With a championship battle that changed with every lap and a fight for the lead that went down to the very last moment of the season, the final race of the 2010 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge was the best yet, according to Dana Zamalloa, the tire maker’s public relations manager.
The competitors all run on Continental’s Extreme Contact tires.
Rum Bum Racing’s Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi brought the rookie team a third race win on the season as the duo once again held off the hard-charging Roush Racing Ford Mustang of Billy Johnson and Jack Roush Jr. to score a razor-thin victory in the Sept. 11 Utah 200 at Miller Motorsports Park.
The team won the opening race of the year in Daytona and then went on to close out the season with three podium appearances in a row.
“That was definitely one of the best races I ever had,” Plumb says. “Conditions changed so many times. It was a constant battle between Joey and Billy, and we couldn’t see a thing into turn one. Luckily I had Jeff Segal – who just finished up the GT championship – spotting for me in turn one, and he was telling me when to brake because I couldn’t see the brake markers.
Roush and Johnson took their second-consecutive runner-up finish to close the year on another high note. Sharing the podium was fellow BMW runners Joey Hand and Michael Marsal, who were an outside chance to take the championship at the onset of the 2.5-hour race. After a bold pit call saw the Turner Motorsport team take on just two tires during the stop, the duo bolted to the front. But with the other runners opting for four new tires, “they were powerless to defend as they finished third, ending their shot at the championship title,” Zamalloa recounts.
Instead, it was long-time leaders Charles Espenlaub and Charlie Putman who powered to fifth at the finish and scored the Grand Sport championship.
“It hasn’t sunk in, but this is the neatest thing,” Putman says. “We’ve been working at this for years and years together, and for it to come together is just like a dream.”
The Street Tuner (ST) Class Championship could hardly have been closer, as the two teams were tied in points and had the championship decided by a tie breaker. Entering the event, the Bimmerworld BMW of Bill Heumann and Seth Thomas enjoyed a healthy 19-point lead. But just moments into the race, that was called into doubt as a driveline problem caused a lengthy pit stop for repairs.
The team fought back to make it on track, but the damage was done as the finish put the pair on par in points with David Thilenius and Lawson Aschenbach.
“My team was on the radio with me every lap telling me what to do,” Aschenbach says. “The clutch was making a knocking noise. But we pushed hard and continued to fight. Things needed to fall our way, and they did.”
The points margin was so significant that Thilenius hadn’t even thought it would be possible.
“I came here and knew we were so far back in the points I didn’t even think of the scenarios,” Thilenius says. “It’s a real shame for the Bimmerworld guys, because they’ve had a fantastic season, but the Compass360 team pushed and pushed all season.”
Also in a celebratory mood following the season-ender were drivers Ian Baas and Aaron Povoledo as the duo scored their first victory of the year for APR in the No. 91 Volkswagen GTI.
“APR nailed it,” Povoledo says. “We got the absolute maximum out of it. It was a perfect day and a perfect race.”
Owen Trinkler and Sarah Cattaneo came in second in ST as the team finished the season with three podium appearances, including two wins.
For more information, visit www.grand-am.com and www.conti-online.com.
