CARS History
CARS began as the Ferrari F330 series in July 2005. Originally the series ran with the F330 mod, using the F330 physics. Once the AD67 mod arrived with four car makes, the series changed to that mod, and changed the series name to CARS. Series founder Norm Borzcon provides a clear sense of history for each race with his historical writeups, providing perspective of the tracks and drivers of the late 60's and early 70's. CARS uses a two race format for each race weekend. First is a short 20 minute Sprint race, followed by a longer 40 minute Enduro. The Sprint length is set to allow the race to proceed without a pit stop, while one pit stop is required for the Enduro.
Season
1
The first season of the F330 series focused on the machines that raced with the Ferrari F330. The season followed the 1968 Championship of Makes World Championship schedule. The season was broken into 2 parts, each part running throught the same 7 tracks. The tracks chosen for season 1 include the best known tracks in road racing history, including Daytona Road Course, Sebring, Nurburgring, Spa, Monza, Brands Hatch, and LeMans Sarthe. Targa Florio, which was also on the Makes Championship slate was not available. Since the season was broken into 2 parts, there were 2 overall champions crowned.
Season 1 Part 1 Champion: Todd Stoffer
Season 1 Part 2 Champion: Van Bonham
Season 2: CanAm Challenge
Season 2 brought changes, with the new name (CARS), new mod (AD67), and a new schedule based on the 1969 CanAm season. The tracks chosen reflect the actual tracks run by CamAm, with 2 substitues for tracks that are not available. The season focused on the drivers in CamAm. Drivers that made an impact in the world of racing and CanAm, as well as drivers that left us too early.
CanAm Challenge Champion: Mark Schmieding
Season 3: EuroTour
Season 3 was a trip through legendary European tracks, for a total of 11 weekends. The season focused on legendary drivers who many may not have heard of. The championship was very close, coming down to a narrow 4 point victory for defending CamAm season champ Mark Schmieding.
EUROTour Champion: Mark Schmieding
Season 4: IROC 1
Season 4 was a tribute to the early days of IROC, with driver running identical Porsche 910s with IROC paint schemes. Ovals were run for the first time, as well as a different point system, special bonus points for lap leaders, and random drawings to dictate drivers who finished high in the first race of the night start from the back. Mark Schmieding again won the championship, pulling away in the last two weekends over runner up Sam Allison.
Season 5: WORLDTour
Season 5 consisted of a tour of some of the world's best racing circuits. CARS was back to running unique liveries and a team competition was held for the first time. Mark Schmieding held on to win his fourth straight CARS championship over runner up Sam Allison, and 3rd place finisher Jordan Darwin. Allison took the Sprint title while Darwin conquered the Enduro competition. Mark and his father Dick were tops in the team competition over Rob Thaeler and Eric Taylor.
Season 6: USRRC Tribute
Season 6 consisted a tribute to the United States Road Racing Championship of the 60's and 70's. Tracks were all in North America, bringing back some long time CARS favorites. Jordan Darwin broke through to sweep the championships, ending Mark Schmieding's amazing 4 season winning streak. Schmieding finished in second with Rob Thaeler in third. Darwin and Frankie Amodeo would take the team championship over Butch Giles and Thaeler.
Season 7: EUROTour II
Season 7 revisited many of the classic European tracks from EUROTour, with the addition of some new circuits. Jordan Darwin dominated the season with 15 wins, taking his 2nd straight championship. Sam Allison completed his third runner-up finish in four seasons, while Joseph Mudrak came in third. Darwin and Frankie Amodeo won their second straight team championship, besting Allison and Dick Schmieding's team.
Season 8: Championship of Makes - USA
Season 8 introduced a new concept, the brainchild of admin Jordan Darwin. The four makes that CARS races (Ford GT40, Lola T70, Porsche 910, and Ferrari F330) were painted in national inspired liveries, and the CARS drivers were split into 4 teams for a team competition. The individual championships went on as usual. Sam Allison claimed his first CARS championship, sweeping all three titles on the strength of 4 wins, and 17 top five finishes out of 18 races. Included in those 17 top fives were 7 P2 finishes. EUROTour II and USRRC Tribute champ Jordan Darwin finished 23 points back in second. Darwin would lead the series with 7 wins. Rob Thaeler finished in third 65 points back, claiming 2 victories. The same finishing order held true for all three titles. Lola Motorsports (Mark Schmieding, Dick Schmieding, Rick Rey, Rob Thaeler, Norm Borczon, and Eric Taylor) took the team title over runner up Ford Racing.
Season 9: Championship of Makes - International
Season 9 continued the Season 8 theme, but running an international schedule. Teams were rebalanced for the season among the four makes. Jordan Darwin dominated the season with 8 wins. Darwin took the Combined and Sprint Championships. This was Darwin's fourth series championship, tying Mark Schmieding all time. Sam Allison was the Combined runner up for the fourth time in six seasons, and he claimed the Enduro Championship. Mark Schmieding came in third overall, with a series second best 4 wins. Dich Schmieding and Philip Creed filled out the top five overall finishers. The team championship was won by Porsche, lead by the Schmiedings, Van Bonham, Eric Taylor, Todd Stoffer, and George Fisher. Ford racing took the runner up spot, with Darwin, Frankie Amodeo, Robert Hedan, and Rob Thaeler behind the wheel.
