SCCA - News

Motonishi Earns First Gumout Super Challenge Win At Tire Rack SCCA El Toro Pro Solo

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

IRVINE, Calif. (May 9, 2012) – Longtime top soloist Ken Motonishi had never made it past the round of eight in a Gumout Super Challenge at a Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo event, and wasn’t about to waste a chance to finally grab that elusive win this weekend at the El Toro Pro Solo in Irvine, Calif.

Motonishi qualified for the elimination-bracket Gumout Super Challenge as just the fourth-quickest driver in the 26-car Street Touring R class.

Once in, however, the work was hardly done. Motonishi’s OS Giken/A.R.E./bjoinfilms.com Mazda MX-5 was matched against Andy McKee’s Goodyear/A.R.E./Sias Tuning/7parts.com Mazda RX-7. Motonishi knew that McKee’s RX-7 would be much quicker on the second run once the tires were warmed, but was only able to carry a narrow lead after the first pair of runs. By his own accord, Motonishi drove his best lap of the event to keep the margin over McKee and motor on to Round Two. After dodging that bullet, Motonishi was able to settle in and run consistent laps to move through the field.

Motonishi disposed of Doug Rowse’s D Street Prepared-leading Hoosier/Evolution/Cortez BMW 330 in the second round, and exorcised his round-of-eight demons with a win against Ryan Buetzer’s ChaseCam/Albin Bowling Supply Pontiac Solstice to move into the semi-finals.

Not ready to miss an opportunity, Motonishi locked down Morgan Trotter’s Road Tire C2 Motorsports/TheRacersStore.com Dodge SRT-4 in the round of four. In the opposite bracket, Steve Lau’s A Stock qualifying Porsche Cayman topped best-qualifying Street Modified’s Mike Simanyi (OS Giken/ABL Original Parts BMW M3) to square off with Motonishi in the championship round.

While Motonishi was landing the Gumout Super Challenge title, Simanyi bested Trotter for third place.

Christine Grice drove her top qualifying Berry Family Racing/Hoosier/OS Giken Mitsubishi Evo to the Ladies Challenge title over Nicole Nagler. Nagler was the top qualifier in Ladies Class 3, driving the Toyo Tires/ProParts USA Honda Civic past Kim Whitener to make the finals. Grice topped Round 1 Ladies Challenge winner Shelly Monfort in the semi-finals.

The Tire Rack ProSolo Series returns to action Memorial Day weekend in a tune-up for the finale at the Lincoln ProSolo at Lincoln Airpark and hosted by the Nebraska Region. The Tire Rack ProSolo event will take place Friday and Saturday, May 25-26, followed by a Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Tour event, May 27-28.

More information on the TireRack SCCA ProSolo Series is available at www.scca.com.

Information, including results, from the El Toro ProSolo is available here.

Follow SCCA on Twitter @SCCAOfficial.

Motonishi Earns First Gumout Super Challenge Win At Tire Rack SCCA El Toro Pro Solo

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Motonishi qualified for the elimination-bracket Gumout Super Challenge as just the fourth-quickest driver in the 26-car Street Touring R class.

While Motonishi was landing the Gumout Super Challenge title, Simanyi bested Trotter for third place.

More information on the TireRack SCCA ProSolo Series is available at www.scca.com.

Information, including results, from the El Toro ProSolo is available here.

Follow SCCA on Twitter @SCCAOfficial.

Motonishi Earns First Gumout Super Challenge Win At Tire Rack SCCA El Toro Pro Solo

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Motonishi qualified for the elimination-bracket Gumout Super Challenge as just the fourth-quickest driver in the 26-car Street Touring R class.

While Motonishi was landing the Gumout Super Challenge title, Simanyi bested Trotter for third place.

More information on the TireRack SCCA ProSolo Series is available at www.scca.com.

Information, including results, from the El Toro ProSolo is available here.

Follow SCCA on Twitter @SCCAOfficial.

