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
Official test sessions
Two official test sessions were scheduled: January 3–5 – Daytona International Speedway February 20–21 – Sebring International Raceway
Race schedule
A twelve-round schedule was announced on October 11, 2013.
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 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
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 Shelby Blackstock Ashley Freiberg Eric Foss Jeff Mosing 2 March 15 Sebring Sebring International Raceway Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R Mazda MX-5 Robin Liddell Andrew Davis Randy Pobst Andrew Carbonell 3 May 3 Continental Tire Sports Car ChallengePowered by Mazda Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca BMW M3 Mazda MX-5 John Edwards Trent Hindman Randy Pobst Andrew Carbonell 4 May 24 Northeast Grand Prix Lime Rock ParkSeparate races for GS and ST were run at Lime Rock. Porsche 911 Carrera S Mazda MX-5 Nick Longhi Matt Plumb Tom Long Liam Dwyer 5 June 7 The Grand Prix of Kansas Kansas Speedway (Road Course) Aston Martin Vantage Honda Civic Si James Davison Kris Wilson Chad Gilsinger Michael Valiante 6 June 28 Continental Tire 150 Watkins Glen International Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R Honda Civic Si Robin Liddell Andrew Davis Ryan Eversley Kyle Gimple 7 July 12 Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand PrixPresented by Hawk Performance Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R Porsche Cayman Andy Lally Matt Bell Remo Ruscitti Adam Isman 8 July 25 Brickyard Sports Car Challenge Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Road Course) Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R Porsche Cayman Robin Liddell Andrew Davis Cody Ellsworth Corey Lewis 9 August 9 Continental Tire Road Race Showcase Road America Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R BMW 128i Lawson Aschenbach Eric Curran Terry Borcheller Mike LaMarra 10 August 23 Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIR Virginia International Raceway Aston Martin Vantage Porsche Cayman Max Riddle Kris Wilson Eric Foss Jeff Mosing 11 September 19 Lone Star Le Mans Circuit of the Americas BMW M3 Honda Civic Si John Edwards Trent Hindman Ryan Eversley Kyle Gimple 12 October 3 Petit Le Mans Road Atlanta Mustang Boss 302R Honda Civic Si Ian James Billy Johnson Ryan Eversley Kyle Gimple Notes
News
Compass 360 Racing announced that they were entering Subaru WRXs in Grand Sport alongside their street tuner Honda Civic Si's.
References