Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge 2014 Preview

"willkinton247" (willkinton247)
12/16/2013 at 11:44 • Filed to: Racing, IMSA, Sports Cars

The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge is a racing series featuring grand touring and touring cars, and will be the support series for the upcoming !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . In regards to the previous season, the only change will be the series name will change from "Continental Challenge" to "IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge."

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Other than that, there will be no changes to rules or races. Races are two and a half hours in length, and the rules are very similar to the rules for TUSCC. Driver changes are required, pit stop rules are very similar, and there are two classes, Grand Sport and Street Tuner. A major distinguishing feature of the Continental Tire Challenge is the use of a "Showroom Stock" format, meaning that the cars featured have very little modification from their factory form. Here is a breakdown of the classes:

Grand Sport (GS)

The Grand Sport class features sports cars with larger displacement 6-cylinder and 8-cylinder engines and smaller, turbocharged and supercharged 4-cylinder engines. These engines produce between 350 and 405 HP, and are capable of speeds above 160 mph. Last year, this class featured the Porsche 911, Chevy Camaro GS.R, BMW M3, Nissan 370Z, Ford Mustang Boss 302R GT, and the Aston Martin Vantage. Currently, the following teams are signed up for the 2014 season:

Compass360 Racing – Subaru WRX STi

Fall-Line Motorsports – BMW M3

Racer's Edge Motorsports – Ford Mustang Boss 302R

Skullcandy Team Nissan – Nissan 370Z

Street Tuner (ST)

The Street Tuner class is limited to cars with four-cylinder, six- cylinder and rotary engines that produce between 170 and 240 HP and are capable of speeds up to 135 MPH. This class features many cars often seen on the road with the Mazda Miata, BMW 328i, BMW 128i, Honda Civic Si, VW GTI, MazdaSpeed3, Porsche Boxster, and Nissan Altima all represented last year. These are the teams that have signed up for 2014 so far: (Please note, this is not a comprehensive list. More entries are expected before the first official event of 2014 in early January)

BimmerWorld Racing – BMW 328i (F30), BMW 328i (E90) – 2 entries for each chassis

Compass360 Racing – Honda Civic Si

Irish Mike's Racing – Hyundai Genesis Coupe

Mitchum Motorsports – BMW 128i

Skullcandy Team Nissan – Altima Coupe

Please note: this is not a comprehensive list of teams. More entries are expected before the Roar before the Rolex 24 Test Session January 3-5.

Calendar

Jan 24 Daytona International Speedway

Mar 14 Sebring International Raceway

May 3 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

May 24 Lime Rock Park

Jun 7 Kansas Speedway

Jun 28 Watkins Glen International

Jul 12 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

Jul 25 Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Aug 9 Road America

Aug 23 Virginia International Raceway

Sep 20 Circuit of The Americas

Oct 3 Road Atlanta

For more updates about racing and other automotive thoughts, feel free to follow me on the Twitters at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . If you want me to look into a particular series or topic, feel free to let me know!

DISCUSSION (68)

JEM > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 12:03

Whoa, someone's going to be racing a Genesis coupe!? Awesome.

Can't wait for this madness to start.

DeltawingGothamDeserves > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 12:10

"The Street Tuner class is limited to cars with four-cylinder, six- cylinder and rotary engines that..."

Rotary? RX8s possibly? Anyways this is going to be awesome I enjoyed this more than the Gran Am cars at Barber.

willkinton247 > DeltawingGothamDeserves
12/16/2013 at 12:12

Yep, the RX-8 is definitely a possibility for this class.

Dream Theater of the Absurd > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 12:24

This should be some good racing.... if they can stop running into each other.

DeltawingGothamDeserves > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 12:26

Good! I remember them being loud as hell.

Pgmoran > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 12:28

Interesting that Turner hasn't signed up for GS yet.

The Dief > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 12:28

I am a huge fan of racing series that promote true "stock car" racing. However these series names or rediculous. "The Continental Tire Sports Car Callenge" and the "Tudor United SportsCar Championship"?? Jebus

I totally understand the need for sponsorship, but why not "Continental Championship" and "Tudor SportsCar." Much easier brands to market (like IndyCar). Also, as a fan, I won't struggle to remember the name of the sport which I feel like is step #1 in marketing.

willkinton247 > Pgmoran
12/16/2013 at 12:29

They do have an entry in the United SportsCar Series, so we will see.

