LEXINGTON, Ohio (June 1, 2013) – The first day of racing is complete at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where SCCA Club Racing’s top drivers from the Northern Conference of the U.S. Majors Tour convened for the first half of a BFGoodrich Tires Super Tour doubleheader weekend.
Following Friday’s qualifying and overnight rain, the first race group for small Touring and Super Touring® cars took the green flag on a slightly damp track at 8 a.m. Polesitter Eric Heinrich (No. 10 BFGoodrich Tires/2002racing.com BMW E30 M3) took the overall and STU lead, but had to hold back Touring 3 leader Chad Gilsinger’s all-wheel-drive No. 07 BFG/HPD/H&R/Recaro Acura TL SH-AWD early. Once the circuit developed a dry line, Heinrich sped off to a 10-second overall victory.
Gilsinger, meanwhile, was deep in a battle with T3 polesitter Kevin Boehm’s No. 95 BFGoodrich/Honda Performance Development Honda S2000 CR for the final laps of the 19-lap, 45.6-mile contest. In the end, Gilsinger took the 0.326-second win. In Super Touring Lite, John Schmitt kept his No. 13 Hoosier/Red Line Oil Honda Prelude out front all the way, despite the attempts of Andrew Salzano and his No. 25 HART/BFGoodrich/HPD Honda Civic Si.
Greg Vandersluis (No. 93 Carbotech/BFGoodrich Ford Mustang) won Touring 4 and Joel Lipperini took B-Spec in his No. 81 BFGoodrich/Honda/RaceLabz Honda Fit.
Group Two for Spec Racer Ford was all Scott Rettich. The Camden, Ohio driver started his No. 17 Alliance Autosport/Springboro Car Wash Spec Racer from the pole and led all 19 laps to take a 2.827-second win over second starting Jeff Beck’s No. 31 Lindell/Ryan Spec Racer.
Group Three will go down in history as resulting in what may be the longest delay in SCCA history at Mid-Ohio. Trent Hindman, of Asbury Park, N.J., led from the pole in his No. 41 Cirocco & Ozzimo/DFL Interiors Porsche 911 Cup in the GT-2 class, briefly ceding the overall lead to GT-1 polesitter Tom Smith (No. 62 USA Metal Recycling Chevrolet Camaro). After leading for three laps, Smith went off and needed to report to the pits to remove grass from his radiator opening.
Upon returning to the track, Smith’s ailing car was caught by Dick Greer’s No. 82 Wendy’s Chevrolet Corvette and the pair waged a fierce battle in the race’s final laps for the GT-1 class lead.
While they battled, Hindman sped away to his fourth U.S. Majors Tour win of 2013 by 23.795 seconds over Steve Jenkins.
On the final lap, Smith and Greer went side by side through the Esses, bumping several times. As the pair moved through Thunder Valley for the last time, they caught the Touring 2 Ford Mustang of Joel Hipp. Greer’s car suffered a mechanical issue at the most inopportune of times, and turned to the left into Hipp, taking both cars hard into the guard rail.
Neither driver was injured, but the effort to repair the walls was significant. Additional equipment was brought in, and the repairs lasted nearly six hours. The remaining four races were shortened to 19 laps or 30 minutes, whichever occurred first.
At 4:00 p.m., racing resumed with Group Four for Spec Miata and the group did not disappoint the fans that stuck around. Polesitter Jim Drago led the opening two laps before fourth-starting Jason Knuteson put his No. 05 East Street Racing/Mitchell Racing Miata up front. Drago retired a lap later, and Knuteson had built a two-second lead over the battle for second, which included David Bednarz (No. 68 Dynomax Exhaust Miata), Erik Stearns (No. 97 Miata), Bruce Andersen II (No. 17 Senson Racing Group/Autotechnik Racing Miata) and Shawn Slattery (No. 79 Race Engineering Miata).
The Bednarz-led train caught Knuteson and the four-car battle for second became a five-car battle for the lead. The former Formula 500 Champion led until lap 12, when Stearns made his move to the point and shuffled Knuteson back to third behind Bednarz. On the final lap, Bednarz slid wide in the Esses, promoting Knuteson up to second, giving Stearns the cushion he needed to take the 0.583-second win.
One week after sweeping E Production at MIS in his brand-new No. 63 Hoosier/King Motorsports Honda Prelude, Joe Moser made it three-in-a row with a flag-to-flag win in Group Five. Kevin Ruck won F Production in his No. 73 Hoosier/Honda/Cobalt Acura Integra, but the battle for second was fierce, ultimately taken by polesitter Rob Futcher’s No. 19 Lotus Super 7 after fellow combatants Charlie Campbell (No. 89 Campbell Brothers Racing Mazda Miata) and David Strittmatter (No. 28 Hoosier Tire Lancia Scorpion) each spun in Turn 13 on the penultimate lap.
