The final round of the 2014 SCCA Western Conference Majors Tour is in the books and all championships are decided. Many of those championships were determined in the final races of the series today.

The day opened with Spec Racer Ford. This championship was decided yesterday in favor of local leader Todd Harris of the Pro Drive Racing Team in the No. 24 Pro Drive/Flat Out/HMS SRF. Today’s contest saw past National champion Mike Miserendino in the No. 11 MBI Racing SRF prove his skills by leading several laps. In the end, however, Harris slipped by Miserendino for the checker. Steve Fogg was third in the No. 21 Pro Drive/Flat Out SRF.

The Spec Miata drivers looked ready to repeat Saturday’s race, with Will Schrader’s No. 87 miatacage.com/Midas Miata and Ken Sutherland in the No. 94 miatacage.com/Wyatt Fire Protection Miata starting on the front row. Sutherland emerged victorious despite a strong challenge from Kyle Kaiser of Santa Clara, Calif. in the No. 88 Mazda Miata.

Clement Lee finished eighth in the No. 28 RM Autosports Miata, resulting in a points tie with Sutherland for the season. In the case of a tie, the championship is awarded based on total number of race wins, which allowed Sutherland to claim the title.

“God is great!”Sutherland said. “I’m preparing my car to go to the Runoffs. I’m bringing the same car with the same engine – nothing special. I hope it’s good enough to beat those fast guys down there.”

Group Four included the big-bore GT classes, American Sedan, and Touring 1. The race for the overall lead was between Western Conference champion Michael Von Quilich in the No. 19 apartments247.com Dodge Viper, Steven Streimer in the Lux Performance/Streimer Porsche GT3 Cup, and Matt Crandall in his No. 3 speedsports.net Porsche GT3 Cup. Von Quilich turned up the wick for an early lead, but temperatures were rising in the late morning and Crandall moved ahead for the win.

“Michael is incredibly fast in the straightaway, but Steven (Streimer) and I have a home track advantage here,”Crandall said. “Steve drove a great race, but he got off a little bit. When the Viper’s tires started to go away, I was able to get ahead.”

Collin Jackson won the GT3 class again in the No. 53 Nissan, sealing his Western Conference championship. Ken Davis won in Touring 1, but the Championship went to Marc Hoover in the No. 98 Hooverspeed/NRA/Necksgen Mazda Miata. Kevin Smith reinforced his American Sedan championship in the No. 3 Stacey and Holly Smith Pontiac Firebird with a win.

In Group Five, Chris Farrell secured his championship in the Prototype 1 class driving the No. 58 C&M Mfg/GDR Engines/Hoosier Tire Stohr WF1. Farrell led the race from the pole position to the checker. Wade Carter won Formula Atlantic in the No. 74 Swift, and Zach Crago took the Formula Continental win in his No. 27 Rocky Mountain Medical Lasers Van Diemen. Michael Manning in the Cypress Lane Racing/Auto-Ware/Fast Van Diemen secured the championship in FC with a fourth place finish.

“This year, the focus is on preparing for the Runoffs for sure, but also on winning the Conference,”Manning said. “Our goal this weekend was to clinch the Conference, and the race win yesterday was an added bonus.”

Sunday’s race for Formula 1000 was the last for the Western Conference Majors title, with many drivers running in a concurrent US Formula 1000 West Championship professional series. The pro series will race again in Washington in August at their own event, and count the SCCA National Championship Runoffs in October as the final round of the US F1000 championship.

Larry Vollum repeated Saturday’s win from the pole position in his No. 05 Compview Medical Stohr F1000. But because of the way the season points have added up, Randall Cook claimed the championship after finishing second in the No. 9 Hoosier Tires/Moon Supercycles JDR and John Labrie finished third in the No. 33 Bug and Weed Mart Phoenix. The two ended the Western Conference FB point race with a tie, and Cook was declared the champion by virtue of the greatest number of race wins. Vollum ended up third in Western Conference points.

Scotty B. White jumped to an early T2 lead in the No. 0 BFGoodrich Tires/Knight Transport Ford Mustang and held it throughout the race. David Ray in the No. 30 Hooked on Driving Ford Mustang ran a strong second and claimed the season championship. Russell Peterson was also in the hunt for the championship in his No. 7 Peninsula Equine Ford Shelby GT, finishing third in the race and second in season points.

