MONTEREY, Calif. (October 10, 2014) – Chaos reigned at the beginning of the race, and David Daughtery, of Fortville, Ind., came out victorious through a side-by-side battle to capture his eighth SCCA National Championship in Touring 3 on Friday at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs. Tom Wickersham, of San Ramon, Calif., and Marc Feinstein, of Cambridge, Mass., joined Daughtery on the podium.
The excitement in Touring 3 began just after the green flag, when second-starting Scotty White’s No. 0 BFGoodrich Tires/Got CDL?/Knight Transport/Hawk Ford Mustang and Rob Hines’ No. 4 Nissan/Hoosier/Carbotech/Red Line Nissan 350Z came together, collecting Jason Ott’s No. 09 BimmerHaus/Hoosier/Alpine Motorsports BMW Z4 and ending both White and Ott’s days. The incident brought out a full course caution, and also left damage on the No. 9 Honda Racing HPD/BFGoodrich Tires Honda S2000 of Kevin Boehm and dropped Hines to the rear of the field for the restart.
The shuffle moved the seventh-starting No. 01 Maine Straight/Competition Autowerks Ford Mustang of Wickersham up to third, just behind Daughtery’s Tire Rack pole position-winning No. 8 Nissan/Hoosier/Carbotech/Enkei Nissan 370Z and Marc Feinstein’s No. 93 German Perf Service/Hoosier/AWE Audi S4 on the restart.
Wickersham moved to second on the lap six restart going into the Corkscrew and by lap 14 had gotten to the rear of Daughtery’s Nissan. The pair went side-by-side for all of lap 15 and the start of 16, with Wickersham moving into the lead.
That lead didn’t last, however, as Wickersham ran wide in Turn Six. In front, Daughtery opened up a gap, and drove to his eighth National Championship.
It was the first Championship for Daughtery since 2002 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, who covered the 20-lap race in an average speed of 71.139 mph. Daughtery eventually won by 6.272 seconds over Wickersham, and turned the fastest lap of the race in 1:40.745 (79.972 mph) to establish a new track record. Only Jerry Hansen, Duane Davis, John Heinricy, and Joe Huffaker hold more titles.
“I’m feeling great,” Daughtery said. “We were so close last year, we just had a little failure. This year we’ve recouped and we’re here for our eighth championship.
“I’ve never raced with Tom before, but we ran the corners clean, side-by-side. We were sideways coming off of 11. We never bumped each other or hit each other. I just managed to spook him in one turn and that’s all it took. I think I had enough to make one more good run at him, but he gave me a gift and I’ll take it.”
Wickersham recovered from his off-course excursion to move back around Feinstein and finish as the runner-up.
“It was pretty tiresome and stressful,” Wickersham said of his battle. “I was waiting for him to make a mistake and give it to me, but in the end I made a mistake.
“I was going into Turn Six and David had a run I didn’t want to chop him and I drove myself off in Turn Six.”
For Feinstein, the podium finish was almost unthinkable going into the race. Feinstein’s Audi was built from a new street car using only street-legal parts, but the day almost ended when he was caught up slightly in the first lap incident. The damage didn’t seem to slow him much, however, and he held on for his highest career finish.
“My plan going into the race was to be conservative at the start, conservative through the race so I had a car at the end,” Feinstein said. “I had a conservative start and everything was good going through Turn Two. Going through Three, everything was flying everywhere and I didn’t have anyplace to go, so I ended up catching the back of Kevin Boehm’s Honda S2000. Luckily it wasn’t too much damage, but I wasn’t really sure because I don’t have radio communication with my crew so I was guessing.
“I didn’t think a podium was realistic. I was just hoping to learn the track and be mid-pack. I was surprised by the pace of the car and I was happy that it was a great car.”
Sage Marie drove his No. 64 Honda Racing HPD/BFGoodrich Tires Acura TL from eight to finish fourth and win the Sunoco Hard Charger Award. Boehm recovered enough from the first lap incident, despite damage on the front and the rear of the car, to finish fifth.
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 Friday’s SCCA Touring 3 National Championship at the 51st SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car and laps complete.
1, (1), David Daughtery, Fortville, IN, Nissan 370z, 20. 2, (7), Tom Wickersham, San Ramon, CA, Ford Mustang, 20. 3, (6), Marc Feinstein, Cambridge, MA, Audi S4, 20. 4, (8), Sage Marie, Huntington Beach, CA, Acura TL, 20. 5, (5), Kevin Boehm, Marysville, OH, Honda S2000, 20. 6, (3), Rob Hines, Arlington, VA, Nissan 350Z, 20. 7, (9), Mark Boden, Winnetka, IL, BMW M3, 20. 8, (11), Aaron Kaplan, Evanston, IL, BMW M3, 19. 9, (10), James Leithauser, Westminster, CO, BMW Z4 3.0SI, 19. 10, (13), Dan Spirek, Parker, CO, BMW Z4 M, 19. 11, (12), John Baker, Portland, OR, Nissan 350Z, 18. 12, (14), Anthony Lanza, Huntington Beach, CA, Lotus Exige, 18. 13, (15), Kevin Fandozzi, Saint Joseph, MI, Chevrolet Cobalt SS, 5. 14, (2), Scotty White, Auburn, WA, Ford Mustang, 0. 15, (4), Jason Ott, Littleton, CO, BMW Z4 M, 0.
Overall Time of Race: 37:45.093 (71.139 mph) Margin of Victory: 6.272 seconds Fastest Race Lap: 1:40.745 Sunoco Hard Charger: #64 Sage Marie Lap Leaders: #8 laps 1-13, 15, 17-20; #01 laps 14, 16
2014 SCCA National Championship Runoffs
