Touring 2’s Kurt Rezzetano Repeats Feat for 2016 SCCA Runoffs Win
LEXINGTON, Ohio (September 23, 2016) – Kurt Rezzetano, of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, led start to finish for his second consecutive Touring 2 win at the 53rd SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB being held on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
On the Tire Rack pole in his No. 37 Phoenix/Hoosier/Hawk/Ford Mustang GT, Rezzetano grabbed the lead from the start and never looked back. John Buttermore, of South Lyon, Michigan, slotted into second in the No. 97 Hoosier/Carbotech/StopTech Chevrolet Corvette C5 Z06 off the start, and Mark Boden, of Winnetka, Illinois, found third in the No. 47 Fall-Line Motorsports Porsche Cayman S.
Buttermore, who held the pole position early in the week of qualifying, pulled into the pits on lap three with a brake rotor problem, gifting second to Boden and giving Rezzetano a healthy lead atop the 21-car field in the 23-lap race.
“I was sad to see Buttermore fall out, but that’s part of racing,” Rezzetano said. “It’s actually harder to focus when you don’t have someone pushing you. I just tried to keep my focus, keep my head down and just keep peddling it.”
Boden moved along to an unchallenged second-place finish, which is his second such finish in the Runoffs in the Touring 2 class.
“Kurt’s always really fast,” Boden said. “I was just trying to chase him down and keep my tires a little longer. I drove that little car as hard as it would go.”
Meanwhile, Michael Lavigne from Hooksett, New Hampshire, found himself in a fight for third. His No. 42 Auto Re-Nu-It Auto Body/Hoosier Ford Mustang GT found itself under heavy pressure first from Tim Kezman, of Franksville, Wisconsin, in the No. 4 Calypso Lemonade/Fall-Line Motorsports Porsche 911/997, and then from Preston Calvert, of Potomac, Maryland, in the Dynamics/Phoenix Performance Ford Mustang GT. Ultimately, Calvert suffered a problem with the car and Lavigne was able to scoot away to take third in the T2 race.
“I thought I finished fourth,” Lavigne joked in the post-race interview. “I came to pit lane after the race and my crew said ‘hey, you just finished third.’ I said, ‘no kidding?’ I didn’t even have a clue on the last lap. They didn’t want to tell me I was running third.”
For Rezzetano, this is his second-straight T2 Runoffs win. His first was last year at Daytona International Speedway.
“Mid-Ohio is a really classic track,” Rezzetano stated. “There’s a lot of history here, so getting a Runoffs win at Mid-Ohio is pretty special to me.”
Kezman finished fourth and Calvert brought a damaged car home in fifth.
Taking the Sunoco Hard Charger award was Gary Mason, in the No. 6 Hoosier/Carbotech/Angry Sheep Porsche 911, finishing sixth from his 12th-place grid position.
The 53rd SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB, the Pinnacle of American Motorsports, crowns Sports Car Club of America’s Club Racing National Champions this year at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, from Friday, September 23 through Sunday, September 25.
While the live broadcast of all 28 National Championships is available live at SCCA.com, each race will be on demand in the coming weeks.
LEXINGTON, Ohio -- Provisional results for Friday’s SCCA Touring 2 National Championship at the 53rd SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car and laps complete.
1, (1), Kurt Rezzetano, Phoenixville, PA, Ford Mustang GT, 23.
2, (3), Mark Boden, Winnetka, IL, Porsche Cayman S, 23.
3, (4), Michael Lavigne, Hooksett, NH, Ford Mustang GT, 23.
4, (5), Tim Kezman, Franksville, WI, Porsche 911/997, 23.
5, (6), Preston Calvert, Potomac, MD, Ford Mustang GT, 23.
6, (12), Gary Mason, Waterford, MI, Porsche 911, 23.
7, (7), Todd Napieralski, Chelsea, MI, Chevrolet Camaro SS, 23.
8, (8), Jason Ott, Littleton, CO, BMW E92 M3, 23.
9, (9), James Leithauser, Westminster, CO, BMW E92 M3, 23.
10, (13), Marty Grand, Manassas Park, VA, Chevrolet Corvette C5 Zo6, 23.
11, (15), William Moore, Chagrin Falls, OH, Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE, 23.
12, (10), Aaron Kaplan, Evanston, IL, BMW E92 M3, 23.
13, (16), Natha Waldbaum, Omaha, NE, Chevrolet Corvette C5, 22.
14, (18), Nicole Jacque, San Jose, CA, Ford Mustang GT, 22.
15, (19), John R Buttermore, Wolverine Lake, MI, Chevrolet Corvette C6, 22.
16, (17), Richard Kulach, Franklin, TN, Nissan 370Z Nismo, 22.
17, (20), Lynne Griffiths, Menlo Park, CA, Ford Mustang GT, 22.
18, (14), Brian LaCroix, Hyannis, MA, Ford Mustang GT, 20.
19, (11), Derek Kulach, Albuquerque, NM, Nissan 350Z NISMO, 12.
20, (2), John M Buttermore, South Lyon, MI, Chevrolet Corvette C5 Zo6, 4.
DNS, (21), Carl Fung, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, Chevrolet Corvette C5 Z06, 0.
Overall Time of Race: 36:24.869
Average Race Speed: 85.571 mph
Margin of Victory: 13.315 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: John Buttermore, 1:32.691 (87.698 mph)
Sunoco Hard Charger: #6 Gary Mason
Lap Leaders: Laps 1-23, #37 Kurt Rezzetano
Photo: Kurt Rezzetano took his second-straight Touring 2 Runoffs win at Mid-Ohio
Credit: Jay Bonvouloir