“I’ve been racing since 1986, but this is the first time I’ve done this,”Ray said. “it’s been a rewarding experience. We’re really proud of the fact that this is a Spec Mustang – a San Francisco Region class, and we want to thank the Club Racing Board for putting us in T2. We’re excited about going to the Runoffs.”

In the hotly contested Super Touring Lite class, Oscar Jackson, Jr. in the No. 16 Dead Horse Racing/Jackson Racing Honda Civic Si won over Clement Lee in the No. 33 RM Autosports Mazda Miata. Going into the race, Jackson trailed Lee by two points in the season championship. Jackson’s win today delivered him the STL Western Conference championship.

In Formula F, Thomas Merrill led the field to the checker in his No. 81 Piper Race Cars/Fast Forward Piper Honda. However, Dave Zurlinden in the No. 131 Pro Pack Systems/Fast Forward Piper Honda claimed the championship with an insurmountable points lead. Dennis Andrade took his second Formula Vee win in two days in the No. 87 D + D Racing Vortech. Jeff Jorgenson took Formula 500 race honors in the No. 84 Veskimo Invader QC-1.

To close out the weekend, Stephen Epperly claimed his second E Production victory of the weekend in his No. 82 ZTherapy, Inc. Datsun 240Z. Lans Stout took a second GT-Lite victory in his No. 6 Loyning’s Engine Service/EFM Nissan. Jess Heitman again drove his No. 47 Maz-Toy Auto Recycling/Jesse Prather Motorsports Mazda Miata unopposed to claim the season championship in F Production. Gordon Jones again drove his No. 25 Mike O’Hara BMW Service BMW 2002 to the race win in H Production.

In Touring 3, Scotty B. White’s No. 0 BFGoodrich Tires/Knight Transport Ford Mustang started the race with a seven point lead over Tom Wickersham in the No. 14 Maine Straight Racing/BFGoodrich Honda S2000. White took the lead at the green flag and never relinquished it to claim the class win and the championship.

With all season championships decided in the Western Conference, the focus for all these drivers now turns to the National Championship Runoffs coming up October 6-12 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.

Race results and further information is available at SCCA.com/PortlandMajors.

Portland, Ore. – Provisional race winners for Sunday’s Western Conference Majors Tour Round Twelve at Portland International Raceway. Drivers are listed by Class: name, hometown, and car.

American Sedan: Kevin Smith, Hillsboro, Ore., Pontiac Firebird
B-Spec: Kyle Keenan, Vancouver, Wash., Kia Rio
E Production: Stephen Epperly, Salem, Ore., Datsun 240Z
F Production: Jess Heitman, Portland, Ore., Mazda Miata
H Production: Gordon Jones, Tualatin, Ore., BMW 2002
Formula 500: Jeff Jorgenson, San Francisco, Calif., Invader QC-1
Formula 1000: Larry Vollum, Portland, Ore., Stohr F1000
Formula Atlantic: Wade Carter, Seattle, Wash., Swift 14
Formula Continental: Zach Craigo, Englewood, Colo., Van Diemen
Formula Enterprises: John Yeatman, Newcastle, Calif., Van Diemen
Formula F: Thomas Merrill, Spreckels, Calif., Piper Honda
Formula Mazda: Mel Kemper, Toledo, Wash., Formula Mazda
Formula Vee: Dennis Andrade, Brush Prairie, Wash., Vortech
GT-1: Rob Davis, Sonora, Calif., 1999 Chevrolet
GT-2: Matt Crandall, Milwaukie, Ore., Porsche GT3 Cup
GT-3: Collin Jackson, Langley, B.C., Nissan 240SX
GT-Lite: Lan Stout, Cornelius, Ore., Nissan
Prototype 1: Chris Farrell, Salt Lake City, Utah. Stohr WF1
Super Touring Lite: Oscar Jackson, Jr., Yorba Linda, Calif., Honda Civic
Super Touring Under: Carl Young, Salinas, Calif., Chevrolet
Spec Miata: Ken Sutherland, Sherwood, Ore., Mazda Miata
Spec Racer Ford: Todd Harris, Portland, Ore., Spec Racer Ford
Touring 1: Ken Davis, Escondido, Calif., Chevrolet
Touring 2: Scotty B. White, Auburn, Wash., Ford Mustang
Touring 3: Scotty B. White, Auburn, Wash., Ford Mustang
Touring 4:Steven Zink, Henderson, Nev., Ford Mustang

Portland International Majors

U.S. Majors Tour

The Eastern Conference SCCA Majors Tour has trimmed down to just one event remaining on the schedule after Sunday’s action at the BFGoodrich Tires Watkins Glen Super Tour.

