Courtney, nabbed to
drive for Woodhouse Performance after winning Rookie of the Year in the Touring
Car division in 2006, made a successful and notable transition into the Dodge
Viper Competition Coupe, a completely different animal than his AWD Audi in the
Touring Car Series. Although frustrating, it was fuel for the fire for
Courtney, who, despite the difficulties with the levelness of the playing
field, impressed with his consistency.
The opening race of
the season was telling for Courtney, as he posted an 11th-place
finish right out of the box. A monsoon-like
rain hit the Sebring International Raceway the morning of the race, forcing
Courtney to make his first start in a Viper in wet track conditions, but the
combination of challenges didn't faze him. The new team, new car, new division,
new group of competitors and slippery racetrack couldn't keep him from his
signature clean, consistent racing. Starting off the season just outside the
top-10 in points? Not bad.
At Long Beach, a new set of challenges arose: A
tight street course, a group of folks from sponsor company ProMPI/MPI Coin to
impress and limited track time to prepare for the race. But, the resilient
Courtney was awarded the Sunoco Hard Charger Award, after picking up 16
positions on his way to a 13th-place finish.
The third round of
SPEED World Challenge GT competition took place at Miller
Motorsports Park
in Salt Lake City,
which was the site of Courtney's first top-10 finish, of both his GT career and
the season. He left 11 th in the Championship standings, just four
points out of 10th. The next race would help him break into the
coveted top-10.
That next race
featured NASCAR NEXTEL Cup series star Kasey Kahne joining in the World
Challenge festivities as teammate. Courtney would make the best of Round Five
on the modified oval of Lowe's Motor Speedway and finish fifth in the No. 99
Kenda Tires/ProMPI Dodge Viper. It was his first top-five of the season and it
was also a finish one spot higher than the celebrated Mr. Kahne – something to
write home about. Heading to Round Six at Watkins Glen, Courtney was
sitting 10 th in the season standings, on-track to start the second
half of the season in prime position.
The next three
races, taking place at Watkins Glen International, on the streets of Toronto, Canada
and at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, would produce solid top-15 finishes and
confirm his newly-tabbed nickname 'Mr. Consistency.' Through the finishes he
maintained his spot in the top-10 in points, while at one event hosting a
special group of 100 sponsor guests. At Mid-Ohio, Kenda Tires associates
cheered Courtney on from a frontstretch hospitality tent, watching their No. 99
Dodge Viper race its way to the front after one of their associates gave the
command to start engines to the entire SPEED World Challenge GT field.
With two races
remaining in the season, SCCA made a competition adjustment to the entire field
that helped the Vipers become more competitive, and it showed in Courtney's
results. It was just the ticket Courtney needed to level out the playing field
and kick his performance into high gear.
Round Nine took
place at the historic, super-speedy Road Atlanta. The race itself could only be
summed up in one word: craziness. But for Courtney, it was one of his best of
the season. He started out the weekend by posting his best qualifying effort to
date, a seventh, and making his way through the multi-car wreckage resulting
from a downpour of rain that came about midway through the race. He came out of
the carnage cleanly in second, and had it not been for a
first-time-in-SCCA-SPEED-World-Challenge-history extension of the race,
Courtney would have gotten the first podium of his GT career. Still, the
strategy and skill of Courtney and the direction of crewmen Erik Messley and
Eddie Martin led him to a sixth place finish at Road Atlanta, one of his
favorite tracks on the circuit. Again, Courtney left sitting inside the top-10
in the Championship points, one solid finish away from solidifying a spot there
in his opening season of GT racing.
Then came the
finale, at none other than Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, in the beautiful hills of
Monterey, Calif.
The challenging road course and well-known corkscrew has given drivers funny
feelings in their stomachs for years. The track was one Courtney knew he could
tame, in part because of his confidence in the preparation of the Viper by Rick
Maxwell and Ashley Wick. Qualifying saw consistent Courtney post his best
qualifying run of the year, a fifth. Courtney told the team he felt like he had
a chance to give the leaders a run for their money, but an unfortunate weight
penalty after qualifying forced him to start at the back. An aggressive drive
to the front found Courtney gaining 15 positions in the opening laps of the
race and in the battle for 12 th before the mid-point of the race.
Much to his dismay, a mechanical issue would slow his drive, forcing him to
nurse the Viper home to an 18th-place finish. However, the Championship
points position was not in jeopardy and Courtney would hold his place in the
top-10 in points.
The Slinger, Wis. native and former
Panoz Series Champion finished seventh in the SCCA SPEED World Challenge GT Championship
point standings, scoring 151 overall. He finished in the top 10 four times, the
top five once and the top 15 in each of the rest of the races, with the
exception of Laguna Seca.
At the banquet,
Courtney thanked his sponsors Kenda Tires, ProMPI, MPI Coin, Badger Tire and
Wheel, Karavan Trailers, Foerster Signs, JG Wheels, and Eibach Springs for
giving him the opportunity to race in the SCCA SPEED World Challenge GT
Championship in 2007. He placed emphasis on the fact that he wouldn't be racing
without their support.
"Despite some
fighting with the series to make our cars competitive and a few driver mishaps,
I felt like we put together a good season and learned a lot this year,"
Courtney said. "I'm really looking forward to going racing next year,
whether it be in SPEED World Challenge, American LeMans or another professional
series. The high competition level in World Challenge GT and the great support
from the crew at Woodhouse Performance helped me raise my game this season to a
level where I am confident that I will be competing for wins and possibly a
championship next season."
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