BeaterGT > JEM
12/16/2013 at 12:30

Better yet, watch out for that Altima coupe!

AspenRS > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 12:31

Awesome, glad to see they're coming to VIR. They'll probably couple this with the ALMS (or whatever it is they call it now) event.

Pgmoran > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 12:31

I knew of that entry. The Z4 in GTD. Maybe they don't have funding for 2 more cars. That would be strange though since they already have them.

ToastedTires > DeltawingGothamDeserves
12/16/2013 at 12:33

I know Mazda has made a winning rotary before, but I do not see the RX8 being even remotely competitive without an enormous fuel cell.

dp455 > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 12:33

Jul 25 Indianapolis Motor Speedway... Hope I can make it to this one.

willkinton247 > The Dief
12/16/2013 at 12:34

That's a great point. If you remember, the previous name for the Grand Am series was the Rolex Sports Car Series. I think ALMS did the better job tying in the sponsorship with their official name being American Le Mans Series Presented by Tequila Patron, so you could just call it "ALMS." I think people will eventually call it just "TUSCC" and "Continental Challenge."

Grant Leavitt > JEM
12/16/2013 at 12:34

Even more impressive... A Scooby!

willkinton247 > AspenRS
12/16/2013 at 12:35

Yep. It'll be the support series for the Tudor United SportsCar Championship, or TUSCC. I did a write up of that series here .

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Seitz > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 12:35

this is the best racing on Television. Sure, I haven't watched much F1, but man I caught Laguna Seca last year and it was cool.

willkinton247 > Pgmoran
12/16/2013 at 12:38

It will be interesting. I knew that they sold off some of their M3s, but their website's racing section doesn't show an updated entry for GTD. We should find out around the beginning of the year.

AspenRS > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 12:40

Oh wow that's a lot of teams. Definitely more than I thought. But no LMP1 cars right? :(

Ntovorni > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 12:40

This is really good racing, however last year the Watkins Glen race didn't have any GTI's they had Jettas there. (both wrecked in the first like 4 laps).

I HATE the Altima coupe. It sounds like such hot terrible dogshit. The Astons and BMW's in the higher group sound absolutely batshit amazing though. That altima though, it sounded broken.

JEM > Dream Theater of the Absurd
12/16/2013 at 12:43

Yeah but when they do run into each other, they do it in spectacular fashion.

Can't remember the race last year or the year before where half the field wrecked out TWICE trying to take the green flag on the first lap.

bpromersberger > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 12:49

No Mid-Ohio? But.... but why?

ScuzzM0nkey > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 12:49

Saw ALMS for the first time last year at Mosport. Super excited for this year's event!

ncasolowork2 > JEM
12/16/2013 at 12:50

Barber

willkinton247 > bpromersberger
12/16/2013 at 12:56

Your cries are not alone...

Daltonic > DeltawingGothamDeserves
12/16/2013 at 13:01

Was in Daytona for the Rolex 2 years in a row when the RX8's were running in GT. Gawd those things had some glorious sound. Like a million angry bees stuck inside your head. Imposible to duplicate through recordings, you have to experience the harmonics to understand.

willkinton247 > AspenRS
12/16/2013 at 13:02

Unfortunately, no. But the LMP2 cars should be more interesting then last year, as it won't just be HPD ARX-03b's. Mazda is showing up with a brand spanking new one, and Oak Racing will also be bringing one developed by Morgan and Nissan.

Brumos59-2 > Ntovorni
12/16/2013 at 13:10

The Altima won at Daytona last year.

TheB1ackAdderr > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 13:14

Are there any teams that race the Honda S2000? It seems like it would be a good platform for the Street Tuner class. Very little engine mods would need to be done so you could spend your budget on weight saving items and suspension upgrades. Later on if that team wants to move up to the Grand Sport class, they could just install a turbo or supercharger kit then adjust their suspension settings to compensate for the increase in power.

Rekingcrew > Seitz
12/16/2013 at 13:20

I discovered these two series last year and I'm now a huge fan. Way funner than nascar and F1.

