Continental Tire IMSA Driver Spotlight: John Edwards

Driver Spotlight: John Edwards
Driver, No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3, No. 56 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE
Follow: @JEdwardsRacing

Now that the 2014 season is complete, how do you think the first year went under the new IMSA umbrella?

“There were a lot of questions at the beginning of the year and it seemed like we arrived in Daytona rather quickly before everything was set in place for the new series. However, as the year went on, I believe we gained stability and the series is on an upswing. I think we would be naïve to expect the first year of the new series to be perfect, but the merger was absolutely a step forward and I expect the series will continue to grow.”

How hard was it going between two series each week?

“I raced two different series for the past few years under the GRAND-AM sanctioning body, but this year was a little trickier as I was racing for two different teams rather than one team in two different series. In addition, the difference between a GTLM and a GS car is much greater than the step between GTD and GS, so it was not as easy going between the two, at least at the beginning of race weekends. However, once I had my brake points and general feeling established in each car, the bigger problem was juggling my schedule with meetings and debriefs in each series and trying to find some time to eat every now and then.”

What does it mean to win the team championship in the CTSC with such close competition?

“The Continental series has always provided some of the best racing, but this year was especially interesting for me as I competed against my former team and teammates, even battling for the championship with Robin (Liddell, driver No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro) to the final race. I have a lot of respect for Robin and for Stevenson Motorsports, and I believe that when you compete against someone whom you respect, it forces you to be at your best and gives you a feeling of higher accomplishment at the end.”

What, if any, changes would you like to see in 2015 to the series?

“The series does not have one single glaring problem, but there are plenty of details that need some attention. For example, I hope the series will consider slowing down the GTD cars in a straight line, as we had to make some questionable moves in the GTLM cars to get through traffic, which increased the likelihood for incidents. That was a difficult issue to address this season as the classes were combined for the first time, but it is something I hope will be assessed during the off season to make traffic between classes a little safer.”

What are your offseason plans?

“I just completed my check ride for my airmen’s certificate, so I am now a private pilot. Considering it is my latest and favorite hobby so far, I am going to be flying as much as possible this offseason. I have a really bad habit of finding hobbies that are each more expensive than the last, but hopefully I won’t find one more expensive than this!”