Overall Track Record Falls At Summit Point During BFGoodrich Tires SCCA Super Tour

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

SUMMIT POINT, W.V. (May 6, 2012) – Cloudy skies remained until late afternoon, but the cooler temperatures on Sunday made for close racing during the BFGoodrich Tires SCCA Northeast Super Tour at Summit Point Raceway and the fastest lap ever turned on the track by an SCCA Club Racer.

The temperatures, cool and in the mid-60s, also helped track records fall throughout the day. In all, seven racing groups ran 23-lap races at the 10-turn, 2.0-mile facility and nine SafeRacer National Series class records fell.

Not content just to set a class record, C Sports Racing’s Steve Forrer set the overall fastest lap at the track with a flying lap of 1:06.362 (108.496 mph) in the No. 84 K-Hill Motorsports/Forrer Supply Ralt RT41. The amazing lap didn’t guarantee a win for Forrer, however – he finished second to Jean-Luc Liverato’s No. 8 Hoosier Tire/K-Hill/8-Ball Racing Swift JMS014 after a back and forth battle. Liverato earned a 1.043-second victory.

Kevin Ruck made his first visit to Summit Point a memorable one, winning in F Production and setting a track record with a lap of 1:22.292 in the No. 23 Hoosier/HPD/Cobalt/Slomo Acura Integra. Brian Downey set a GT-Lite track record with a time of 1:21.462 in the No. 63 Auto Expecations Nissan 200Sx, but fell just shy of chasing down Bobby Lentz’s No. 60 FGR/Auto Expectations Nissan Sentra. According to Lentz on the podium, this was the first time in 10 years that someone had topped Downey at this race – making his feat all the more difficult.

Kevin Leigh’s No. 97 Hoosier Tires/JBS Racing BMW Z3 earned the overall win in his Group 1 E Production machine, with Tom Broring (H Production No. 9 Blue Crab Racing/Mountjoy’s Autoshop Triumph Spitfire) and Beran Peter (Super Touring Lite No. 68 Associated Environmental Systems Mazda Miata) also grabbing wins.

New car teething pains in her No. 23 McNichols Co/Goodyear/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette kept Amy Ruman from extending her Summit Point GT-1 record, but not from running away from the field for a 12.994-second margin of victory in Group 2. Jim Goughary, however, was able to get a track record in GT-2 with a lap of 1:15.175 on his way to a win in the No. 46 Redline Oil/Hoosier Tire Nissan 350Z. Steven Lustig’s No. 51 Autosport Auto Group Acura Integra won GT-3.

Though many believe the days of driving – rather than towing - a Touring or Showroom Stock car to the track for an SCCA National are long gone, Joey Wang-Defilippis drove more than five hours from his Fort Lee, N.J. home to finish on the podium in Touring 2, dragging a small trailer of BFGoodrich Tires behind him. His lap times in the No. 51 Mitsubishi Evolution weren’t quite as quick as winner Marty Grand’s No. 34 UCS Performance/Hoosier Pontiac Solstice, but was quick enough for a third place finish in the class. The reality is, no one has gone as fast as Grand’s machine, which set a new track record with a lap of 1:22.228.

One of the cars that Wang-Defilippis was passed by in Group 3 was the eventual overall and Super Touring® Over winner David Pintaric. Pintaric didn’t arrive with his No. 40 Kryderracing/Hoosier/Carbotech Dodge Viper until qualifying was complete on Saturday, and started from the rear of the grid. Pintaric picked off cars one by one until he caught fellow STO competitor Robert Nimkoff’s No. 2 Nimrod Racing Aston Martin Vantage at the head of the field, setting a new track record in 1:17.293 and taking the overall win.

David Sanders (No. 73 Phoenix Performance Chevrolet Corvette) held off a hard-charging Joe Aquilante’s No. 32 Phoenix/Hawk/Hoosier Chevrolet Corvette for the Touring 1 win, while Gregory Easton (No. 45 Wise Consulting/Jeff Wise Automotive Ford Mustang) won American Sedan.