DeltawingGothamDeserves > Daltonic
12/16/2013 at 13:21

Yea! I'd be talking to my brother and then- BREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENEOWWWWWWWWBROOOOOMVROOOOOM

Mark Schmidt > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 13:29

Continental Tire has some of the best racing I have seen in the states.

Always close and there is always drama.

Mark Schmidt > ncasolowork2
12/16/2013 at 13:31

Road America where the Comaro lost brakes into turn 1 and went over the catch fence. And on the last lap a Dinan ST car lost it into 1 and went straight into the inside wall and ping ponged down the straight.

Ntovorni > Brumos59-2
12/16/2013 at 13:33

The Altima won at Daytona last year.

While sounding like dogshit.

hockeyguy44 > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 13:34

This is a fantastic series, with well-run teams and great racing.

On a side note: i'm still pissed that Phoenix Racing dumped the Subaru WRX for a Mustang.

Ntovorni > BeaterGT
12/16/2013 at 13:34

BOOOO Altima coupe. I hated the way it sounded. I'm currently on a vendetta against it.

willkinton247 > hockeyguy44
12/16/2013 at 13:34

Hey, at least there's still one in there!

hockeyguy44 > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 13:44

Who? I'm not aware of any teams running a Subaru, unless it's been a very recent announcement.

ncasolowork2 > Mark Schmidt
12/16/2013 at 13:44

Yes but I think at Barber they had a couple of massive wrecks on lap 1 before the start of the race. Something like 30 car pileup or something.

willkinton247 > hockeyguy44
12/16/2013 at 13:45

Compass360 Racing.

GR1M RACER : Wrong Most of the Time > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 13:47

FUCK YEAH!

Mustang 'DontHitTheCrowd' GT > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 13:54

Continental Tire you say?

Kinja'd!!!

Tommy861 > DeltawingGothamDeserves
12/16/2013 at 14:23

Rotarys are legal however nobody runs the RX8 anymore. Unfortunately the development of the competition (and non development by Mazda) has surpassed their competitiveness.

Tommy861 > TheB1ackAdderr
12/16/2013 at 14:26

The Civic Si is the Honda platform of choice there. At this point the S2000 would not really fit within the rules based on HP unless they detuned it, but Its also well out of production. If nobody is running it yet, it won't be joining, and supercharging it to run in GS is not an option, motor needs to be stock.

bimmerismyname > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 15:03

Will Mancuso be back in the Aston Martin again i wonder? Will be interesting to see if Turner Motorsports fields another entry in this series too

Frogger49 > DeltawingGothamDeserves
12/16/2013 at 15:12

There's only been one team running an RX-8 in ST recently, and that is Riley Racing. They're a relatively small operation. The RX-8's prime in ST was when SpeedSource still fielded cars there. Today, Mazda mainly supports the MX-5 teams and I-Moto, which has run the Mazdaspeed3. And they love the series. Believe me.

Samios > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 15:35

Could you do the Pirelli world challenge as well? I think it's better then the Continental series.

Kinja'd!!!

TheB1ackAdderr > Tommy861
12/16/2013 at 15:41

Oh ok that makes more sense then. Does the team running the STI need to convert it to RWD?

Tommy861 > TheB1ackAdderr
12/16/2013 at 15:44

No I believe AWD is allowed.

hockeyguy44 > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 15:52

I did not hear that!! Thanks for letting me know!!!!!!!

willkinton247 > Samios
12/16/2013 at 15:56

Yep. I'll look into it and try to get it done in a week.

TheRealZuck > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 16:16

in the Street Tuner class are turbos allowed or do things need to be naturally aspirated?

TheB1ackAdderr > Tommy861
12/16/2013 at 16:32

Hmm interesting.

DeltawingGothamDeserves > Tommy861
12/16/2013 at 16:53

I noticee that there was only one pair of them so I pretty much assumed they were definitely not the choice of most teams. Most of the time they were running in mediocre positions too. But there is a pair of Miatas racing in continental.

willkinton247 > TheRealZuck
12/16/2013 at 16:54

Turbos are allowed, but horsepower is limited.

DeltawingGothamDeserves > Frogger49
12/16/2013 at 16:54

Oh yes, I personally root for the MS3s. I think they actually have three of them racing, but I could be wrong.

