Spencer Pumpelly’s 15th season of professional racing was possibly his very best. Competing in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and Pirelli World Challenge, Pumpelly amassed 11 podiums and seven victories.
All of these results came with teams new to Pumpelly and in some cases, new to professional racing. Never the less, he leveraged his knowledge and skill to help Park Place Motorsports, Rennsport One and DWW Motorsports the results they deserved.
“The 2015 season will be memorable for the opportunities I had,” Pumpelly said. “I was able to drive for three great teams with several great teammates and help bring each team to victory lane. The season had several ups and downs but when I look at the seven wins and 11 podiums we were all able to secure, it’s hard not to call the season a resounding success.”
The season kicked off with a bang as Pumpelly and co-driver Luis Rodriguez Jr. won the BMW 200 at Daytona International Speedway in the debut of the Rennsport One three-car Porsche Cayman operation.
Pumpelly performed a similar feat at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, where he put DWW Motorsports on the podium in their first Pirelli World Challenge GTS race of the season and followed it up with a victory the next day. He delivered another podium to the team and their Ford Mustang Boss 302 at Barber Motorsports Park the following month.
Then it was Park Place Motorsports’ time to shine, as Pumpelly and co-driver Patrick Lindsey drove the No. 73 Porsche 911 GT America to the team’s first ever victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
The second half of the 2015 season saw Pumpelly and Rennsport One dominate the CTSC ST class with wins at Mosport, VIR and COTA, all of which had epic late race battles where Pumpelly excelled under pressure.
“The Continental tire season was definitely bitter sweet,” Pumpelly concluded. “We had great success when we were able to avoid bad luck, winning four out of ten races and taking a fifth podium, but when we found the bad luck, it was real bad. We had several races where our points were in the single digits and you can’t win a championship that way given the level of competition. We only ended up third due to some really bad luck in the final round from two of our other competitors.”
To cap off the 2015 season he supported another Park Place Motorsports win, this time at the grueling Petit Le Mans, which ended early due to extremely hazardous wet conditions.
Pumpelly proved to be a vital asset for each team he ran with in 2015, delivering race wins to all three, each in different vehicles and in different formats. Not only are his driving talents sought after, but his coaching capabilities in pro/am pairings have been critical in developing the race craft of gentlemen drivers. Perhaps for these reasons also, he’s been welcomed into the announcing booth on more than one occasion.
Though his 2016 plans are still to be determined, Pumpelly is hopeful of toping the impressive numbers posted in his remarkable 2015 season.
“The 2015 season was memorable in so many ways, from the opening win at Daytona through the final victory in the rain-soaked Petit Le Mans,” Pumpelly added. “I was fortunate to work with some of the best people in sportscar racing giving three teams their first pro wins. To everyone at Park Place, Rennsport One, and DWW Motorsports who made this season so great, I send my sincere thanks and appreciation. It was an honor to be part of each team.”