2015 Daytona International Speedway - Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge

The 2015 edition of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge consisted of ten-events (Daytona, Sebring, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP), Lime Rock, Road America, Virginia International Raceway, Circuit of the Americas and Road Atlanta) for showroom stock cars. The races were two-hours, thirty-minutes in length. The cars were relatively unchanged from their road going versions – modifications were mandated primarily for safety – roll cages, window nets, etc. They were also required to use tires provided by series sponsor Continental.

Based on performance potential, the cars were divided into one of two groups – Grand Sport or Street Tuner:

Grand Sport (GS): The quicker of the two groups, this class included cars such as the Chevrolet Camaro GS.R, Ford Shelby GT350R-C, Aston Martin Vantage, Nissan 370Z, BMW M3 and Porsche 911. Vehicles competing in the category produced between 400 - 500 horsepower and were capable of speeds over 175-mph.
Street Tuner (ST): This class was for smaller sedans and sports car with four or six-cylinder engines. Popular vehicles found in this group were the BMW 328i, Honda Civic Si, Porsche Cayman, Mazda MX-5, Audi S3 and MINI JCW. The cars in this class produce between 220 – 280-horsepower.

Close competitive racing with cars that fans can relate to contributes to the popularity of the series. It also provides an environment for automotive manufacturers to test and showcase their products.

The opening round of the 2015 Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge took place at Daytona International Raceway. Thirty-six entries would compete for two-hours, thirty-minutes in the BMW Performance 200.

Starting on the outside of the front row was the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche 911. Qualifying duties were performed by Hugh Plumb – sharing the car with him was his brother, Matt. Early in the contest, the defending series champions traded first place with the Multimatic Mustang. During the final thirty minutes, they were contending for first place and when the Click Racing Mustang pitted, they took the victory.

The second RS1 entry was driven by Luis Rodriguez Jr and Spencer Pumpelly. In the Street Tuner qualifying session, Rodriguez was the fourth quickest. Pumpelly drove the final stint and chased down the race leader, Eric Foss. He lost the lead to his teammate, Adam Isman while lapping a slower car. But Pumpelly was back out front when Isman ran out of fuel. He took the checker, giving Rodriguez his first pro win.

Starting the BMW Performance 200 third was the second Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R qualified by Andrew Davis. Davis shared the driving duties with Robin Liddell. The pair remained in contention during the event. Although they never led a lap the duo captured the runner-up spot in the Grand Sport division and overall.

Fastest in Street Tuner after the first day of practice was RS1 Porsche Cayman driven by Adam Isman. Isman’s co-driver, Jon Miller, qualified the Porsche and was third quickest in the class. Isman drove the final stint and moved into the lead with less than thirty minutes left in the contest. Following him was his teammate, Spencer Pumpelly. With a one-two finish in sight, Isman ran out of gas and finished ten.

The Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang Boss 302R driven by Scott Maxwell and Billy Johnson showed good speed in the practice sessions. But Maxwell saved the best for qualifying and put the Mustang on the Grand Sport pole. Early in the race, he traded the lead with Rum Bum Racing. They fell out of contention when Johnson missed a call to pit. Despite this error, he worked his way back to a fifth-place finish.

The No. 56 Porsche Cayman was shared by Justin Piscitell and Eric Foss. Piscitell captured the second straight Daytona Street Tuner pole position for the team. Foss drove the second stint and was in the lead when the Porsche’s brakes began to fade. He was passed by the two RS1 Porsches and it appeared that he would have to settle for third. However, one of the cars ran out of gas giving him a second in class.

Quickest in the first day of practice was Lawson Aschenbach driving the Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R. Qualifying the Camaro was Aschenbach’s driving partner, Matt Bell who was fifth fastest. The pair ran with the leaders and at the checkered flag, they grabbed the last place on the overall and Grand Sport podium.

Mike McGovern and Jim Click were gridded twentieth in the twenty-two Grand Sport field. The team decided to use a different race strategy which put them off sequence with their competitors. The No. 2 Jim Click Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302R moved into the lead on lap-45 and remained there for another eight circuits. Unfortunately, a late race stop for fuel dropped them out of contention - they finished eleventh.

