6
59	ST	Riley / Riley	Mazda RX-8	Riley Racing	5
60	ST	Davis / Smith	BMW 330i	Kinetic Motorsports	2
61	ST	Grahovec / Kleinubing	BMW Z4	Classic BMW	2

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