ELKHART LAKE, WIS. (Sept. 21, 2013) – John Heinricy, of Clarkston, Mich., was elevated to his 12th SCCA National Championship on Saturday at the 50th SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® after the American Sedan® field visited the tech shed post race. Andy McDermid, of Howell, Mich., and Jim Wheeler, of Lenexa, Kan., were elevated to the podium when Tom Sloe, Michael Lavigne, and Jeff Werth were disqualified.
Sloe, Lavigne and Werth crossed the stripe first, second and fifth, respectively, but technical inspections revealed non-compliant carburetors on Sloe and Werth’s machines and non-compliant cylinder heads on Lavigne’s car.
Sloe dominated on the track a year after another strong performance ended in disappointment. After establishing a large lead in last year’s AS race, Sloe’s car suffered a broken in-take valve near the race’s end, and he was passed heading up the hill to the start/finish line, dropping to third.
This year, Sloe battled McDermid during the first half of the race. The two ran nose-to-tail at the halfway point, with McDermid mounting a passing attempt for the lead. But when McDermid’s No. 24 WeatherTech/Felice Performance Engineering Ford Mustang began to suffer handling problems on Lap 7, Sloe built an insurmountable lead.
As his car struggled to maintain pace, McDermid was unable to hold off two challengers behind him. Lavigne, who started fourth in the No. 42 Auto Re-Nu-It Auto Body/Hoosier Ford Mustang, took over second on Lap 11.
Heinricy nipped McDermid at the checkered flag, driving the No. 56 TAR/Hoosier Pontiac Firebird. For Heinrich, it was his 15th career podium in 21 Runoffs starts; and, after tech, 12 wins to his credit.
“We had some trouble during the week, with all of the rain in practice and qualifying, so we didn’t get to make a lot of changes on the car,” Heinricy said after the race. “But we knew the direction we wanted to go, and we made the changes today. Finally, we went faster today than we did any session of practice or qualifying throughout the week, so we made great progress. We just kept pushing harder, especially the tires and the brakes. I learned how to use them, and just kept going faster and faster. Everything we did was the right stuff to make the car go. We just didn’t start early enough.”
McDermid fell to fourth on the track, though he did set the Hawk Hot Lap of 2:27.687 (97.504 mph). He was followed by Jeffrey Werth of Silver Spring, Md., in the No. 46 AEC/OG Racing Chevrolet Camaro. Scott Sanda, in the No. 73 Tro Manufacturering Cadillac CTS-V, was the Sunoco Hard Charger, picking up 16 positions and finishing 13th after starting 29th.
Wheeler crossed the finish line sixth on the track, but moved to the podium in his No. 20 Hoosier/Wilwood/KC Raceware Pontiac Firebird.
Follow all the live timing and scoring and get results at www.scca.com/runoffs. Live Twitter stream is available @SCCALive. Follow this weekend’s races on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SCCAOfficial.
The 50th SCCA National Championship Runoffs®, The Pinnacle of American Motorsports, will crown Sports Car Club of America’s Club Racing National Champions at Road America, Friday, September 20 through Sunday, September 22.
The live broadcast of all 28 National Championship races will be available through Sunday at www.SpeedcastTV.com/scca and later available On Demand from the same site.
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Final results for Friday’s SCCA American Sedan national championship at the 50th SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Road America, with finish position, starting position in parenthesis, driver, hometown, car and laps complete.
1, (6), John Heinricy, Clarkston, MI, Pontiac Firebird, 13.
2, (2), Andy McDermid, Howell, MI, Ford Mustang, 13.
3, (11), Jim Wheeler, Lenexa, KS, Pontiac Firebird, 13.
4, (5), Philip Smith, New Albany, OH, Chevrolet Camaro, 13.
5, (15), Amy Aquilante, Phoenixville, PA, Pontiac Firebird, 13.
6, (13), Thomas West, Standish, ME, Chevrolet Camaro, 13.
7, (12), Chris Pedersen, Mundelein, IL, Ford Mustang, 13.
8, (10), Dane Smith, Springdale, AR, Chevrolet Camaro, 13.
9, (17), Jerry Post, Sunset, SC, Chevrolet Camaro, 13.
10, (29), Scott Sanda, Western Springs, IL, Cadillac CTS-V, 13.
11, (16), Tom Smith, Springdale, AR, Chevrolet 0, 13.
12, (23), Eric Ritchie, Katy, TX, Pontiac Firebird, 13.
13, (24), Mark Muddiman, Belleville, MI, Ford Mustang, 13.
14, (25), Brian Thomas Himes, Slidell, LA, Ford Mustang, 13.
15, (26), Matt Regan, Addison, IL, Ford Mustang, 13.
16, (28), Philip Brabec, Island Lake, IL, Pontiac Firebird, 13.
17, (30), Kim McDonald, Grand Island, NE, Pontiac Firebird, 13.
18, (27), Kelly Lubash, Stamford, CT, Chevrolet Camaro, 13.
19, (31), Matt Naegle, Phoenixville, PA, Chevrolet Camaro, 12.
20, (32), Cheyne Daggett, Iowa City, IA, Ford Mustang GT, 12.
21, (36), Sean Maloney, Saint Charles, MO, Chevrolet Camaro, 12.
22, (35), David Venhaus, Milwaukee, WI, Ford Mustang Cobra, 12.
23, (34), Ian Maloney, Saint Charles, MO, Ford Mustang Cobra, 11.
24, (20), Dennis Careri, Boxford, MA, Ford Mustang, 9.
25, (7), Brian LaCroix, Hyannis, MA, Chevrolet Camaro, 7.
26, (19), Chris Qualls, Los Angeles, CA, Ford Mustang, 7.
27, (18), Scott Schweitzer, Lake Orion, MI, Ford Mustang, 6.
DNF, (8), Daniel Richardson, Rockville, MD, Chevrolet Camaro, 3.
DNF, (21), Tom Ellis, Sunrise, FL, Ford Mustang Cobra, 3.
DNF, (22), Bill Gray, Fayetteville, AR, Pontiac Firebird, 3.
DNF, (14), Gregory Eaton, Woodbridge, VA, Ford Mustang GT, 3.
DNF, (3), Edward Hosni, Galloway, OH, Ford Mustang, 1.
DNF, (33), Beth Aquilante, Arlington, VA, Chevrolet Camaro, 1.
DQ, (1), Tom Sloe, Newbury, OH, Ford Mustang, 13.
DQ, (4), Michael Lavigne, Hooksett, NH, Ford Mustang, 13.
DQ, (9), Jeffrey Werth, Silver Spring, MD, Chevrolet Camaro, 13.
Overall Time of Race: 32:51.297
Average Race Speed: 94.963 mph
Margin of Victory: 0.103 seconds
Hawk Fastest Race Lap: 2:27.687
Fastest Race Lap Average Speed: 97.504 mph
Sunoco Hard Charger: #73 Scott Sanda
Lap Leaders: #74 – Laps 1-13
