The win was also the first in 2008 for the Chevrolet Corvette nameplate - Eric won the most recent one here a year ago - but it was Eric's second Mosport win this year. He also won June's Grand-Am Koni Challenge race, co-driving a Chevrolet Cobalt, and the 2003 race in that series in an Acura.
After suffering through a difficult start to the World Challenge series season, this weekend became the season's antithesis.
"Marsh Racing and Whelen Engineering brought a great Corvette for me," he said. "After the way the season has gone, we just needed a race like this, and we're considering the Road America race the real start to our season, even though half the season had passed.
Sonny Whelen, Eric's teammate, brought his own Corvette home in 11th place, his best finish of the season. "Sonny had a great race and was running in seventh for quite some time until he hit Brian Kubinski's oil in the last turn and spun. I feel bad for Sonny, he has been driving so well and deserved a top 10 finish.
Eric took the green flag for today's race from the pole position, which was in question whether or not the time would have held-up had not the qualifying session been shortened. Luckily, with a little help aided by a competitor's engine failure five minutes into the session, before many drivers had readied their cars and themselves for that one magic "flyer" which assures a good starting spot.
On the other hand, Eric came out with all eight cylinders firing, leaving the primary championship contenders unready to challenge him. They never got the chance when the cleanup from the mishap ate all the time allotted for qualifying. "I got in a perfect qualifying lap right away but I was unsure whether or not all my competitors had done their perfect lap."
Eric got an admittedly "very poor" start when the lights went green, allowing points leader Randy Pobst and his Porsche to take lead, followed by the Dodge Viper of Jason Daskolos. Eric was third.
"We were faster than the Viper in one place on the track," Curran said, "and I was able to run Jason deep into the braking zone at turn 5A and 5B, but I accidentally touched him just a little bit. He wiggled and I was able to get a run on him. I feel one advantage a Corvette has at Mosport is the aerodynamics of the car. It is really a benefit in the high-speed corners," he noted on Friday morning of race weekend, dropping a clue the competitors should have paid attention to.
Daskolos was dispatched by lap four, leaving Pobst 1.085 seconds out front. Not long after Eric dropped the margin to 0.268 seconds, setting a new fastest race lap track record of 105.142 mph in the process.
Pobst, a former GT series champion, was not easy to pass. "Randy is never easy to pass," Eric noted, "and next to impossible now that SCCA Pro Racing just took 50 pounds off his car."
On lap nine, the field tucked in behind the safety car for five laps as two cars were removed from a tire wall, giving drivers a chance to cool their tires and make 12 minutes worth of tactical decisions for the restart.
Eric once again used the "I can hold my breath longer than you can," plan on Pobst once the track went green, pulling alongside the Porsche at the highest speed points on the circuit, but still unable to make a pass.
"Catching Randy and passing Randy are two different things. He's a clean driver and doesn't make mistakes," Curran said. "We were both being aggressive, but he ran me clean and I did the same in return. I just happened to get the outside line through Turn 8 and that allowed me to hold the position. It was a risky move on my part, but I made it work."
The pass happened on lap 21, and finally, Eric had the lead again at Mosport.
"It felt great to set up and finally complete a pass on Randy, what was strange is that he just slowed up once I got by. As if his rewards weight just kicked in, and he dropped a second a lap just like that. Rewards weight never worked as an on/off switch in the past, even on his own car. Hhhmmm."
Several cars spun on an oil slick on lap 29, bringing out the safety car once again, but with only one lap remaining, the race was essentially over.
When the checkered flag flew, Eric's winning margin was 1.39 seconds.
Then came the traditional rite of tire-smoking celebration that would make the Environmental Protection Agency wince. "I gave the fans in the turn three area quite a show after the race, I shut off the traction control so the tires would spin easily, and spun the car around in a tire smoking display that lead to a spin.
"The Canadian Mosport fans were going crazy, They were screaming and waving, and I put on a show for them to let them all know we drivers really love our fans."
