One of the most highly-anticipated events on the 2014 IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series schedule was Sebring on March 14. The race marked the first time the series visited the iconic 3.74-mile course since the popular street-stock road racing series came under the Grand-Am umbrella over a decade ago.

Sebring is legendary for hosting the biggest sports car race in the Americas, the 12-Hours of Sebring, and for being bumpy -very bumpy. The racing surface is partially comprised of World War II-era landing strips with wide seams between the uneven concrete slabs. The course’s seventeen turns transition between the landing strips, taxiways, and (now) purpose-built racing track. To say the place has character is an understatement.

The Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race was run the day before the popular 12-hour headliner event, so tens of thousands of fans were camped and out in full force to watch the hard-fought action that characterizes the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series. The week started on Tuesday with a test day, followed by two practice sessions on Wednesday, and qualifying on Thursday prior to the race on Friday.

In qualifying, the Fall-Line BMW M3 of Trent Hindman picked up where he left off after finishing second at Daytona: at the top of the charts. The youngster was the only driver to dip into the 2:15’s with a blistering 2:15.947 qualifying lap. However, things were crowded in the battle for grid supremacy; the top nine positions were covered by nearly one second! Eric Curran drove his Camaro Z/28.R to the outside pole position ahead of Billy Johnson who qualified the #158 Mustang BOSS 302R third on the grid.

At the start of the race, Curran edged his Camaro ahead of Hindman’s BMW, but Hindman held the all-important inside line through turns 1, 2, and 3 where he pulled ahead and held. After fourteen laps, Hindman (#46 BMW) led Curran (#01 Camaro) and Matt Bell (#9 Camaro).

Three laps late, Kurt Rezzetano’s #32 Mustang BOSS 302R was stopped on track with a mechanical problem before he limped back to the pits and retired from the race.

With nearly a hour into the race without any caution flags, cars started ducking into pit lane for fuel, tires, and a driver change. After the field cycled through their stops, John Edwards (now driving the #46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW) regained the lead. In fact, the top three car numbers remained the same, though the drivers were different. Leading was the aforementioned Edwards, followed by Lawson Aschenbach in the #01 Camaro and the #9 Camaro driven by Andy Lally.

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Top Left: Series veteran and former champion Scott Maxwell rejoined the young and talented Jade Buford in the #15 Multimatic Motorsports Mustang BOSS 302R at sebring. Buford was looking to continue his pole-setting performances with a quick time at Sebring. Top Right: Comprised of the remnants of a WWII-era airfield, Sebring International Speedway’s neighbor is a modern-day regional airport. Pictured here is the #15 Mustang Boss 302R entering the aptly-named “Tower Turn.” Bottom Left: Tony Rezzetano and Andrew Aquilante co-drove the #32 Phoenix American Racing Mustang BOSS 302R at Sebring. Rezzetano qualified the car an impressive 7th for the race. Bottom Right: The #35 Phoenix American Racing Mustang BOSS 302R of Preston Calvert and John Yarosz brakes for the “Tower Turn” during the afternoon testing session at Sebring.

About ten laps later, Shelby Blackstock, who took over the reins of the #48 Fall-Line BMW from Ashley Freiberg) was slow on course after the rear upright failed. The rough Sebring track had claimed a victim.

Edwards and Hindman dominated the race in their #46 BMW up to this point, leading 38 of 42 laps. With just over an hour approaching, a quick caution period was called to retrieve a rear bumper on the racing line. The leaders took this opportunity to pit for enough fuel to make it to the end of the race.

The #12 Porsche didn’t pit, and stayed out to lead the field. At the restart, a chain-reaction crash between Shane Lewis in the #12 Porsche and the Camaros of Andy Lally and Lawson Aschenbach jumbled the field. John Edwards and his BMW were bottled up behind the mess, while Robin Liddell took his Camaro to the outside and into the lead.

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Left: The Racers Edge Motorsports #78 qualified 9th with Lucas Bize at the controls. Right: Scott Maxwell negotiates Sebring’s very rough turn seventeen. The turn leads onto the front straight, so carrying high speed through this corner s critical. Drivers and cars have to survive the bumps to net the the quickest lap time.

Before Edwards could make a move on Liddell to retake the lead, a bone-chilling crash leading into the hairpin turn left a crushed ST-class Mazda and driver Marc Miller injured on a back board, but responsive and alert. A full-course caution was called. There wasn’t enough time to clean up the incident before the race time expired. Disappointingly, the fans were denied a dash to the checkered flag. Robin Liddell crossed the stripe behind the pace car to capitalize on the Camaro Z/28.R’s impressive performance and steal the win.

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Left: The #78 Racers Edge Motorsports Mustang BOSS 302R rounds turn seventeen and heads onto the front straight during practice on Wednesday afternoon. Center: Green flag! Eric Curran’s #01 CKS Autosport Camaro Z/28.R outbrakes Trent Hindman in the #46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW, though Hindman holds the all-important inside line through first two turns to maintain the lead. Right: The 59-car Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge field shuffles through turns one and two during the race’s opening lap.

In victory lane, the Fall-Line Motorsports team was frustrated with its second consecutive second-place finish. “I hate to be upset about second, but it’s still hugely disappointing not to win on such a strong day,” Edwards said. “Luckily, we came away with second and got the points lead.”

Racers Edge Motorsports were the best-finishing Mustang BOSS 302R. Lucas Bize and David Levine were 5th in the #78.

All of the Continental Tire Challenge teams will have a seven-week break to prepare for the next race at Laguna Seca on Saturday, May 3. Be sure to follow the rest of the season’s action right here!