Season 10: Porsche 917K
Season 10 brought in a new era for CARS, as it moved to a new platform, rFactor, and a new mod, the Porsche 917K. The Porsche 917K season was a critical transition for CARS. With the rest of MNRL completely moved away from NASCAR Racing 2003 plus running AD67 was getting a little long in the tooth for some CARS veterans, it was time to open a new chapter in CARS history. In mid-November the news broke – CARS would be switching to rFactor and making their entry into rFactor in style - driving the sexy Porsche 917Ks! Forty-seven drivers would sign up and almost all would participate in the season. Newcomers would throw down the gauntlet in the Road America opener as both Mark Urban and Fabrizio Telasio would show by their wins that they would be the pace setters in the coming season. The third race would be Sandy Robinson's time to establish that his speed would be one to reconcile with during this season. Defending CARS Champion, Jordan Darwin, would not win until the Enduro in Round 5 at Mosport which would surprisingly be the fourth and last different winner of the season. Many others would come close as Rob Thaeler, Rick Rey, Scott Richards, Joseph Mudrak, Eric Taylor, Norm Borczon, Don Fleming, Kevin Chalk, and Butch Giles would claim podium spots during the season. Porsche 917K
Overall Champion – Jordan Darwin
Few were more surprised at the result of the Overall Championship than the eventual champion. Jordan won four of the last six races as Mark and Fab ran into problems, allowing Jordan to squeeze by in the points to claim his fourth CARS Overall Championship. This ties him with Mark Schmieding for most Overall Championships in CARS History. For his effort Jordan will receive a Commemorative DVD from SFI Direct. Congratulations for Fabrizio Telasio for claiming second in overall points which will get him a Commermorative DVD from SFI Direct. Fab showed speed and consistency that will make him a championship favorite to many people for EuroTour III. Mark Urban claims third in Overall points just three behind Fab in a very tight battle. Sandy Robinson secured fourth in Overall points on the strength of his two wins. CARS veterans were in a tight race for the final Top 5 position which went to Rob Thaeler who just barely nipped Rick Rey in the final race of the season to win the position by the narrowest of margins - a single point! Rick's Quixotic teammate, Scott Richards, finished just behind him in seventh in points. Joseph Mudrak ran a solid season to finish eight in points just ahead of former CARS Champion Sam Allison. The Top 10 was rounded out by Harrison Nolan who turned in some strong finishes late in the season.
Enduro Champion – Mark Urban
The Enduro format seemed to fit Mark as he claimed four of his seven wins in Enduros. Fab kept Mark honest here all season long but Mark maintained his great pace to emerge champion! Mark becomes the seventh different driver to earn an individual CARS Championship in the first ten seasons of competition. SFI Direct will be sending Mark a Commemorative DVD in recognition of his Enduro Championship. The rest of the Top 5 in the Enduro Championship were Jordan Darwin, Fabrizio Telasio, Sandy Robinson, and Rob Thaeler.
Sprint Champion – Jordan Darwin
Again, Jordan Darwin seemed to be in the right place at the right time to take the advantage in the Sprint Championship when Fab ran into trouble late in the season. This gives Jordan eleven individual CARS championships! Fab would hold onto second place in Sprint points. Mark Urban would place third in the Sprint Championship but Rick Rey was just three points behind in fourth place while Rob Thaeler was in fifth place, just one point behind Rick!!
Team Champion – Go Team, Jordan Darwin & Sam Allison
The Team Championship was very exciting this season as many teams were able to post top points at different races – Carbon, Cyber Motor Werks, Go Team, Quixotic, and Strange Brew! On the strength of being top team at both rounds at Brands Hatch and Road Atlanta, Team Quixotic/Zig-Zag took the lead in the Team Championship. However, Go Team would post top team points seven of the remaining eight rounds of season to seal their team championship. SFI Direct will be sending Sam Allison a Commemorative DVD for his part. This is Sam's first CARS Team Championship and Jordan's third CARS Team Championship – tying Mark and Dick Schmieding who also have three CARS Team Championships. Congratulations also go to Team Quixotic/Zig-Zag drivers Rick Rey and Scott Richards for their second place finish in team points. Kudos to Orion Race Team members William Kabela and Rob Thaeler that plugged away to a third place finish in team points. Cyber Motor Werks with drivers Kevin Chalk and Sandy Robinson showed great strength early and held on for fourth in team points. All four of these teams will be returning for EuroTour III - Go Team has added Philip Creed, Quixotic has added Mark Urban, Orion has added Eric Taylor, and Cyber Motor Werks has added Ced Collins while rebranding itself as PORRSWerx.
Senior Championship – Norm Borczon
CARS Founder, Norm Borczon, wins his first CARS Championship! It came down to Norm, Van Bonham, and Dale Farmer at LeMans where Norm stretched his narrow points lead to win the inaugural CARS Senior Championship by 14 points! Congrats to Norm on his Championship and we will have to see about getting him the promised prize pack: "The winner will receive an all expense paid trip to the Chiropractor of his choice, plus two weeks' supply of Geritol, and an Easy Rider walker." :-)