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The 2014 IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge was the fifteenth season of the showroom stock series and the first under the International Motor Sports Association sanctioning body after the Grand American Road Racing Association's Rolex Sports Car Series was merged with IMSA's American Le Mans Series. The series remained unaffected aside from the addition of IMSA to the beginning of its name.
In the Grand Sport class, Fall-Line Motorsports pairing Trent Hindman and John Edwards won two races during the season, but due to Edwards not completing a mandatory period behind the wheel at Kansas Speedway, Hindman was crowned sole champion by 15 points ahead of Edwards. Stevenson Motorsports drivers Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell were next in the championship, finishing just one point behind Edwards, despite winning one more race than the Fall-Line team. TRG-AMR North America's Kris Wilson was the only other driver to win multiple races; he won at Kansas with James Davison, while he also won at Virginia International Raceway, sharing with Max Riddle. Other teams to win races were the second Fall-Line team of Shelby Blackstock and Ashley Freiberg, Rum Bum Racing pairing Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb, Matt Bell and Andy Lally for Stevenson Motorsports, CKS Autosport's Lawson Aschenbach and Eric Curran, while the season finale was won by Multimatic Motorsports with drivers Ian James and Billy Johnson.
In Street Tuner, there was a solo champion like in the Grand Sport class. Murillo Racing's Eric Foss and Jeff Mosing competed for the majority of the season together – with two wins at Daytona and Virginia International Raceway – but Mosing missed the Laguna Seca event due to back spasms. Thus, Foss won the championship by eight points ahead of Team Sahlen driver Wayne Nonnamaker, who did not win a race but finished in second place on four occasions. Mosing finished in third place in the championship, a further three points in arrears. The most wins were taken by Compass360 Racing pairing Ryan Eversley and Kyle Gimple, who won three races during the season – including the last two races – but their other performances were only good enough for ninth in the drivers' championship. Randy Pobst and Andrew Carbonell took back-to-back victories for Freedom Autosport at Sebring and Laguna Seca, while other race victories were taken by Chad Gilsinger and Michael Valiante at Kansas, Canadian duo Remo Ruscitti and Adam Isman on home soil at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Cody Ellsworth and Corey Lewis at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Terry Borcheller and Mike LaMarra at Road America. A second Freedom Autosport car was able to win at Lime Rock, when Tom Long shared a car with Liam Dwyer – a staff sergeant with the United States Marines – who was racing with a prosthesis on his left leg after losing it when he stepped on a land mine in Afghanistan, three years prior.
Schedule
editOfficial test sessions
editTwo official test sessions were scheduled:
- January 3–5 – Daytona International Speedway
- February 20–21 – Sebring International Raceway
Race schedule
editA twelve-round schedule was announced on October 11, 2013.[1]
| Round | Circuit | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daytona International Speedway | Daytona, Florida | January 24 |
| 2 | Sebring International Raceway | Sebring, Florida | March 14 |
| 3 | Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca | Monterey, California | May 3 |
| 4 | Lime Rock Park | Lakeville, Connecticut | May 24 |
| 5 | Kansas Speedway | Kansas City, Kansas | June 7 |
| 6 | Watkins Glen International Raceway | Watkins Glen, New York | June 28 |
| 7 | Canadian Tire Motorsport Park | Bowmanville, Ontario | July 12 |
| 8 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Speedway, Indiana | July 25 |
| 9 | Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin | August 9 |
| 10 | Virginia International Raceway | Alton, Virginia | August 23 |
| 11 | Circuit of the Americas | Austin, Texas | September 20 |
| 12 | Road Atlanta | Braselton, Georgia | October 3 |
Results
edit| Round | Date | Event Name | Circuit | GS Winning Car | ST Winning Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GS Winning Drivers | ST Winning Drivers | ||||
| 1 | January 24 | BMW Performance 200 | Daytona International Speedway (Road Course) |
BMW M3 | BMW 328i |
| 2 | March 15 | Sebring | Sebring International Raceway | Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R | Mazda MX-5 |
| 3 | May 3 | Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Powered by Mazda |
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca | BMW M3 | Mazda MX-5 |
| 4 | May 24 | Northeast Grand Prix | Lime Rock Park[A 1] | Porsche 911 Carrera S | Mazda MX-5 |
| 5 | June 7 | The Grand Prix of Kansas | Kansas Speedway (Road Course) |
Aston Martin Vantage | Honda Civic Si |
| 6 | June 28 | Continental Tire 150 | Watkins Glen International | Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R | Honda Civic Si |
| 7 | July 12 | Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix Presented by Hawk Performance |
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park | Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R | Porsche Cayman |
| 8 | July 25 | Brickyard Sports Car Challenge | Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Road Course) |
Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R | Porsche Cayman |
| 9 | August 9 | Continental Tire Road Race Showcase | Road America | Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R | BMW 128i |
| 10 | August 23 | Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIR | Virginia International Raceway | Aston Martin Vantage | Porsche Cayman |
| 11 | September 19 | Lone Star Le Mans | Circuit of the Americas | BMW M3 | Honda Civic Si |
| 12 | October 3 | Petit Le Mans | Road Atlanta | Mustang Boss 302R | Honda Civic Si |
- Notes
- ^ Separate races for GS and ST were run at Lime Rock.
News
edit- Compass 360 Racing announced that they were entering Subaru WRXs in Grand Sport alongside their street tuner Honda Civic Si's.[3]
References
edit- ^ "Article with no caption in the gallery". 10 March 2014.
- ^ "Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Schedule". International Motor Sports Association, LLC. May 24, 2014.
- ^ "IMSA Official Home | Race results, schedule, standings, news, drivers".