Racing Rep Makes Run at GT-2 National Championship
As one of the founders of Synergy Racing, Danny Marshall, of Danville, Virginia, has raced in the Rolex series for years, competing 12 times in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. But in his daily life, Marshall is a Representative in the Virginia House of Delegates.
“When we were racing professionally, I would sit on the house floor with my laptop while all the guys were at Daytona, and I was checking lap times,” he joked. “But I was elected to serve so I was not going to leave early. I’d get on a plane and fly from Richmond to Daytona and get in the car.”
Synergy’s garages are located on-site at VIR, and Marshall has a special connection to the track. “I came to the first race here in 1957 with my father, when Carroll Shelby won,” he recalls. “And I came to the first IMSA race here when Hurley Haywood and Peter Gregg won.”
Marshall’s pro racing resumé is extensive, but until this year, he had never taken part in SCCA Road Racing.
“When I saw that the Runoffs would be here, I figured it was a bucket list thing to do,” he says. “I went through the whole process to get qualified and it was really easy. It’s been an enjoyable experience.”
SportsCar Magazine Looks at Who Might Win
Each year, SportsCar Magazine takes a shot at guessing who will triumph at the Runoffs. This year’s predictions are out and can be reviewed through the links below:
Who Will Win: Part 1; Who Will Win: Part 2; Who Will Win: Part 3
Who Will Win: Part 4; Who Will Win: Part 5; Who Will Win: Part 6
Who Will Win: Part 7; Who Will Win: Part 8; Who Will Win: Part 9
Before you Win, You Must Qualify
The second of three qualifying days has concluded at the 56th annual Sports Car Club of America® National Championship Runoffs® at VIRginia International Raceway. Leaders so far after two days of qualifying are below with Class: Name, Hometown, SCCA Region, Car and Time. (Full qualifying results found at https://www.scca.com/runoffs)
-American Sedan®: Daniel Richardson; Derwood, MD; Washington DC Region; Chevrolet Camaro; 2:03.106
-B-Spec: Alex Ratcliffe; Leesburg, VA; Washington DC Region; Mini Cooper; 2:23.150
-E Production: Jesse Prather; Topeka, KS; Kansas Region; BMW Z3; 2:00.987
-F Production: Eric Prill; Topeka, KS; Kansas Region; Mazda Miata; 2:07.436
-H Production: Vesa Silegren; Chattanooga, TN; Chattanooga Region; Honda CRX; 2:16.021
-Formula 500: Wiley Mcmahan; Covington, GA; Middle Georgia Region; Scorpion FDS 007 Suzuki; 1:57.361
-Formula Atlantic®: Dario Cangialosi; Chester, NJ; Northern New Jersey Region; Swift 016a Mazda; 1:41.545
-Formula Continental®: Robert Allaer; Grosse Pointe Woods, MI; Central Florida Region; Van Diemen RF01; 1:51.200
-Formula Enterprises: Mark Snyder; Southlake, TX; Texas Region; SCCA FE Mazda; 1:55.760
-Formula Enterprises 2: Liam Snyder; Southlake, TX; Texas Region; SCCA FE2 Mazda; 1:51.576
-Formula F: Tyler O’Connor; New Hartford, CT; New England Region; Mygale SJ14; 2:00.327
-Formula Vee®: Andrew Whitston; Neenah, WI; Milwaukee Region; Protoform P2; 2:15.712
-Formula Mazda: Anthony Seaber; Hillsborough, NC; North Carolina Region; Star Formula Mazda; 1:55.636
-GT-1: Tony Ave; Maiden, NC; Central Carolinas Region; Chevrolet Corvette; 1:43.857
-GT-2: Andrew Aquilante; Chester Springs, PA; Philadelphia Region; Chevrolet Corvette; 1:51.051
-GT-3: Michael Lewis; Poway, CA; San Diego Region; Mazda RX-7; 1:58.194
-GT-Lite: Peter Shadowen; West Palm Beach, FL; Florida Region; Honda CRX; 2:06.997
-Prototype 1: Todd Slusher; Las Vegas, NV; Atlanta Region; Elan DP02 Mazda; 1:43.005
-Prototype 2: Robert Iversen; Gulf Breeze, FL; Gulf Coast Region; Ligier JS 49 Honda; 1:49.521
-Spec Miata: Todd Buras; Melbourne, FL; Florida Region; Mazda Miata; 2:14.552
-Spec Racer Ford 3: Charles Russell Turner; Montpelier, VA; Washington DC Region; SCCA Enterprises SRF3; 2:04.956
-Super Touring® Lite: Danny Steyn; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Florida Region; Mazda MX-5; 2:07.203
-Super Touring® Under: Kevin Boehm; Marysville, OH; Ohio Valley Region; Honda Civic; 2:00.967
-Touring 1: Andrew Aquilante; Chester Springs, PA; Philadelphia Region; Ford Mustang; 1:54.771
-Touring 2: Cooper MacNeil; Hinsdale, IL; Chicago Region; Porsche 911 Carrera S; 1:58.994
-Touring 3: Marshall Mast; Narvon, PA; Philadelphia Region; Ford Mustang GT; 2:04.918
-Touring 4: John Heinricy; Clarkston, MI; Detroit Region; Toyota 86; 2:11.257
Qualifying Continues Thursday
The third and final day of SCCA National Championship Runoffs qualifying begins at 8 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday. Audio-only coverage will be available at SCCA.com/live with commentary supplied by Runoffs pit reporter Heyward Wagner, as well as Gregg Ginsberg (Super Tour Radio), Andy Hollis and Larry MacLeod. Audio commentary of the three race days will be supplied by the Super Tour Radio presented by Hoosier Racing Tire broadcast team consisting of Mike Wolfe, Bob Steele, Andy Delay, Brian Donati and Ginsberg. Live, online video coverage of Runoffs races, presented by Mazda, will occur Friday, Oct. 11 through Sunday, Oct. 13 at SCCA.com/live with Greg Creamer again anchoring the broadcast joined by Ryan Myrehn (SportsCar365 writer), Tom O’Gorman (pro driver), Hollis and MacLeod while Wagner provides coverage from pit lane. Be sure to tune in so as not to miss any of the action!
