TOPEKA, Kan. (May 4, 2010) Twenty-two SCCA Club Racing drivers took a step closer toward earning the coveted SCCA Super Sweep award this weekend, winning their class races at the Kaw Valley Race Group May Day National Races at Heartland Park Topeka.The SCCA Super Sweep recognizes drivers that win a key National event, the Nation-wide Point Championship, their Divisional Point Championship and the National Championship Runoffsall in the same class. Each of the nine SCCA racing divisions hosts a Super Sweep qualifying event, and Sundays represented the Midwest Division offering.Jim Wheeler, of Lenexa, Kan., was the overall winner of Race One, taking a 34-second win in American Sedan driving his Pontiac Trans Am. Kyle Jones, of Strafford, Mo., captured Spec Miata, and Ralph Woodard, of Omaha, Neb., won Super Touring U in his BMW 325 in the same race group.Race Group Two for small bore production and GT cars boasted a combined 10 National Championships in the top five positions on the grid between Jesse Prather, Kent Prather and Rick Harris. However, it was polesitter Eric Prill, of Topeka, Kan., that took the point at the start in his F Production Mazda Miata. Fifth starting Harris, of Derby, Kan., would not be held at bay for long, though, taking the lead at the end of lap three, gradually pulling away to a 12-second win in his Mazda Miata. Topekas Jesse Prather won the father-son battle in GT-Lite in his Mazda RX-7, passing for second overall late in the running. Frank Stone, of Leawood, Kan., held off a charging Mark Hutchins to win Spec Racer Ford. Chris Albin, of Maryland Heights, Mo., took H Production in his Volkswagen Golf and Tom Kraft, of Des Moines, Iowa, took Showroom Stock B in his Mazda Miata.Charles CJ McAbee, of Topeka, looked to be on his way to a dominating overall win in Group Three until the clutch in his KBS Invader broke, handing the Formula 500 win over to father Chuck McAbee, of Sykesville, Md., also in an Invader. Dan Layton, of St. Louis, missed practice on Saturday due to his job responsibilities with Honda Racing at the Kansas Speedway, but took the win in Formula Ford on Sunday in a Swift DB-1. Stephen Dreizler, of Shell Knob, Mo., won Formula Vee in his Vortech.Shortly after Race Three, the skies opened up and dumped heavy rain for a brief period before Group Four, putting the big-bore race out on rain tires. While the track was wet at the start, the sun and wind helped progressively dry the 2.5-mile circuit throughout the race. Mike McGinley, of Overland Park, Kan., led from the start and in Touring 1 in his Chevrolet Corvette, but Jim Lynch, of Chesterfield, Mo., moved his Dodge Viper to the point on lap five. Both drivers spun on lap 11, with McGinley getting back to the course first, and driving on to victory. Brian Haupt, of Spring Hill, Kan., took the E Production win in his Mazda RX-7, with Robert Herman (Mazda RX-7) taking GT-3, Tony Giordano (Datsun) winning GT-2 and Mark Kirby (Dodge Viper) winning in Super Touring O.Dudley Fleck, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, took the overall win in the final National race of the day in his C Sports Racing Miller 0001. Polesitter Tom Bootz, of Evansville, Ind., finished second overall, first in D Sports Racing in his Stohr WF-1. Shane Bennoch, of Springfield, Mo., didnt set a time in qualifying, but won Formula Atlantic anyway, when his competitors either elected not to start the race or failed to finish. Russ Lindemann, of Longmont, Colo., took Formula Mazda, and Jack Donnellan, of Chickasha, Okla., was the lone Sports 2000 entrant.Final results will be available via the Event Calendar link at SCCA.com shortly. Event timing and scoring data is posted at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=528411.The next Super Sweep qualifying event comes from the Great Lakes Division, May 23 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. For more information about the Super Sweep, click here: http://www.scca.com/contentpage.aspx?content=123.
Image of Kyle Jones by Jerry Doctor.