As far as close races go, it doesn’t get much closer than the 0.031-second that separated Spec Miata winner Brian Price’s No. 70 RP Performance/Performance Auto Mazda Miata from Yiannis Tsiounis’ No. 69 Quicksilver Leasing Mazda Miata at the checkered flag. The two swapped the lead multiple times, but the final margin of victory was only about five feet.

“We needed to build a longer nose,” Tsiounis joked on the podium.

Jerry Wannarka (No. 13 Wannarka Consulting Honda S2000) won in Touring 3, while Chris Dryden (No. 2 Training Pro/Paypal/Carbotech Mazda MX-5) and Barry Brown (No. 75 Springfield Auto Body Honda Civic) grabbed gold in Showroom Stock B and C, respectively.

Bob Perona ran away and hid in the No. 73 DF-3 Ford to take the Group 5 overall and Formula F win, and Jeremy Morales used his driving ability to take the Formula 500 win in the No. 10 JMR/Mitchell Racing Raptor De-2B. The group action took place in Formula Vee, however, in what would start as a five-car battle up front.

When the dust settled, one driver had spun into the gravel in Turn 10, one had been separated from the leaders avoiding the incident, and Roger Siebenaler had driven his No. 72 Autowerks/Hoosier Tire Mysterian M-2 to a win in the class over Jonathan Weisheit (No. 67 JK Technologies JK Tech XP1) and Gary Kittelll (No. 76 Autowerks Caracal D).

Scott Rettich drove the Spec Racer Ford race like he was in a hurry – which he probably was, considering he was scheduled to also start on pole during Group 7’s Formula Enterprises battle. Rettich wasted no time pulling away from the field in his No. 17 Alliance Autosport/PDI Communications Spec Racer Ford, racing to an uncharacteristic 13.885-second win in the class. Rob Stewart (No. 51 Apple Motorsports SRF) and Tray Ayres (No. 7 Ayres Racing SRF) completed the podium after a race-long battle for 2nd place.

Rettich set a new track record in the SRF machine with a 1:23.867, then backed that up with a 1:11.140 in the No. 17 Alliance Autosport/PDI Communications Formula Enterprises machine.

In addition to Liverato’s fast win, Garrett Kletjian won D Sports Racing in the No. 01 George Dean Race Engines West Wx10, and overall polesitter Chris Fahan brought his No. 39 Fahan Paving/Hoosier Tires Swift 016 to the checkered flag ahead of his competition. Chuck Moran (No. 45 Barbara Van Diemen RF99) won Formula Continental, while Bruce Crockett (No. 89 Concert Illusions Star Mazda) bagged a Formula Mazda victory.

At every BFGoodrich Tires Super Tour race, the Saturday night participant party features random drawings as door prizes for attendees. Formula Enterprises driver Jim Adleberg took home $500, while workers Evans Browne, Bill Forman, Angela Slocum, Swanson Williams, and DeWitt Payne each grabbed $100 prizes.

Round Six of the nine-race BFGoodrich Tires Super Tour moves to the Great Lakes Division and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, June 1-3.

Results and more are available on the event page here.

Follow SCCA on Twitter @SCCAOfficial.

Overall Track Record Falls At Summit Point During BFGoodrich Tires SCCA Super Tour

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

“We needed to build a longer nose,” Tsiounis joked on the podium.

Rettich set a new track record in the SRF machine with a 1:23.867, then backed that up with a 1:11.140 in the No. 17 Alliance Autosport/PDI Communications Formula Enterprises machine.

Round Six of the nine-race BFGoodrich Tires Super Tour moves to the Great Lakes Division and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, June 1-3.

Results and more are available on the event page here.

Follow SCCA on Twitter @SCCAOfficial.

Overall Track Record Falls At Summit Point During BFGoodrich Tires SCCA Super Tour

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

“We needed to build a longer nose,” Tsiounis joked on the podium.

Rettich set a new track record in the SRF machine with a 1:23.867, then backed that up with a 1:11.140 in the No. 17 Alliance Autosport/PDI Communications Formula Enterprises machine.

