Longe Victorious in Touring 2 Thriller
MONTEREY, Calif. (Oct. 11, 2014) – Andrew Longe, of Naples, Fla., survived a chaotic race start and a wild battle with Kyle Kelley, of Hunington Beach, Calif., to take the Touring 2 victory at the 2014 SCCA National Championship Runoffs®. Kelley and Matt Slavens, of Davenport, Iowa, completed the podium at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Starting second, Longe was lucky to escape Turn 2 on the opening lap, as Rich Rigda’s Camaro touched with Addison Lee’s Mustang, sending Rigda sliding through Turn 2 and taking out the Tire Rack Pole winner Kurt Rezzetano’s No. 35 Phoenix Performance/Hoosier/Hawk Ford Mustang.
“I was rolling through on the outside in second place,” Longe recalled. “I was following Kurt Rezzetano, who’s a great friend of mine in the paddock. It was truly shocking to see him taken out so violently at such an early portion of the race. I was glad to see he was okay and walking out of the car.”
Kelley, who started fourth in his No. 79 UPR.com Chevrolet Corvette, emerged with the lead, but had Longe in tow. The race quickly went full-course yellow to remove Rezzetano from the Turn 2 gravel.
On the restart, the race was on between Kelley and Longe’s No. 02 Trianon/FALL-LINE Motorsports Porsche 911/997. The pair exchanged the lead several times, often rubbing doors, before Kelley settled into a half-second lead around lap seven.
“I think the cars were fairly even,” Kelley said. “I was a little bit stronger through the Corkscrew. I think he had a little more top end at the end of the straightaway. I think under braking everything was fairly equal, I just got my tires a little hot at the end. The car started sliding around.”
The fight heated back up on lap 12 when Longe began to take some looks at Kelley. He was able to make one of those moves stick on lap 17 when he drag raced Kelley out of Turn 11 and got him on the inside of Turn 2, though Kelley hung on for another two corners. The move earned Longe the Go Pro Hero Move of the Race. On that same lap, Kelley had a sideways moment in the Corkscrew, enabling Longe to build a bit of a gap.
At the white flag, Longe had a 0.741-second lead on Kelley, who was doing everything in his power to catch the Porsche. As the pair exited Turn 10, Kelley marched his Corvette to the inside of Longe for the final turn. The pair exited Turn 11 dead even and drag raced to the finish, where Longe was victorious by 0.047-second, the fifth-closest finish at the Runoffs in the modern transponder era.
“I noticed he chose to take the inside on the last corner, which kind of limited my options, so I opted to late apex and tried to put the power down the best I could,” Kelley said. “I grabbed every gear at red line, but it wasn’t quite enough.”
“The whole race was some of the best racing I’ve done all year,” Longe added. “It’s a huge testament to his (Kelley’s) driving ability, how close it was the whole race. It was a great finish and very exciting.”
After surviving the start, Slavens had to contend with the No. 0 BFG/GOT CDL?/Knight Transport/Hawk Ford Mustang GT of Scotty White from Auburn, Wash.
“I think it was Scotty White in his Mustang that got around me and we were going at it pretty hard,” Slavens said. “We were battling it out going up the hill side-by-side. I got around him and once I got around him I was able to pick up my speed and get going and didn’t see him again. “
From there, Slavens’ race to third place was a quiet one as Longe and Kelley were out of reach.
“As long as I could see them (Longe and Kelley), I could keep my focus on them,” Slavens said. “I made a mistake, going into Turn Two too deep and lost a little bit of time. At that point I knew I needed to focus on getting all of my corners done the right way and stay safe.”
Slavens earned a podium finish in his very first Runoffs at a track he called a “bucket list” item.
White crossed the line in fourth. Gregory Schermer, of Bettendorf, Iowa, finished fifth.
Carl Fung, of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., was awarded the Sunoco Hard Charger Award for advancing from 15th on the grid to ninth at the finish in his No. 88 Chevrolet Corvette C5 Z.
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 Saturday’s SCCA Touring 1 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, (2), Andrew Longe, Naples, FL, Porsche 911/997, 20. 2, (4), Kyle Kelley, Huntington Beach, CA, Chevrolet Corvette, 20. 3, (7), Matt Slavens, Davenport, IA, Porsche 911/996, 20. 4, (8), Scotty White, Auburn, WA, Ford Mustang GT, 20. 5, (10), Gregory Schermer, Bettendorf, IA, Porsche 911/996, 20. 6, (9), Michael Pettiford, Louisville, CO, Pontiac Solstice GXP, 20. 7, (11), Anthony D'Alessandro, Granite Bay, CA, Ford Mustang GT, 20. 8, (12), David Ray, Danville, CA, Ford Mustang GT, 20. 9, (15), Carl Fung, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, Chevrolet Corvette C5 Zo6, 20. 10, (14), William Moore, Chagrin Falls, OH, Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE, 20. 11, (17), Russ Peterson DVM, Menlo Park, CA, Ford Mustang GT, 20. 12, (13), Natha Waldbaum, Omaha, NE, Chevrolet Corvette C5 Zo6, 20. 13, (16), Don Van Nortwick, San Jose, CA, Ford Mustang GT, 20. 14, (19), Nicole Jacque, San Jose, CA, Ford Mustang GT, 19. 15, (18), Mitch Marvosh, Ventura, CA, Ford Mustang GT, 19. 16, (3), Preston Calvert, Potomac, MD, Ford Mustang GT, 5. 17, (6), Addison Lee, East Palo Alto, CA, Ford Mustang GT, 4. 18, (1), Kurt Rezzetano, Phoenixville, PA, Ford Mustang GT, 0. 19, (5), Rich Rigda, Saginaw, MI, Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE, 0. Overall Time of Race: 36:29.596 (73.592 mph) Margin of Victory: 0.047-second Fastest Race Lap: Andrew Longe, 1:38.104 (82.125 mph) Sunoco Hard Charger: #88 Carl Fung Laps Led: Kyle Kelley, laps 1-16; Andrew Longe, laps 17-20
2014 SCCA National Championship Runoffs