Photo: Danny Marshall, of Danville, Virginia, on track at his first Runoffs
Familiar and Fresh Faces
With more than 600 entries in this year’s Sports Car Club of America® National Championship Runoffs®, it’s no surprise a bunch of familiar faces can be seen in the paddock. But each year, there are some fresh faces, too. Take for example the young face of 14-year-old Owen McAllister from Mooreseville, North Carolina. McAllister began his racing career in karts, but soon took a DirtFish Rally School in order to improve his driving capabilities.
“The DirtFish Rally school really improved my abilities as a driver, but the biggest was car control. I became much better in the rain being comfortable in the car and controlling the limits of car,” McAllister said, adding that he believes he can now push the car to the limit because of the skills he learned at DirtFish.
McAllister is racing a Formula Mazda in the Runoffs this week. The DirtFish Rally School paid off as McAllister is leading the Hoosier Super Tour Points Championship at the moment and won the Northern Conference championship. This makes him a Super Sweep contender as he looks for a win at VIRginia International Raceway in a competitive Formula Mazda field.
F3 Americas’ Ligier JS F3 Debuts at Runoffs
F3 Americas Championship Powered by Honda driver Kent Vaccaro and his team Momentum Motorsports will make history this week as they debut the first Halo-equipped Ligier JS F3 machine to the Sports Car Club of America National Championship Runoffs at Virginia International Raceway.
Working with SCCA Pro Racing, SCCA classified the Ligier JS F3 to its Formula Atlantic Road Racing class shortly after its debut in 2018. Designed to generate interest to club-level drivers and to maximize additional seat time for young F3 talent, the spec chassis runs the same HPD developed Honda Civic Type R engine and Hankook Tires at the club level as it does in the standard F3 Americas Championship season, allowing for seamless crossover opportunities.
“SCCA Pro Racing worked with the SCCA Road Racing department to find a home for the Ligier JS F3 chassis so that F3 Americas drivers could take advantage of additional seat time provided by their local region at Super Tour, Majors and Regional events,” said SCCA Pro Racing General Manager Sydney Davis Yagel. “Drivers like Kent can now use both their Road Racing and Pro Racing experience to tackle the famed Runoffs.”
Chassis designer and manufacturer, Ligier Automotive North America, is making the trip from its Denver, North Carolina, home base to VIR to support Momentum Motorsports’ Runoffs efforts. Ligier will have a fully equipped Ligier JS F3 on display at the end of Vendor Row, conveniently located right beside the Hankook Tire tent. F3 Americas’ partner HPD will also be on location with its trailer, offering support not only to Vaccaro but also to its dozens of Honda-powered drivers competing at the Runoffs.
Mazda GT-3 Challenge Championship
When GT-3 takes to the track at 4:00 p.m. on Friday for their SCCA National Championship Runoffs® event, there will be a race within a race to crown the inaugural GT-3 Challenge Champion. The GT-3 Challenge presented by MPI, a series supported by Mazda, Max Papis Innovations, Penske Racing Shocks, AiM Sports and Hoosier Racing Tire was launched this year and is designed to support racers and bolster the tube-frame GT-3 class in SCCA competition with contingency money, prizes, subsidized entry fees and social events.
“We’ve been very happy with the GT-3 challenge series this year,” said David Cook, Manager of Mazda Motorsports Business Development. “GT-3 participation is up and for those who are participating, we’re getting to provide an enhanced experience for their loyalty to SCCA and GT-3 racing.”
The series consisted of five events across the country to crown Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Western GT-3 Regional Champions. Drivers Jeff Dernehl, Stacy Wilson, Rob Warkocki and Collin Jackson took each of those titles by scoring the most points across two events at the American Road Race of Champions at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, the Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour at VIRginia International Raceway, the WeatherTech Chicago Region June Sprints at Road America, and Hoosier Super Tour at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The Runoffs will be a fifth and final event where the highest finisher will take the crown and receive accolades from by Max Papis during the podium celebration following the GT-3 race.
For drivers looking to take advantage of the support and enhanced event experience, plans are developing to bring the GT-3 Challenge back next year building on the progress made serving racers during the inaugural season.
Keeping Up to Speed
Audio-only coverage of Runoffs qualifying starts at 8 a.m. Eastern Time each day at SCCA.com/live. Qualifying commentary is supplied by longtime Runoffs pit reporter Heyward Wagner, as well as Gregg Ginsberg (Super Tour Radio), Andy Hollis and Larry MacLeod. Audio commentary of the three race days will be supplied by the Super Tour Radio presented by Hoosier Racing Tire broadcast team consisting of Mike Wolfe, Bob Steele, Andy Delay, Brian Donati and Ginsberg. Along with the audio feed, SCCA.com/live will have live timing and scoring for all qualifying and race days. Live, online video coverage of Runoffs races, presented by Mazda, will occur Friday, Oct. 11 through Sunday, Oct. 13 at SCCA.com/live with Greg Creamer again anchoring the broadcast joined by Ryan Myrehn (SportsCar365 writer), Tom O’Gorman (pro driver), Hollis and MacLeod while Wagner provides coverage from pit lane.
