MONTEREY, Calif. (October 12, 2014) – Lawrence Loshak, of Grafton, Wisconsin, was able to close out the 2014 H Production title at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs® Sunday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Jason Isley, of Coto De Caza, California, finished a close second place, while Steven Hussey, of Capitola, California, completed the podium.
In the No. 1 ETE Reman/HYPERformance/RWM/Hoosier Honda CRX, Loshak took the early lead after starting on the Tire Rack pole. However, Isley stayed close and was even able to record one lap as the official leader. On lap four, Loshak retook control of the race, which averaged 75.503 mph around the 11-turn, 2.238-mile circuit, until Isley made a final push for the front.
In the closing laps, Isley drove his No. 99 TRD/Hoosier/OS Giken/Racer.com Toyota Yaris up to the rear bumper of Loshak. He spent the final three laps hounding Loshak, but could not make the key pass for the lead. The win marks Loshak’s fifth National Championship.
“I was doing everything I could to stay ahead of Jason ,” Loshak said. “It was a little crazy running Formula 1000 and H Production back-to-back. Heading into the weekend, we weren’t planning on doing that. But, I got a call. Me being me, by putting too much on my plate and my crew’s plate, I could not say no. I saw the FB car for the first time on Monday when we tried to dial it in. I feel like we may have neglected the CRX a little, but it came together for us.
“Toward the end, my rear tires weren’t happy with me, and then my front tires joined the party. Jason was right there to apply the pressure and all I could think is ‘Don’t make a mistake, don’t make a mistake. Oh, I almost made a mistake.’ I just tried to hang it out there. It’s not fun just to qualify, then walk away from everyone else. It’s all about racing door-to-door with the best drivers in the country.”
While Isley looked to have the advantage through the Corkscrew and through to Turn Nine in the closing laps, he wasn’t able to convert the advantage into a winning pass by Turn 11. Loshak took a tight, defending line in the last turn leaving the outside open for Isley’s car. It was Loshak, on the inside, that proved to have to low end grunt to beat Isley’s outside run to the line.
“I caught some good breaks,” Isley said. “We both caught some local yellows, but he was the driver that caught up to the lapped traffic first. That was really the thing that allowed me to close the gap. I could see his rear tires were going off, and at the same time my tires were going away. All of those things gave me a chance to catch up.
“I was pretty happy. I was here earlier this season and was a little disappointed I wasn’t able to match my pace from that event. I think it was just the difference in temperature. Qualifying was challenging, but I was happy to be finishing third. I had a little advantage over Steve on the start, and was able to hook up with Loshak. I was worried about Bartell in the long run, since he has rear-wheel drive, but ended up not being an issue.”
Hussey, in the No. 37 Linn Speed/CW Horton Honda CRX, tallied his fourth career Runoffs podium, all of which came in H Production.
“It was a relatively unexciting race for me, to be honest,” Hussey said. “We qualified second with a pretty decent time, but both Jason and Lawrence got the jump off the start. From there, I just tucked in behind the car in front of me after seeing all the carnage from earlier in the day. I just wanted to make it through the first couple corners clean.
“After one lap, the leaders had built a sizable gap back to me, and just kept doing that throughout the race. At one point Gauper attempted a pass on me going up the hill. I said ‘Forget this,’ and set down my fastest laps of the race in order to keep my position solidified. After that, I was just working my way through lapped traffic.”
Greg Gauper, of Hubertus, Wisconsin, finished the race fourth in his No. 15 Rana Mort Racing/King Motorsports Honda Civic Si.
Completing the top five was Tom Tuttle, of Windsor, California, in the No. 11 Huffaker/Insul-Therm International MG Midget.
David Louw, of Houston, won the Sunoco Hard Charger award in the No. 78 Over 50 Racing Fiat X-1/9.
The 51st SCCA National Championship Runoffs®, The Pinnacle of American Motorsports, will crown Sports Car Club of America’s Club Racing National Champions at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Friday, October 10 through Sunday, October 12. The live broadcast of all 27 National Championship races is available live at SCCA.com, along with live timing and notes. Each race will be on demand at a later date on SpeedcastTV.com.
MONTEREY, Calif. -- Provisional results for Sunday’s SCCA Formula 500 National Championship at the 51st SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, with finish position, starting position in parenthesis, driver, hometown, car and laps complete. 1, (1), Lawrence Loshak, Grafton, WI, Honda CRX, 20. 2, (3), Jason Isley, Coto De Caza, CA, Toyota Yaris, 20. 3, (2), Steven Hussey, Capitola, CA, Honda CRX, 20. 4, (5), Greg Gauper, Hubertus, WI, Honda Civic Si, 20. 5, (7), Tom Tuttle, Windsor, CA, MG Midget, 20. 6, (6), Gordon Jones, Tualatin, OR, BMW 1600, 20. 7, (4), Ron Bartell, Madbury, NH, MG Midget, 20. 8, (9), Mike Cummings, Martinez, CA, Austin-Healey Sprite, 20. 9, (12), Gary Wittman, Costa Mesa, CA, Austin-Healey Sprite, 20. 10, (10), Michael Miller, Walhalla, SC, Austin-Healey Sprite, 19. 11, (15), Jerry Oleson, Aurora, CO, Austin-Healey Sprite, 19. 12, (13), Carl Young, Salinas, CA, Honda Fit, 19. 13, (8), Chris Albin, Maryland Heights, MO, Volkswagen Golf GTI, 19. 14, (18), Alex Burnett, Louisville, CO, Nissan PL510, 19. 15, (17), Rob Horrell Jr, Memphis, TN, Austin-Healey Sprite, 18. 16, (21), David Louw, Houston, TX, Fiat X-1/9, 17. 17, (19), Mike Bachman, San Jose, CA, Austin-Healey Sprite, 14. 18, (20), Jon Becker, Martinez, CA, MINI 1275, 6. 19, (14), Andrew Wright, Murfreesboro, TN, Triumph Spitfire, 4. 20, (11), Patrick Casey, Kailua, HI, Austin-Healey Sprite, 1. DNS, (16), Cory Markos, Riverside, CA, Honda CRX Si.
Overall Time of Race: 35:34.162 Average Race Speed: 75.503 mph Margin of Victory: 0.189-second Fastest Race Lap: Lawrence Loshak, 1:45.653 (76.257 mph) Sunoco Hard Charger: #78 David Louw Lap Leaders: Laps 1-2, 4-20, Lawrence Loshak; lap 3, Jason Isley
2014 SCCA National Championship Runoffs
