Team CTR
| Team CTR | |
| Owner | Tom Bennett (President & COO) Silvio Franco (CFO and VP) |
| Series Competed In | TM Lights (2013 - ) ASCC (2012 - ) Dash Cup (2012 - ) RROL Elite Series (2012 - ) Continental Racing League (2012 - ) |
| Manufacturer(s) | {{{manufacturer}}} |
| Race Wins | {{{wins}}} |
| Championships | {{{titles}}} |
| Current Drivers | Joe Olenick Sebastien Dubois Jess Zander Henrietta LaVerne III Amy Ciston |
| Notable Former Drivers | Frank Stafford |
| Team | |
Team Connecticut Racing, officially stylized as Team CTR is a team involved in various levels of auto racing, with drivers in TM Lights, the ASCC, RROL Elite Series and CRL. The team was formed after ChargerTec, a large semiconductor manufacturer in Connecticut, established a racing team as an advertising outlet. Team principals Silvio Franco and Tom Bennett became majority stakeholders in the team after ChargerTec went bankrupt in mid-to-late 2012. The team was officially rebranded with its current name starting for the 2013 season, although several commentators began using the name in 2012.
The team was known for running Juneau or Inglesby chassis whenever possible; starting in 2013, however, they will be switching to running Lenard and Lycoia chassis in all series.
Team CTR[edit | edit source]
TM Lights[edit | edit source]
Team CTR's TM Lights team was announced in late 2012; however, the group was not officially accepted until finalizing a sponsorship agreement with the TARDIS Group. Joe Olenick will continue to drive for the team in its upper-tier series.
ASCC[edit | edit source]
2012[edit | edit source]
The team entered the ASCC in 2012 with Bolden sponsorship. The team intended to enter two cars but was only able to enter one, due to Bolden restricting the number of teams it would be supplying. The team, along with Olenick, won the second race of the season and made the Chase for the Wrangler Cup. Olenick has been notably disappointed with Bolden's single-lap speed, which the team felt hampered him in qualifying.
2013[edit | edit source]
Team CTR plans to remain in the ASCC and hopes to expand to two cars; they will continue to field the #5 car for Joe Olenick, and are allegedly making a strong push for former TM Master Cup series driver Tom Delgado to drive the second Lenard for the team. The switch to Lenard follows a team-wide rebranding of all cars into Lenard or Lycoia-powered vehicles, a move that may have been spurred by the ASCC team.
WSCEC[edit | edit source]
Team CTR will run the full 2013 WSCEC Season, and the 2013 6 Hours of Lime Rock will be run by Joe Olenick and Jess Zander, who will partner with series veteran and multi-race winner Sebastien Dubois. Dubois will be running the full schedule for CTR, and will run alongside Irishman Tom McLellan and American driver Trevor Richmond.
CTR Development[edit | edit source]
Dash Cup[edit | edit source]
2012[edit | edit source]
The team fielded two entries for the 2012 Dash Cup Spa GP, a pair of STS Arrows for Olenick and Zander. Olenick drove the #23 Autogrill car, and Zander drove the #92 Covidien car. Zander was able to finish in 11th spot, while Olenick was involved in a wreck with Patrick Arceneau and did not finish.
2013[edit | edit source]
Team CTR has announced that it will field at least one entry for the 2013 Dash Cup season. They will run the #23 Lenard R20 for Jess Zander, who they are promoting from the RROL Elite Series. The team will also run a second car to run part-time, which was intended to be fielded by Canadian driver Tyson Lautenschlager. However, after Lautenschlager's death at the 2012 Hanmore World Championships, Olenick was tabbed to fill the seat.
The team also announced that it will enter an additional car for the one-off races, the Eurospeedway GP and the Spa GP, which would be driven by Italian driver Iacopo Benedetti.
CRL[edit | edit source]
Connecticut Racing has a registered its CRL team under the CTR Development banner, where they field the new CRL-spec Juneau for driver Amy Ciston. Despite being a rookie driver for a new team, Ciston won her debut race at Irwindale Speedway, qualifying on pole and leading 41 laps.
RROL Elite Series[edit | edit source]
The team's RROL Elite series venture began in late 2011, with a one-off venture at the Round of Clairmont, followed by an announcement that the team would attempt the full 2012 season with two cars, reportedly two Inglesby Flashback M-Type cars. Despite finishing second in the qualifying race, Olenick and teammate Frank Stafford (who finished 22nd in the same race), were among the many drivers left unsure of their future when the VSCC announced that it would fold immediately, cancelling the Round of Clairmont.
Stafford left the driver's seat to become the lead engineer on the team, and Olenick left for the ASCC after partnering with Connecticut Racing, who would purchase a majority stake in Olenick's team. The team signed drivers Jessica Zander and Henrietta LaVerne III as primary drivers for its next racing venture, with was rumored to be ARLA. The team soon entered the newly (re)formed RROL Elite Series, entering Zander and LaVerne as its primary race drivers.
Stafford Race Engineering[edit | edit source]
- For further information, see Stafford Race Engineering
Stafford Race Engineering is a training and development team started by former engineer and driver Frank Stafford. The team is designed around driver instruction and will run in lower-tier and developmental series only.