Mike Hilal > Dream Theater of the Absurd
12/16/2013 at 16:58

The ST cars are the ones that run into one another. The GS cars practice the "rubbin is racin" philosophy. This is one of the few series where everyone is flat out for the whole race. Great stuff.

Frogger49 > DeltawingGothamDeserves
12/16/2013 at 17:20

Kinja'd!!!

They did have 3 this past season (No. 32 pictured here at Lime Rock in September, courtesy of myself). The pairing of Pierre Kleinubing and Jayson Clunie won the ST class championship in 2012. I'm unclear what the team's plans are for 2014. Their website hasn't been updated in months.

SquirrelyWrath > willkinton247
12/16/2013 at 18:40

Be interesting to see how the new mustang will do when it starts hitting the circuits.

Dream Theater of the Absurd > JEM
12/16/2013 at 19:26

I remember working T3 at Laguna a couple years ago where over the course of a 2.5 hour race they didn't ever get more than about four consecutive laps in under green. It's probably the only endurance race I've ever worked where there was no need for blue-flagging.

Dream Theater of the Absurd > The Dief
12/16/2013 at 19:31

I used to refer to the two Grand Am series as "Rolex" and "Continental Challenge" among my racing friends, and that was usually enough that they knew what I was talking about.

And regarding the Continental series, I agree with you about the "true stock car competition" part. I really like seeing cars I can actually buy (rather than build, or have built) racing each other, which is why I enjoy World Challenge as well.

JEM > Mark Schmidt
12/17/2013 at 09:37

I remember Gunter's crash in that Camaro. That was horrifying to watch and yet absolutely amazing he walked away from that.

Mark Schmidt > JEM
12/17/2013 at 09:51

Yes it was.

Testament to how well built those cars are.

John - 5X Racing > DeltawingGothamDeserves
12/17/2013 at 10:12

The SpeedSource ST class RX-8's were awesome back in the Koni Challenge days! It motivated me to purchase one for myself, along with the Rolex GT class fire-breathing 3-rotor RX-8's of that period. I remember them doing well in the ST class, then equalization penalties knocked them back a bit. Speedsource appeared to be the only team to be able to successfully compete with them, as I remember a few others that were back in the pack. Presumably because Mazda corporate backed Speedsource heavily (and still does), but not so much the privateer teams. Anyways, they're long gone from the "challenge" series (whatever iteration it is) but still compete at the amateur level regularly, and most notably with Robert Davis Racing in the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill. Gotta think that we don't see more of them competing because they are so fuel thirsty, which translates into more pit-stops - which equals substantial loss of track position if racing in any race that requires them... Great car nonetheless, and I really enjoyed 9000 RPM backfire inducing up-shifts in mine with the proper Racing Beat dual resonated mid-pipe and HKS single side cat-back!

Kinja'd!!!

Shane Gardner > Pgmoran
12/17/2013 at 11:56

They are prepping Z4s for it.

SubiSanchez > willkinton247
12/17/2013 at 16:17

This series is really entertaining to watch. Great racing action. I'm intrigued to see Compass360 running a Subie. Is it possibly one of the ex Phoenix Racing cars? They were pretty competitive until Subaru of America decided to pull the plug.

greg > TheB1ackAdderr
01/29/2014 at 13:24

No they will remain AWD. These are likely the former SRRT sedan STI's that ran in the GS class in 2011 and 2012. Phoenix Performance, the team that essentially was SRRT had the cars up for sale when Subaru pull their funding for sports car racing at the end of 2012. I have one of the SRRT hatchback versions that competed in 2010, you can see some more details on it Here(TheRubieSubie) . The sedan models were more developed than the hatches that ran in 2010, they had BOSCH engine management and ABS systems where as the cars for '10 used oem counterparts. Phoenix did a really nice job building these cars. Hopefully they will be competitive.

greg > TheB1ackAdderr
01/29/2014 at 13:38

The drive train was mostly stock. Trans/Front diff, drive shaft, axles were all oem. The rear diff was upgraded and both the trans/front diff and read diff had custom oil coolers. The upgraded rear diff was probably needed to the huge loads generated by the 275 section slicks.