2019 Peru CAM Challenge Fast Notes

This past weekend, 139 muscle car drivers gathered in Peru, Indiana for the final Tire Rack CAM Challenge of the regular season. They return to action in just a couple weeks for the 2019 Tire Rack CAM Challenge Finale, in conjunction with the 2019 Tire Rack SCCA Solo® Nationals.

For the third consecutive year, Matthew Braun claimed the top honors in CAM Traditional, piloting a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle to a 1.563-second margin of victory in the 41-driver class. Steve Seymore and Keith Lamming claimed the second and third steps on the podium respectively, separated by just 0.439 seconds. Alan and Adam Schoonmaker were fourth and fifth respectively. Mike Trenkle, Rob Ippolito, Donny Freise, Aaron Oberle, Sean Aldinger and Dennis Bay claimed the remaining trophies in sixth through eleventh.

CAM Contemporary was the largest class with 52 drivers. Randy Adkins led from the onset, taking his fastest run of class competition in his first look at the course. Ryan Finch chased him down but came up just 0.012 second short. Alexander Doss claimed the last spot on the podium, having the fastest time of the class, but finishing just 0.111 second behind Finch. Fourth through sixth place trophies were claimed by Louis Cohen, Jeffrey Darbig and James Thomas respectively. Robert Gosda, David Feighner, Ben Bowers and Tyler Chantrenne rounded out the top ten. Taking home the remainder of the fourteen trophies were John Brown, J.J. Mallrich, Christopher Heinzen and Karl Riggs.

In CAM Sport, it was a dominating drive by Sam Strano to take the class win by 1.712 seconds, while also having the fastest CAM times of the event. Paul Townsend finished second, with Justin Peachey just 0.075 second behind. Keeping the racing tight, Stefan Frick was another 0.109 second back, with Steve Waters right on his tail, 0.012 second back in fifth. David Lousteau, Jr. broke up the Chevrolet Corvette party with his FFR Cobra, 0.021 second separating him from Waters. Ray Dsouza and Jon Nwanagu claimed the seventh and eighth place trophies. Jimmy Vajdak and Eric Peachey rounded out the top ten. James Elliott, David Lousteau, Sr., Alek Tziortzis and Alex Krull claimed the eleventh through 14th place trophies respectively.

In addition, 30 drivers in non-CAM cars competed based on index, split between race and street tires. Devin Taylor won Index 1 in his ESP-prepared Chevrolet Camaro, ahead of Robert Lewis, Greg Anthony and Kyle Chipps. Index 2 saw Myke Dziengel taking the win in a DS Subaru STi ahead of Andrew Schembri and Brian Anthony. George Schmitt, Kent Weaver and Hunter Poole claimed the remaining trophies.

On Sunday, the 16 fastest drivers from each CAM class were seeded in a bracket. The winner of each class bracket faced off to determine the overall CAM Challenge winner. Matthew Braun didn’t face an opponent he couldn’t defeat, controlling the CAM T bracket from the top qualifier position and taking the Overall CAM Challenge win. David Lousteau, Jr. took his second qualifier position in the CAM S bracket all the way to the Challenge final, finishing second. Alex Doss claimed the top qualifier position in CAM C and rode that advantage to the Challenge final where he ultimately finished third.

Complete results from the 2019 Eastern States Tire Rack CAM Challenge can be found here.

The CAM Challenge series continues September 3-4 in Lincoln, Nebraska during the 2019 Tire Rack SCCA Solo Nationals.