Continental Tire Challenge Drivers Await Challenge of Austin

There are a number of new faces in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge since the series last raced at Circuit of The Americas in March 2013, yet most of them have two things in common:

No. 1, virtually all of them have experience of some kind on the challenging 20-turn, 3.4-mile layout. Secondly, all of them are looking forward to returning to visit and compete in Austin, Texas.

Trent Hindman didn’t make his Continental Tire Challenge debut until the middle of last season. Now, the driver of the No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3 is in the thick of the battle for the Grand Sport (GS) championship. However, he did have an opportunity to race at the circuit before joining the series.“I did an SCCA Major race there last year,” Hindman said. “I was on pole for both races driving a Porsche 911, which is not a bad car for that track. I won the first one and went off track in the second.“Driving at Circuit of The Americas was a blast – it’s one of the most entertaining tracks I’ve been to. I understand that the city is a pretty cool place, but I never made it downtown last year. I’d like to make it out there after our race on Friday – hopefully we’ll be celebrating – but my main concern is spending 100 percent of my time at the track. I’m there to win.”Eric Curran will be doing double duty. In addition to co-driving with Lawson Aschenbach in the No. 01 CKS Autosport Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R in the Continental Tire Challenge, he joins Boris Said in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Corvette DP in the TUDOR Championship.“We had a really fast Camaro at Austin last year,” Curran said. “We had a potential win but broke our clutch late in the race that took us out. I love the place. It’s a top-notch facility and a lot of fun to drive. It’s beautiful. It’s great for the spectators. It’s on the list of my favorite top-three tracks.”Wayne Nonnamaker’s challenge is relearning Circuit of The Americas. After racing there last year in a Daytona Prototype – finishing eighth in the GRAND-AM Rolex Series race co-driving with Dane Cameron – he returns in the No. 42 Team Sahlen Porsche Cayman co-driven by his brother, Will Nonnamaker. This will be a key race for Nonnamaker, who holds a slim lead in the Street Tuner (ST) championship with two races remaining.“It’s a beautiful track,” said Wayne Nonnamaker. “It’s just so long! I’ve been practicing driving there on iRacing, and it really takes several laps to learn it. It’s a very different track (racing in ST) compared to the Daytona Prototype. It’s got so much high-speed stuff and a variety of corners. I’m having to re-learn it for when I come back with the Porsche.”Defending ST champion Terry Borcheller said the circuit presents a unique challenge.“It’s a fun track to drive, but a difficult place to race,” said Borcheller, who lost the lead a year ago in the closing minutes driving the No. 23 Burton Racing 128i he shares with Mike LaMarra.“It’s one of those places where it’s more fun to drive than to race,” Borcheller said. “Racing there can be difficult. There are places that open themselves to banzai passing, which can be a bit of frustration. Last year we had to start from pit lane. “Our strategy was not to change tires to gain track position, and we ran the whole race on one set of tires. It worked – right up until the last yellow. Then I was a sitting duck at the end of the race (leading 11 laps before being passed two laps from the finish and winding up third).”While Remo Ruscitti is running his first year in the Continental Tire Challenge, one of his two prior races in the series was at Austin last year for Compass360 Racing, where he finished 19th with current co-driver Adam Isman.“It’s an awesome place, and I got to race there twice last year – in Continental Tire Challenge and World Challenge,” Ruscitti said. “I found the Esses – the first half of the track – really fun. Last year I got to stay in downtown Austin, and there’s something happening there all the time.” Eric Zimmermann is another driver new to the series, sharing the No. 80 BimmerWorld Racing BMW 328i with Tyler Cooke. “I club raced there last October in a BMW,” Zimmermann said. “I’m excited to go back. I enjoy the race track, and also have a daughter in school there. I’m glad I’ve been there before, because four of the six tracks I’ve done so far since coming into this series were new to me. “Austin was an eye-opening experience, so I’m very happy I’ve driven there before. It’s not an easy track. It’s very technical, with a lot of turns linked together. It’s a place that requires good balance, as well as carrying speed from one corner to another. It’s the best city in the country, and I’m not saying that because my daughter is there. You won’t find a better place, with more things to do, better food and a great outdoor culture. It’s a phenomenal place.”Continental Tire Challenge practice begins at 8:45 a.m. CT on Thursday, with qualifying beginning at 4:30 p.m. The race takes the green flag at 12:20 p.m. on Friday, and will be streamed live on IMSA.com beginning at 1:20 p.m. ET.