The 1999 SpeedVision World Challenge was the tenth running of the Sports Car Club of America's premier series. It was the first season that the series would be covered by the SpeedVision network. The season also marked a new format, with Touring 1 becoming Grand Touring and Touring 2 becoming Touring Car. 1999 was also the first year in which the series would have a corporate sponsor since 1991. Pontiac got its final series win this season, joining Oldsmobile and Saturn as General Motors brands gradually disappearing from the World Challenge. It was not until the rise of the Cadillac CTS-V that a GM division other than Chevrolet would see a win. This also led to the beginning of a longtime BMW-Mazda-Acura affair in touring car.
Round | Circuit | Winning Driver (GT) Winning Driver (TC) | Winning Vehicle (GT) Winning Vehicle (TC) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Mosport | Bobby Archer | Dodge Viper Acura Integra R |
2 | Lime Rock | Bobby Archer | Dodge Viper Acura Integra R |
3 | Mid-Ohio | Peter Kitchak | Porsche 911 RSR Acura Integra R |
4 | Road Atlanta | Kermit Upton III | BMW M3 Acura Integra R |
5 | Tros-Rivieres | Peter Kitchak | Porsche 911 RSR Acura Integra R |
6 | West Michigan | Peter Kitchak | Porsche 911 RSR BMW 328 |
7 | Vancouver | Scotty White | Chevrolet Corvette C5 Acura Integra R |
8 | Pike's Peak | Peter Kitchak | Porsche 911 RSR Pontiac Sunfire |
9 | Laguna Seca | John Heinricy | Chevrolet Corvette C5 Acura Integra R |
The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional racers.
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Sports car racing is one of the main types of circuit auto racing, alongside open-wheel racing, touring car racing and stock car racing. Sports car races are often, though not always, endurance races that are run over particularly long distances or large amounts of time, resulting in a larger emphasis on the reliability and efficiency of the car and its drivers as opposed to outright car performance or driver skills. The FIA World Endurance Championship is an example of a sports car racing series. In the high-stakes world of sports car racing, drivers don specialized fire-resistant, aerodynamic racing suits, ensuring both comfort and safety during the demanding endurance races, as exemplified by the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the Stephane Ratel Organisation since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club since 2017.
Jeff Altenburg is a professional race car driver born in the USA. He has won sixteen national championships in both amateur and professional racing.
Turner Motorsport is a professional sports car racing team located in Newton, NH, and is the second most prolific BMW privateer racing team in the world, second only to Schnitzer Motorsport, who stopped racing in 2020. As of 2023 Turner motorsport has competed in over 470 professional sport car races.
The 2009 SCCA Speed World Challenge was the 20th Speed World Challenge season. began March 18, 2009, and was completed on October 11, after 10 rounds. The Grand Touring championship was won by Brandon Davis driving a Ford Mustang GT, and the Touring Car championship was won by Pierre Kleinubing driving an Acura TSX. It was the last season under the Speed Channel sponsorship.
The 2010 SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge was the 21st season of the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge. It was the first season since 1998 without the sponsorship of television channel Speed.
Peter "P.D." Cunningham is an American race car driver and owner of RealTime R&L, Inc., based in Saukville, Wisconsin and currently competing in the Pirelli World Challenge GT Championship. His name and his team, RealTime Racing, have become synonymous with the Honda and Acura brands. Through 2013, he has claimed 91 professional race wins across 12 different North American road racing series and holds numerous World Challenge records.
The 2004 Speed World Challenge season was the 15th season of the Sports Car Club of America's World Challenge series. The series' title sponsor was television network Speed Channel, who broadcast all the races. Championships were awarded for grand touring and touring cars. The season began on March 19 and ran for ten rounds. Tommy Archer and Audi won the championships in GT, and Bill Auberlen and BMW won in Touring Car. The season marked the first wins for the Cadillac brand, a step up for General Motors after three of its brands declined in the nineties.
The 2003 Speed World Challenge season was the 14th season of the Sports Car Club of America's World Challenge series. The series' title sponsor was television network Speed Channel, who televised all the races. Championships were awarded for grand touring and touring cars. It began on March 14 and ran for ten rounds. Randy Pobst and Audi won the championships in GT, and Bill Auberlen and BMW won in Touring Car. The series would head to Puerto Rico for 2003, their first race outside of North America since 1991 when they went to Mexico.
RealTime Racing is an American professional motorsports team founded in 1987 by Peter Cunningham and headquartered in Saukville, just north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. On gravel roads, frozen lakes, permanent road courses, or temporary street circuits, RealTime drivers have piloted Acura and Honda production-based automobiles to 18 professional titles in a variety of motorsports series.
K-PAX Racing is an automobile racing team in the SCCA's Pirelli World Challenge racing series. Founded in 2006, team owner Jim Haughey partnered with Bob Raub, bringing a team of Porsche 911 GT3s to the track. However, from 2009 to 2013, it has campaigned Volvo S60s with great success. For 2014, K-PAX Racing switched to McLaren MP4-12C GT3 race cars and continued its relationship with the manufacturer the following three seasons by updating to the McLaren 650S GT3 model. Since joining the Pirelli World Challenge in 2007, K-PAX Racing has celebrated four driver championships and has solidified the team as a perennial championship contender.
SCCA Pro Racing is the pro racing division of the Sports Car Club of America. SCCA Pro Racing was formed in 1963, the company is a fully owned subsidiary of SCCA.
The 1992 SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge was the third running of the Sports Car Club of America's World Challenge series. It was the first not to be sponsored by Escort radar detectors. The series would not receive another corporate sponsor until its acquisition by SpeedVision in 1999. It included a 24-hour race at Mosport Park. It would be the final year with four or more groups until 1996. The season would also mark the end of the endurance racing the series was founded upon, gradually phased out until by 1999 its endurance races were replaced with one-hour sprints. The classes were changed from World Challenge, Super Production, and Super Sport to A, B, C, and D.
The 1991 SCCA Escort World Challenge was the second running of the Sports Car Club of America's World Challenge series. It was the final year under sponsorship from Escort radar detectors. The series would not find another corporate sponsor until television network SpeedVision bought the series in 1999. The race in Mexico would be their final race outside of North America until their race in Puerto Rico twelve years later. The series also added a Super Sport group alongside its World Challenge and Super Production groups. The series would also adopt a 24-hour race at Mosport Park.
Shea Holbrook is an American professional racing driver, entrepreneur and spokeswoman. Currently, she is in retirement starting a family.
Terry M. McCarthy is an American stock car, sports car and touring car racing driver. He is a former competitor in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Featherlite Southwest Tour. He won the first national sports car championship to be captured by the driver of a Mazda Miata in 1994.
Lawson L. Aschenbach is an American professional racing driver. He is a four-time Pirelli World Challenge champion, and most recently, the 2014 Pirelli World Challenge GTS Champion. He is the 2006 SPEED World Challenge Rookie of the Year and became the first person to win the SPEED GT Championship in his rookie season. He is also the champion of the 2010 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge ST Championship and 2014 Lamborghini Super Trofeo ProAM World Champion. Aschenbach first raced professionally in 2005. He currently races for Stevenson Motorsports in the IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.
The Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BF Goodrich is a single-make motor racing championship sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) in the United States. Mazda MX-5 Cup is the professional Spec Miata series of Mazda Motorsports, promoted by Andersen Promotions. The pro Spec Miata series has its roots in 2003, but a unified national championship was launched in 2006.