From leading the manufacturer standings to winning the last two races at VIR, Mustangs have been the cars to beat in the Grand Sport class. This weekend, a mix of GT and Boss 302R models are entered and expect to give Ford a third consecutive victory at one of the series' most competitive tracks.
Rehagen Racing and JBS Motorsports are the two teams GS competitors must defeat, in part due to previous races. Rehagen won the 2008 GS race at VIR, while JBS earned last year's GS victory. Rehagen Racing is also coming off a strong showing at Barber Motorsports Park, where Dean Martin and Bob Michaelian (No. 52 bizrate.com Ford Mustang GT) took the checkered flag.
In 2008, brothers Matt Plumb (No. 13 RumBum.com BMW M3) and Hugh Plumb (No. 9 Sunoco Chevrolet Camaro) won in a Rehagen Mustang. Last year, it was James Gue and Bret Seafuse (No. 37 Trumansburg ShurSave Ford Mustang Boss 302R). Ford has also claimed the last two GS titles at VIR.
In addition to Martin and Michaelian's win at Barber, other Fords have proven competitive. Joe Foster owns two poles, and he and Scott Maxwell (No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports/Bayshore Recycling Ford Mustang Boss 302R) are trying to mirror their 2008 title run. Jack Roush Jr. and Billy Johnson (No. 61 Roush Performance Products Ford Mustang GT) won last month at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Virginia's BimmerWorld/GearWrench Second In ST Points
One of the closest Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge teams to VIR is BimmerWorld/GearWrench, a rookie, two-car team based in Blacksburg, Va. BimmerWorld/GearWrench fields a pair of BMW 328i models in the Street Tuner class.
James Clay (No. 80 Performance Friction/Rays Engineering BMW 328i), a former Virginia Tech football player, founded BimmerWorld and has spent several years both racing at the professional level and selling BMW parts. Though Clay's business continues to cater to BMW enthusiasts around the world, his racing interests have entered a different environment. Yet, the team maintains a high position in the points, just as it did when competing in the SCCA World Challenge.
Clay and co-driver David White, who in his third career series start at Barber Motorsports Park earned a pole position, are eighth in driver points with two finishes of seventh or better. Teammates Seth Thomas and Bill Heumann (No. 81 Performance Friction/Rays Engineering BMW 328i) are second in points.
What makes the effort even more remarkable is that only Thomas has significant experience in the Street Tuner class. Thomas competed fulltime in ST with Fountain Motorsports (now known as Next Generation Motorsports) in 2007 and earned four top 10s. Clay and Heumann had only one start, and White debuted this year.
Freedom Autosport Hottest Street Tuner Team
Freedom Autosport has established itself as the team to beat in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Street Tuner class. With the team's home race this weekend at VIR, the Raleigh, N.C., based squad expects another strong showing with a trio of Mazdas ready for battle.
Freedom took a leap forward in last August's Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, when pit strategy helped Andrew Carbonell (No. 26 Aventura Technologies/PFC Mazda MX-5) give the team its first series victory with co-driver and Carbonell's father Alfredo.
Since then, the team leads the class in victories. Team principal Tom Long and co-owner Derek Whitis (No. 25 Aventura Technologies/PFC Mazda MX-5) won last year's race at VIR.
Despite a 17th-place finish in January's race at Daytona International Speedway, Long and Whitis have climbed to third in the standings, only 11 points out of first and one point behind second. Their back-to-back victories at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Barber Motorsports Park this season have them now competing for a title.
Carbonell and co-driver Rhett O'Doski are fourth in the driver standings. The team also added a MAZDASPEED3 program for this season. Veteran Randy Pobst and series rookie Eric Foss (No. 27 Performance Friction MAZDASPEED3) started second at Barber and finished 11th.
Stevenson Motorsports Returns To VIR
Stevenson Motorsports has owned VIR the past two seasons in Rolex Sports Car Series GT action. This weekend, the team, based in Jacksonville, N.C., hopes its can work its magic in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Grand Sport class.
The team debuted the Camaro last October at VIR, and is seeking a GS victory to go along with GT wins by Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis.
Jeff Bucknum (No. 6 Sunoco Chevrolet Camaro), who competed in last year's race, will run this weekend with Matt Bell. Hugh Plumb (No. 9 Sunoco Chevrolet Camaro), who owns two wins at VIR (one in each class), will drive with Craig Stone, who resides in nearby Greensboro, N.C.
Mitchum Also A Virginia Team
BimmerWorld/GearWrench isn't the only Virginia-based Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge team. Mitchum Motorsports, based near Richmond, Va., returned to competition at Homestead-Miami Speedway with two of the youngest driver pairings in the field -Joey Atterbury at age 23 and Devin Cates (No. 62 Cates Engineering/Atterbury Racing Chevrolet Camaro) at 20.
Atterbury and Cates, a student at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., earned their first top 10 of the season at Barber Motorsports Park by finishing 10th. The pair competed against each other in last season's Volkswagen TDI Cup. Team owner Chris Mitchum is himself a former driver.
Nuts And Bolts
Virginia Drivers: Multiple drivers call Virginia home. They are:- Devin Cates, Broad Run (No. 62 Cates Engineering/Atterbury Racing Chevrolet Camaro)
- Ric Bushey, Virginia Beach (No. 20 A2Z Racer Gear/Interconex Mazda MX-5)
- Greg Shaffer, Harrisonburg (No. 20 A2Z Racer Gear/Interconex Mazda MX-5)
Kias Making Strides: The two Kia Forte Koups from Kinetic Motorsports continue to make strides in the Street Tuner class.The team finished eighth and 15th in ST at Barber, and Kia Director of Public Relations Alex Fedorak said the team would be happy with another top-15 performance at VIR. Kinetic seeks to improve the car's gearbox and reliability.
Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood (No. 12 Infinity Audio/HD Radio Kia Forte Koup) have two podiums and three top 10s in three races at VIR, while Andy Lally (No. 10 Infinity Audio/HD Radio Kia Forte Koup) has seven top 10s in 10 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge races at VIR. Lally will drive with Nic Jönsson.
Putting CMA Motorsports Together Again: CMA Motorsports suffered two badly banged up Ford Mustangs in separate accidents at Barber this month, but both cars are entered at VIR.Scott Panzer and Todd Snyder (No. 11 Strategic Occupancy Solutions Ford Mustang GT) seek their first top 10 of the season, while team owner Mark Ackley returns with rookie Felix Serralles (No. 17 ACKCO Inc. Consulting Group Ford Mustang GT).
BGB Happy About VIR Return: BGB Motorsports team principal John Tecce said he is happy the team is returning to VIR this weekend. The team won in 2003 as Duane Neyer Motorsports in the ST I class, and as BGB won the 2006 GS race with a Porsche Carrera.The team's highest ranked drivers in points are Duncan Ende and Keith Carroll (No. 23 BGB Motorsports Porsche Cayman) at eighth place.
Series By The Numbers
2 - Point lead in Grand Sport championship10 - Points lead in Street Tuner ckass 13 - Number of drivers who have led at least one lap of a race this season in Grand Sport15 - Grand Sport car lead changes in 2010 25 - Street Tuner car lead changes in 2010 30 - Minimum time limit (in minutes) any driver must be in the car to obtain points 45 - Speed limit (in mph) on pit lane 83 - Laps led by the No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang Boss 302R in Grand Sport competition this season 85 - Laps led by the No. 25 Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5 in Street Tuner competition 89 - Number of career class starts by driver Andy Lally (No. 10 Infinity Audio/HD Radio Kia Forte Koup) 619.06 - Miles contested this year by winning Grand Sport driversDriver Profile: Jamie Holtom
Jamie Holtom (No. 21 Sick Kids Foundation/C&P Cross Border Law Chevrolet Cobalt SS) has returned to the Street Turner class fulltime this season and has immediately elevated Canadian-based GS Motorsports.
Holtom, the 2008 ST titlist and youngest champ in GRAND-AM history at the age of 21 years, four days, and co-driver Andrew Danyliw nearly won at Barber before settling for second.
Holtom owns 12 ST wins, including the 2006 ST race at VIR, which puts him one short of the all-time lead held by Will Nonnamaker (No. 43 TheRaceSite.com MAZDASPEED3) and later tied by Eric Curran.
Fast Facts: A Look At Statistics And Other Notables
Some statistics and notes to look at heading into the Bosch Engineering VIR 200.
Fall-Line Motorsports continues to hold first and second in the Grand Sport team points standings. Terry Borcheller and rookie Andrew Hendricks (No. 45 Stable One Racing BMW M3), who made his first series race last season at VIR, are two points (85-83) ahead of Charles Espenlaub and Charlie Putman (No. 48 Sparco/Battery Tender BMW M3). Borcheller and Hendricks finished second last season in their first series race together. For the first time ever, the team is fielding four cars. The Street Tuner points leading team, Compass360 Racing, is also fielding four cars, all Honda Civics. Lawson Aschenbach and David Thilenius (No. 74 Skunk2/HPD Honda Civic Si) lead the way. Compass360 Racing won the 2005 ST race at VIR. Wayne Nonnamaker leads all drivers with three class victories at VIR. His brother Will Nonnamaker will drive with Joe Sahlen (No. 43 TheRaceSite.com MAZDASPEED3). The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge has competed at VIR every year since 2001. Doug Goad and Devon Powell won in the SGS class in a Corvette. Terry Borcheller and Sylvain Tremblay, class winners in this season's Rolex 24 At Daytona, also co-won in their classes that day. The qualifying record for the Grand Sport class was set in 2009 by Ken Wilden (No. 59 Rehagen Racing Products Ford Mustang GT) at a time of 2:02.611 (96.011 mph), while Owen Trinkler (No. 196 Cruise America/4 Winds RV Mini Cooper S) holds the top Street Tuner time at 2:10.113 (90.475 mph), also set last season.Turner Motorsport Staying Strong In GS Points
Turner Motorsport leads all Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge teams in overall and Grand Sport victories and pole positions. The team is also running seeking its first victory of the season after competitive performances in the first three races.
Joey Hand and rookie Michael Marsal (No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M3) are currently third in the driver standings and only eight points out of second place. BMW drivers hold first, second and third in driver points despite only one victory so far this season by the popular German marquee.
Bill Auberlen won at VIR in the GS race in 2007 and will tackle the 3.27-mile, 17-turn track with Paul Dalla Lana (No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3) in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Dalla Lana's best series finish was second last season in ST at VIR.
Up Next: Lime Rock Park
The fifth round of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge will be Saturday, May 29 at Virginia International Raceway. The Memorial Day Weekend classic has been a staple on the series calendar since 2006.
Last year, Joey Hand and Chris Gleason gave Turner Motorsport its third victory at Lime Rock and BMW's fourth win in four seasons by triumphing in the Grand Sport class.
In Street Tuner, Compass360 Racing earned its third consecutive victory with Travis Walker and John Kuitwaard, two of several drivers who helped the No. 75 Honda Civic Si take third in the team standings in 2009. It also marked Honda's first series victory at Lime Rock.