Round Six of the nine-race BFGoodrich Tires Super Tour moves to the Great Lakes Division and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, June 1-3.

Results and more are available on the event page here.

Follow SCCA on Twitter @SCCAOfficial.

Majors Invitational Concludes at Texas Motor Speedway

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

FORT WORTH, Texas (May 6, 2012) – The inaugural SCCA Club Racing Majors Invitational weekend came to a successful conclusion Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, with both qualifying and points races as part of the Parts Plus Grand Prix of Texas weekend.

Five race groups comprised of 10 separate classes started the morning with a 10-lap qualifying race to set the respective starting lineups for the Championship races to follow. By most accounts, drivers enjoyed the additional opportunity to battle wheel-to-wheel, in lieu of the traditional timed session. The 19-lap point races that followed counted toward the Divisional, Majors and National point championships.

Race One took the green flag before lunch under cloudy skies. Like Saturday, polesitter George Jackson and Allan McCallum had a spirited battle for the overall and Formula Mazda lead. McCallum took the lead after the pair ran side-by-side each of the first three laps and held the point until Jackson took over at the half way mark. Jackson looked to have the race in hand, stretching out to a two-second lead after 12 laps, but entering Turn Three on his 13th lap, the left front suspension failed, forcing the car up the track and skidding along the wall between Oval Turns Two and Three. Jackson was uninjured.

Following the ensuing caution to collect Jackson’s stricken machine, McCallum took the restart and Stuart Rettie moved from third to second, around Russ Lindemann. On the final lap, McCallum ran wide in Turn Three in his No. 19 Moses Smith Racing entry and admitted he thought he had just given the race to Rettie’s No. 1 Hillenburg Motorsports entry. But Rettie ran wide in Turn Four, allowing McCallum to gain the advantage and score the 0.569-second victory. Lindemann finished third in his No. 76 Rocky Mountain Tire and Auto entry.

Jackson was named the SCCA Enterprises Star of the Race for being the highest finishing Formula Mazda driver that had not previously competed at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs.

Mike Sauce, of Arlington, Texas, started fourth in Formula F but moved to the lead around polesitter Wesley Cunningham’s No. 33 Loeb Motorsports/Over Fifty/HPD Swift Ford to take the win in his No. 2 Sportscar Performance Sauce SVM-1 Ford. Megan Sauce finished third in her No. 10 Sportscar Performance Swift Ford and won both the Alpine Litho-Graphics random cash drawing for $60. Bruce Cerveny finished fourth and took home the $50 for the SCCA Enterprises Rising Star Award.

Keith Verges, of Dallas, Texas, was on the wrong end of Saturday’s Spec Racer Ford photo finish, and had to start from the rear of the field Sunday after retiring during the qualifying race. But that did not deter him from slicing through the 23-car field and into the lead by lap six. Driving his No. 69 Apex Driving Academy Spec Racer Ford, Verges held off Saturday winner and early leader Denny Stripling and his No. 4 Lightspeed Motorsports entry to take the win. Rick Bellew took the lead briefly in his No. 10 entry, but a problem with his arm restraints caused him to miss a shift, dropping him to third place.

Doug Azzarito finished sixth, earning the SCCA Enterprises Rising Star Award.

In Race Three, Joe McClughan (No. 57 MAZDA6) and Toby Grahovec (No. 84 Classic BMW/Hoosier/Red Line Oil BMW Z4) had a great battle early, with Grahovec leading Super Touring® Under for the opening seven laps. On lap 8, McClughan got past for the lead in Turn Three, and two laps later, Grahovec started to fade, his car overheating. They finished in that order, with David Kohler third in his No. 82 Over Fifty Racing Pontiac Solstice GXP. Matt Blehm finished fourth in his No. 48 Nissan 240SX, taking the SCCA Enterprises Rising Star of the Race award.

Meanwhile, Craig Berry ran away to his fourth-straight SCCA Majors Championship race win in the No. 29 US Granite Mazda Miata by 10.376 seconds.