H Production was hotly contested, with Matt Brannon’s No. 2 Midwest-Bayless Italian Auto Fiat X 1/9 ultimately getting the best of Tim Pitts’ No. 11 Performance Tuning Volkswagen Golf. Bill Pintaric came from the back of the pack to win GT-Lite in his No. 87 Kryderacing/WRP Investments Nissan, passing polesitter Bryan Floyd’s No. 70 Burntwaffle Enterprises Nissan with just a couple laps remaining.
Group Six for winged formula cars and sports racers was slow to start, as the field was out of alignment, necessitating a wave-off and another pace lap. At the green, polesitter Ralph Provitz got the jump in his No. 08 V2 Motorsports S08 D Sports Racing machine and led the first eight laps. At that point, Sedat Yelkin’s No. 75 EVERCLEAR Swift took the lead and never looked back for the overall and Formula Atlantic win. Provitz finished second overall and won D Sports Racing.
Dudley Fleck took the C Sports Racing win in his No. 74 Mazda/Hoosier/Coors Light Van Diemen Mazda, but it was James French that took the class track record in his No. 46 Motorsports Enterprises Ltd. Swift 014 with a 1:23.191.
The final group of the day for small formula cars featured a great battle for the overall win between polesitter Tim Katuz’s No. 83 Braeburn/Two Dogg/Hoosier Poper DF3D Honda in Formula F and the Formula 500s of Steven Thompson (No. 31 T&R Fabricating TR1) and Michael Mueller (No. 24 MJ Mfg/Fibeco/Hoosier Red Devil). In the end, Thompson took the overall win over Kautz, as well as the F500 win over defending National Champion Mueller. Michael Varacins took Formula Vee in his No. 65 Speed Sport/Veetech Speed Sport AM-5.
Sunday will bring another Round of races for all seven groups, with the grid set on fastest time from Friday afternoon’s qualifying or Saturday’s race, whichever was best.
For full event results, go to www.scca.com/midohiost.
LEXINGTON, Ohio – Race winners from Saturday’s BFGoodrich Tires SCCA Super Tour US Majors Tour event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with class, driver, hometown and car. American Sedan, Dane Smith, Lowell, Ark., Chevrolet Camaro. B-Spec, Joel Lipperini, Pittston, Pa., Honda Fit. C Sports Racing, Dudley Fleck, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Van Diemen Mazda. D Sports Racing, Ralph Provitz, Macomb, Mich., S08 S08. E Production, Joe Moser, Chicago, Ill., Honda Prelude. F Production, Kevin Ruck, Delaware, Ohio, Acura Integra. Formula 1000, Brian Novak, Dearborn, Mich., Nova-Piper F1000. Formula 500, Steven Thompson, Royal Oak, Mich., T&R Fabricating TR1. Formula Atlantic, Sedat Yelkin, Austintown, Ohio, Swift 008. Formula Continental, Rob Nicholas, Warranton, Va., Van Diemen RF01. Formula Enterprises, Scott Rettich, Camden, Ohio, Formula Enterprises. Formula F, Tim Kautz, Geneva, Ill., Piper DF3D Honda. Formula Mazda, Steve Jenks, Walpole, Mass., Star Formula Mazda. Formula Vee, Michael Varacins, Burlington, Wis., Speed Sport AM-5. GT-1, Tom Smith, Springdale, Ark., Chevrolet Camaro. GT-2, Trent Hindman, Asbury Park, N.J., Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. GT-3, Mike Cyphert, Twinsburg, Ohio, Toyota Celica. GT-Lite, William Pintaric, Youngstown, Ohio, Nissan 200SX. H Production, Matt Brannon, Columbus, Ohio, Fiat X 1/9. Spec Miata, Erik Stearns, Van Buren, Ohio, Mazda Miata. Spec Racer Ford, Scott Rettich, Camden, Ohio, Spec Racer Ford. Sports 2000, John Fergus, Powell, Ohio, Carbir CS2. Super Touring Lite, John Schmitt, Sunbury, Ohio, Honda Prelude. Super Touring Under, Eric Heinrich, Milton, Mass., BMW E30 M3. Touring 1, Tim Myers Jr., Atlanta, Ga., Porsche 996. Touring 2, Aaron Quine, Medina, Ohio, Chevrolet Corvette. Touring 3, Chad Gilsinger, Marysville, Ohio, Acura TL SH-AWD. Touring 4, Greg Vandersluis, N. Olmsted, Ohio, Ford Mustang.
-30-
BFGoodrich Tires Mid-Ohio Super Tour/Majors
