What are we looking for this weekend at Road America? Here are just a few of the highlights:
Sprinting Through The Weekend: The June Sprints have a long tradition in SCCA lore, but this year the event format gets a tweak. In addition to the eight 13-lap group races that start on Saturday afternoon and continue Sunday morning, the first four groups will get an additional 12-lap race. That means fans and competitors can see Spec Miata, C Sports Racing, D Sports Racing, Sports 2000, Formula 1000, GT-1, GT-2, GT-3, Touring 1 and Spec Racer Ford race on both Saturday and Sunday.
All the races this weekend will count for full points in their respective classes.
Local Flavor, And We Don’t Mean The Brats: There is a lot of local flavor this weekend, but five drivers list a residence that is essentially within walking distance of the race track this weekend. Three drivers – Michael Froh in F Production, Nicolas Hammann in Super Touring Lite, and Bart Wolf in Sports 2000 – list the town of Elkhart Lake, just feet to the North of the track, as home. Two more – Michael Mueller in Formula 500 and Jeffrey Bartz in Formula F – call Plymouth home, just to the south of Road America.
None of those drivers can top the 40 appearances that Froh can claim. The local racer has missed just a scant few appearances at the event since he started racing in 1972.
In all, 69 of the 358 drivers on the entry list call the Badger State home.
Green Flags: This weekend’s event is the halfway point of the Northern Conference Majors Tour point championship… Dudley Fleck leads C Sports Racing by just two points over Brian French, and four points over James French. All three are on the entry list for their doubleheader this weekend… Joe Moser has scored three wins in four tries in E Production. A win this weekend would extend his lead… Sedat Yelkin trails Jacek Mucha in Formula Atlantic, but Mucha is only currently entered in C Sports Racing this weekend. Yelkin could make up his gap, and take the lead, with a successful run… Scott Rettich is four for four so far this year in the Northern Conference in both Formula Enterprises and Spec Racer Ford. He’s on the entry list for both this weekend, with a chance at three more victories… Three podium finishes, including a win, have Russell Ruedisueli atop the Formula F point standings… Stephen Jenks and Jason Vinkemulder have split the season in Formula Mazda, and currently share the lead at the top of the point standings. They’ll break that tie this weekend, one way or another… Trent Hindman beat Steven Jenkins in both races at Mid-Ohio to take a slim lead in GT-2. Joined by eight others, they’ll resume their rivalry in two races this weekend… Mike Cyphert has swept the opening four races in GT-3… David Doran has a win and a runner-up this season in Sports 2000 to hold the point lead in that class… The Northern Conference leader in a deep Spec Miata class is David Bednarz, with two wins and all four top five finishes. Bednarz is seven points up on Michael Novak, who has three runner-up finishes but no wins. With 50 Spec Miatas on the entry list for two races this weekend, the entire standings could be flipped upside down.
Family Fun: Road America is open to the public for this weekend’s WeatherTech June Sprints. Tickets are available at the gate, with information on www.RoadAmerica.com, and includes access to the grandstands and paddock to get up close and personal with the race cars. Children 12 and under are free.
Event/Circuit: U.S. Majors Tour Northern Conference - Rounds Five, Six of Nine or 10 (class dependent) Road America 14-turn, 4.0-mile road course
Qualifying: Eight Race Groups Friday, June 14 at 1:10 p.m. (25 minutes), Saturday, June 15 at 8:00 a.m. (25 minutes)
Races: Four group races on Saturday, June 15 beginning at 1:15 p.m.; Four group races on Sunday June 16 beginning at 8:00 a.m. Bonus Race for the first four groups on Sunday, June 16 beginning at 12:45 p.m. Race Lengths: 13 Laps for June Sprints; 12 laps for Sunday Bonus Races Timing/Scoring: Live Timing & Scoring, lap notes and streaming track PA audio via the SCCA® Pit Board are available for all sessions through www.scca.com/sccalive.
Entry lists, full event schedules, and more information is available at www.sccamajors.com.
Weathertech Chicago Region June Sprints 2013 U.S. Majors Tour