Sunday’s eight group races for the 27 SCCA National Championship Runoffs-eligible classes made up round 12 of 14 on the season for the Conference, making each point all the more valuable.

Several races came down to the wire during the day, with races scheduled for 15 laps at the 3.4-mile circuit.

Highlights included:

Group 1: A fan could be forgiven for thinking Sunday’s Spec Miata race was a rerun, as, for the second day in a row, young hot shoes Andrew Carbonell and Dillon Machavern worked together to run away from the field and settle the race all on their own.

A stout field of Runoffs podium contenders and National Champions couldn’t keep pace with Carbonell’s No. 78 BSI Racing Mazda Miata with Machavern’s No. 24 Heritage/Panic/T-Speed Miata pushing, leaving the field behind both on the initial start, and again on the lap four restart after the safety team removed a stopped car.

Carbonell led the distance, and Machavern looked for a way around after the white flag waved to signal one lap to go. His final effort came out of the final corner and in the drag race to the checkered flag, where Machavern pulled alongside and to the door of Carbonell’s Miata, but couldn’t complete the pass before the stripe.

Group 2: Saturday, the overall lead in the Production group took shape on the first turn when polesitter and E Production leader Rick Kavitski put his No. 24 RDK Engineering Mazda Miata in front under braking in Turn 1 and stayed in front to the finish. On Sunday, Chris Dryden reversed his fortunes with a similar attack, setting a new track record on his way to the win.

Kavitski’s Miata appeared to have the handling, but Dryden’s No. 02 PayPal/Carbotech/Team JBS BMW Z3 and Kevin Leigh’s No. 97 JBS Racing/Hoosier BMW Z3 moved in front on acceleration when the green flag flew.

Patrick Crider finally had his No. 89 Hoosier Tire/Jesse Prather Motorsports Mazda Miata in full song for the first time this weekend and used that to run away with the F Production win on Sunday. Kyle Disque repeated his Saturday feat, taking the GT-Lite win in the No. 92 Toyota/TRD/Hoosier Tire Toyota Tercel.

Group 3: Three full-course cautions, including one that brought out the checkered flag on lap 13, marred the Formula Atlantic, Formula 1000 and Prototype 1 race on Sunday.

Group 4: Simon Gregg once again led the way in the big bore group, charging away to a GT-1 and overall win in the No. 59 Derhaag Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette.

Group 5: Dennis McCarthy went the distance as the overall leader in his No. 4 Jägermeister Van Diemen FC, keeping a steady gap to the second-running Douglas Rocco.

Group 6: Restart or not, Preston Calvert’s No. 77 Phoenix Performance/Hoosier/Penske Ford Mustang pulled away for his third win of the weekend, completing the sweep in Touring 2.

Group 7: Scott Rettich took a “fast is steady” approach to the Spec Racer Ford race, ticking off consistent quick laps and eventually breaking the draft to secure the win.

Group 8: Heavy contact on lap 12 brought out a simultaneous yellow and checkered flag to end the day after thrilling battles in Formula F, Formula 500 and Formula Vee.

Jonathan Weisheit pulled to pit lane early on Saturday but escaped with a win on Sunday after “throwing the kitchen sink” at Roger Siebenaler’s No. 72 Autowerks/Hoosier Mysterian M2.

The Eastern Conference Majors Tour wraps August 1-3 at Summit Point Raceway. The next U.S. Majors Tour event is in the Northern Conference at GingerMan Raceway, July 12-13.

More information from the BFGoodrich Tires Watkins Glen Super Tour, including results, can be found at SCCA.com/WGIMajors.

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Provisional race winners for Sunday’s BFGoodrich Tires SCCA Watkins Glen Super Tour at Watkins Glen International. Drivers are listed by class: name, hometown, and car.

BFGoodrich Tires Watkins Glen Super Tour
U.S. Majors Tour