Trent Hindman and Ashley Freiberg celebrate their victory in Friday’s Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge season finale at Road Atlanta. Photo by Scott R LePage LAT Photo USA
Ashley Freiberg and Trent Hindman ended the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge season on a winning note, capturing their first victory of the year in the No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports IHG Rewards Club/Trim-Tex BMW M3.
Hindman took the checkered flag 1.194 seconds ahead of Robin Liddell, who joined Andrew Davis in winning the Grand Sport (GS) championship co-driving the No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R, giving Stevenson Motorsports its first title in the series after finishing in the top three the past three seasons.
The race was held in steady rain, with teams guessing on using grooved rain tires or racing slicks should the track dry out. While Fall-Line opted for the slick tires – Freiberg had to battle to remain on the lead lap following an early pit stop to take on rain tires – Stevenson Motorsports made the right choice.
“My Georgia roots gave me a little confidence in the rain,” said Davis, who resides in nearby Athens. “We made sure we clicked off those laps for the first 45 minutes. From there we could have just coasted around, but that’s not what Robin does. It’s nice to stand on the podium at my home track and spray some champagne.”
Liddell chased Hindman all the way to the checkered flag, while holding off third-place finisher Kyle Marcelli – who scored the best finish for the No. 80 Mantella Autosport MBRP/Praxair/The Sport Lab Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R.
“I was kind of disappointed that I couldn’t get the win,” Liddell admitted. “I wanted to win the race, but we didn’t have enough pace. But here we are P1 in the championship and that’s the big prize, so I’m super happy about that.”
After winning two races and the GS championship last year with John Edwards as Fall-Line Motorsports’ starting driver, Hindman took his first victory as closer.
“This was the most challenging race I had to finish all year,” said Hindman. “The track conditions were so bad, it was unbelievably wet and I was hydroplaning everywhere. I had Robin right behind me, really pushing me, I know they were thirsty for a win.”
Gimple Repeats For Compass360 Racing In Audi, CJ Wilson Racing Captures ST Crown
Entering the race with a one-point lead for the Street Tuner (ST) title, CJ Wilson Racing’s Chad McCumbee led the opening one hour, 18 minutes in the No. 5 ModSpace Mazda MX-5 – and then Stevan McAleer cruised to the championship as their top two rivals crashed in Turn 12 in the latter stages of the race.
Paul Holton and Kyle Gimple combined to win in the No. 75 Compass360 Racing AERO Advanced Paint Technology/Children’s Tumor Foundation Audi S3. It was Holton’s first career victory and fourth for Gimple, who won at Road Atlanta in 2014 driving a Honda for Compass360 Racing. It was also Audi’s first ST triumph and second in Continental Tire Challenge competition.
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Gimple took the checkered flag 13.836 seconds ahead of Mat Pombo, who joined Derek Jones in scoring the first podium finish in the No. 73 John Cooper Works Team MINI JCW. Taking third was the Burton Racing No. 23 303 Aerospace Protectant/STA-BIL BMW 128i.
“It was pretty uneventful out there,” admitted Gimple, who led the final 52 minutes. “All I had to do was go out there, click off laps and keep pace.”
McCumbee started the race on the pole by virtue of leading in the points after Thursday’s qualifying was rained out. He quickly charged to the lead and pulled away.
“It was obviously a tense day from start to finish,” McCumbee said. ‘We wanted to execute what we do week in and week out. It helped starting on the front row with vision. I opened up a big lead giving it to Stevan without a scratch on it.”
The turning point came with one hour, 20 minutes remaining, when championship contender Andrew Carbonell slid off the track and slammed into a tire barrier in turn 12. While he was unhurt, the No. 26 Freedom Autosport SemperFiFund.org Mazda MX-5 was out of the event. Starting driver Liam Dwyer had a solid start and was running fifth when he pitted. A miscue on the tire change resulted in Carbonell rejoining the race in 17th. He had worked his way back to seventh before his incident.
“I was pushing really hard – maybe too hard,” said Carbonell, who unofficially finished second in the standings behind the C.J. Wilson Racing drivers, 264-243. “We had a big gap to the leaders when I got in the car and we were really closing in quickly. I just got the left sides on the inside curb and it sent me to the outside. Once I hit the paint there, I was gone. It was a big hit – maybe the hardest I’ve ever had.”
McCumbee pitted under the ensuing caution and turned the car over to McAleer, who finished eighth.
“The restart was intense,” McAleer said. “I made some contact. We knew where the contenders were, but unfortunately they had some troubles today. We’ve been improving every single weekend. These last few weekends we’ve been the strongest car out there. I’m excited for ModSpace and Mazda to help us win this championship.”
Carbonell’s misfortune kept the door open for defending champion Eric Foss – who needed to win and have the leading Mazda finish out of the top 10 to retain his title. However, Foss was running ninth when he slammed into the turn 12 barrier with 32 minutes remaining, sidelining the No. 56 Murillo Racing Porsche Cayman started by Jeff Mosing.
“Seeing the way these two guys have worked together and how all of our drivers and all of our teams collaborate is great,” said championship car owner C.J. Wilson, a pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. “They’ve driven with their heads on straight. Sometimes you make one mistake and then it’s all over. The key to success is you can’t win the championship if you don’t finish.”
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