Aaron McSpadden started sixth, but moved up to second in his father’s borrowed No. 67 Motorsportheaven.com Mazda Miata, just holding off Jim Drago’s No. 2 East Street Racing Mazda Miata.

Michael Ross earned the SCCA Enterprises Rising Star award, finishing fourth in his No. 22 Philips Race Prep/Cordray Wagner Schneller Miata.

Race Four featured a pair of dominating wins, but also excellent battles for second place.

In Formula 500, C.J. McAbee, of Topeka, Kan., scored his sixth-straight SCCA Majors Championship win in his No. 15 A.J.’s Import Garage A.J.’s 2012 Special, setting a new track record in the process. The battle behind was fierce, including no fewer than four cars holding the runner-up position at some point. Jack Walbran ended up coming out on top of the fight for second in his No. 67 Mitchell Racing Services Scorpion, with Timothy Friest third in his No. 86 XTRacing/RodEndSupply/Mobile Reasoning KBS.

Charles Hearn, of Houston, Texas, drove his No. 37 Irion Filtration/Noble Racing/Goodyear/Hearn Contractors Vortech VW to a flag-to-flag win. Behind him, the battle for second between Dwight Calkins, Greg Smith and Lisa Noble was a back-and-forth affair, with positions changing each lap. In the end, Calkins came home second, in his No. 87 CPC Protoform, followed by Smith’s No. 6 Protoform.

Farooq Iqbal was named the SCCA Enterprises Rising Star, and Duke Waldrop received the Noble Enterprises drawing prize of $100.

The final race of the weekend for the Production cars featured a three-way battle for the lead between a trio of Caterham 7 Americas. Polesitter Rick Kosdrosky had the early advantage in his No. 77 Kosmic Enterprises/Over Fifty Motorsports/Hoosier/Summit Racing Caterham, but 18-year-old Andrew Robertson again applied the pressure in his No. 24 Hoosier/Summit/SafeRacer Caterham. The duo swapped the lead at least a half dozen times over the first 15 laps, before Mike Halbrook, who was waiting in the wings in his No. 75 Caterham, moved to second and began to close on Kosdrosky. In the end, he didn’t have enough to try to pass for the lead, and Kosdrosky, of Granbury, Texas, took the 0.160-second win.

James R. Smith, of Alvin, Texas, took his second-straight win in F Production, driving his No. 62 Over 50 Motorsports Honda Del Sol. Robert Vick brought his Acura Integra home second.

One driver from each class was selected at random to earn a $250 Gift Certificate courtesy of Competition Data Systems. The were: David Vincent (F500), John Dorety (SRF), Megan Sauce (FF), Lee Thomas (SM), Rick Kosdrosky (EP), James Smith (FP), Dave Zavelson (FM), Joe McClughan and R. David Jones (FV).

Steve Gluskoter was selected at random out of all the Spec Racer Ford drivers to win the SafeRacer $100 gift certificate as the Promoter of the Race. SCCA recognizes one driver or a group of drivers for their efforts to increase event entries within a class.

Full event results are available at the event page at http://www.scca.com/events/index.cfm?eid=3705.

FORT WORTH, Texas – Class winners from Saturday’s SCCA Club Racing Majors Invitational Championship races, part of the Parts Plus Grand Prix of Texas at Texas Motor Speedway with class, driver, hometown and car.
E Production, Rick Kosdrosky, Granbury, Texas, Caterham 7 America.
F Production, James Smith, Alvin, Texas, Honda Del Sol.
Formula 500, C.J. McAbee, Topeka, Kan., A.J.'s 2012.
Formula F, Mike Sauce, Arlington, Texas, Sauce Ford.
Formula Mazda, Allan McCallum, Houston, Texas, Star Formula Mazda.
Formula Vee, Charlie Hearn, Houston, Texas, Vortech.
Spec Miata, Craig Berry, Tyler, Texas, Mazda Miata.
Spec Racer Ford, Keith Verges, Dallas, Texas, SCCA Spec Racer Ford.
Super Tour U, Joe McClughan, New Braunfels, Texas, MAZDA6.

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