LEXINGTON, Ohio (September 24, 2016) – Derek Kulach, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, jumped from third to the lead in the first turn of the Touring 3 (T3) National Championship race Friday morning at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and went on to score the 100th victory for Datsun/Nissan in the history of the SCCA National Champion Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB.

Driving the No. 00 Fiesta Auto Group/Nissan/BFG/Glock Nissan 350Z, Kulach was never seriously challenged despite a tight train of top-five T3 competitors that did their best to catch the leader throughout the 23-lap race.

Chad Gilsinger, of Marysville, Ohio, finished second in the No. 07 BFGoodrich/HPD/H&R/SPC/RV6/BRM Acura TL, and Lansing Stout, of Corvallis, Oregon, finished third in the No. 54 Nissan/NISMO/Hoosier Nissan 350Z.

Kulach’s history-making victory was his first in SCCA Runoffs competition.

“It was mainly just put your head down and drive and don’t think,” Kulach said. “I am my own worst enemy when it comes to making mistakes, and I knew I just had to focus on the task at hand and drive the race I know I could drive. I had a car that was just completely setup for 23 laps. That is a long race here but I knew we had a car that could take us to this victory.”

Gilsinger was locked in a tight battle with Stout and Tire Rack pole winner Chuck Hurley for positons second, third and fourth in the middle part of the race. Gilsinger finally passed Stout for second in the Mid-Ohio Carousel with just under 10 laps to go and quickly went to work on chasing down the leader.

“You always think there is a chance,” said Gilsinger, who scored his fifth-straight and ninth-career Runoffs podium. “I was definitely pushing as hard as I could. I thought that maybe I could do it, I started to catch up a little bit, but then my tires went off a little bit. It was just really difficult to keep the tires under it at the end. Luckily, I was able to break a gap to third, so I really didn’t have to worry about that, but with about five or six laps to go I knew I didn’t have a chance of catching the leader. I just focused on staying on track and bringing it home in second.”

Traveling all the way from Oregon, Stout hit the podium in his first SCCA Runoffs appearance.

“First Runoffs, first time in Ohio and I love this track and I love this facility,” Stout said. “I had a great time and felt very comfortable here.  I tried to keep the Acura behind me but that thing was fast, Gilsinger is a very good driver and obviously he knows this track really well. He definitely had the corner speed on me, touched me a couple of times and he slipped to the inside of me when I made my only mistake of the race.”

Hurley finished fourth in the No. 95 Grip Racing BMW 330Ci, and Bob Schader was fifth in the No. 8 Hoosier/Boulder Nissan/Mobil 1 Nissan 350Z.  The two came together in the Mid-Ohio esses five laps from the finish but each managed to continue, with Hurley taking the checkered flag as his right rear tire was going down.

Gilsinger won the Sunoco Hard Charger for improving a race-high three positions after starting fifth.

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 Saturday’s Touring 3 (T3) race 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, (3), Derek Kulach, Albuquerque, NM, Nissan 350Z Nismo, 23.
2, (5), Chad Gilsinger, Marysville, OH, Acura TL, 23.
3, (2), Lansing Stout, Corvallis, OR, Nissan 350Z Track, 23.
4, (1), Charles Hurley, Monroe, WA, BMW 330Ci Coupe, 23.
5, (4), Robert Schader, Lafayette, CO, Nissan 350Z Nismo, 23.
6, (6), Scotty B White, Auburn, WA, BMW 330i/Ci, 23.
7, (7), Tom Wickersham, San Ramon, CA, Mazda RX-8, 23.
8, (9), John Baker, Portland, OR, Nissan 350Z Track, 23.
9, (8), C. Jason Vein, Hobe Sound, FL, BMW 330Ci, 23.
10, (10), David Muramoto, Aurora, CO, Nissan 350Z Track, 22.

Length of Race: 52 miles
Overall Time of Race: 38:23.197
Average Speed: 81.175 mph
Margin of Victory: 3.805 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: No. 8 Schader 1:37.371 (83.483 mph)
Lap Leaders: No. 00, laps 1 – 23
Sunoco Hard Charger:  No. 07 Chad Gilsinger

Image: Derek Kulach’s Touring 3 (T3) class win in the SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday was a record-extending 100th victory for the Datsun/Nissan brand in Runoffs history.

Credit: Jay Bonvouloir