After starting thirty-third overall and eleventh in the Street Tuner category, it didn’t appear that Ted Giovanis and David Murry would be a threat to finish on the class podium. Murry, the veteran endurance racer, used his experience to conserve fuel as the team felt this would be an issue at the end of the event. They were correct and he was able to capitalize on the misfortune of others to finish third in class.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	GS	Matt Plumb / Hugh Plumb	Porsche 911	68	-
2	GS	Andrew Davis / Robin Liddell	Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R	68	-
3	GS	Lawson Aschenbach / Matt Bell	Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R	68	-
4	GS	Trent Hindman / Ashley Freiberg	BMW M3	68	-
5	GS	Scott Maxwell / Billy Johnson	Ford Mustang Boss 302R	68	-
6	GS	Nick McMillen / Bryan Heitkotter	Nissan 370Z	68	-
7	GS	Max Riddle / Kris Wilson	Aston Martin Vantage	68	-
8	GS	Jade Buford / Austin Cindric	Ford Mustang Boss 302R	68	-
9	GS	Anthony Mantella / Mark Wilkins	Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R	68	-
10	GS	Ricardo Flores / Nick Galante	Ford Mustang Boss 302R	68	-
11	GS	Mike McGovern / Jim Click	Ford Mustang Boss 302R	68	-
12	GS	Martin Barkey / Kyle Marcelli	Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R	68	-
13	GS	Michael Lira / Timmy Rivers	Ford Mustang Boss 302R	68	-
14	GS	Bob Michaelian / Chris Beaufait	Ford Mustang Boss 302R	67	-
15	ST	Spencer Pumpelly / Luis Rodriguez Jr.	Porsche Cayman	66	-
16	ST	Jeff Mosing / Eric Foss / Justin Piscitell	Porsche Cayman	66	-
17	ST	Ted Giovanis / David Murry	BMW 328i	66	-
18	ST	Greg Liefooghe / Eric Zimmermann	Porsche Cayman	66	-
19	ST	James Clay / Jason Briedis	BMW 328i	66	-
20	ST	Terry Borcheller / Mike LaMarra	BMW 128i	66	-
21	ST	Paul Holton / Kyle Gimple	Audi S3	66	-
22	ST	Steve Eich / Kevin Boehm	Honda Civic Si	66	-
23	ST	Andrew Carbonell / Liam Dwyer	Mazda MX-5	66	-
24	ST	Adam Isman / Jon Miller	Porsche Cayman	66	-
25	ST	Ethan Low / Jason Rabe	Porsche Cayman	66	-
26	ST	Chad Gilsinger / Peter Cunningham	Honda Civic Si	66	-
27	ST	Mark Pombo / Ramin Abdolvahabi	Porsche Cayman	66	-
28	ST	Will Nonnamaker / Jeff Segal	Porsche Cayman	66	-
29	ST	Brent Mosing / Tim Probert / Justin Piscitell	BMW 328i	66	-
30	ST	Sarah Cattaneo / Owen Trinkler	Honda Civic Si	65	Not Running
31	ST	Marc Miller / Tyler McQuarrie	Mazda MX-5	65	-
32	ST	Stevan McAleer / Chad McCumbee	Mazda MX-5	65	-
33	ST	Jim Jonsin / Erik Valdez	Porsche Cayman	65	-
34	ST	Matthew Dicken / John Lewis	Porsche Cayman	64	-
35	ST	Connor Bloum / Greg Strelzoff	Porsche Cayman	63	Not Running
36	ST	Wayne Nonnamaker / Jeff Segal	Porsche Cayman	63	Not Running
37	ST	Dan Rogers / Seth Thomas	Porsche Cayman	63	Not Running
38	GS	BJ Zacharias / Brad Jaeger	Nissan 370Z	58	-
39	ST	Jim McGuire / Nico Rondet	Audi S3	54	-
40	GS	Rod Randall / Ken Wilden	Aston Martin Vantage	49	Not Running
41	GS	Dylan Murcott / Oskar Kruger	Chevrolet Camaro GS.R	47	Not Running
42	ST	Christian Szymczak / Devin Jones	Mazda MX-5	47	-
43	GS	Tim Bell / Charles Espenlaub	Nissan 370Z	43	Not Running
44	GS	Brian Kleeman / Brett Sandberg	Nissan 370Z	40	Not Running
45	GS	Andy Lally / Cameron Lawrence	Porsche 911	35	Not Running
46	ST	Juan Carlos Leroux / Jorge Leroux	Honda Civic Si	27	Not Running
47	GS	Ray Mason / Pierre Kleinubing	Subaru WRX STI	26	Not Running
48	ST	Conor Flynn / Alex Bolanos	Hyundai Genesis	26	Not Running
49	ST	Benoit Theetge / Donald Theetge	Honda Civic Si	26	Not Running
50	ST	Cory Friedman / David Baum	Porsche Cayman	17	Not Running
51	GS	Roly Falgueras / Bryan Ortiz	Ford Mustang Boss 302R	9	Not Running
52	GS	Al Carter / Corey Lewis	BMW M3	0	Did Not Start
53	ST	Andrie Hartanto / Tyler Cooke	BMW 328i	0	Did Not Start
54	ST	Sam Schechter / Aaron Nash	BMW 128i	0	Did Not Start
55	GS	Ken D'Arcy / Sam Schultz	BMW M3	0	Did Not Start
56	GS	Rob Ecklin Jr. / David Russell / Steve Phillips	Aston Martin Vantage	0	Did Not Start

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