SUMMIT POINT, W.V. (May 6, 2012) – Cloudy skies remained until late afternoon, but the cooler temperatures on Sunday made for close racing during the BFGoodrich Tires SCCA Northeast Super Tour at Summit Point Raceway and the fastest lap ever turned on the track by an SCCA Club Racer.
The temperatures, cool and in the mid-60s, also helped track records fall throughout the day. In all, seven racing groups ran 23-lap races at the 10-turn, 2.0-mile facility and nine SafeRacer National Series class records fell.
Not content just to set a class record, C Sports Racing’s Steve Forrer set the overall fastest lap at the track with a flying lap of 1:06.362 (108.496 mph) in the No. 84 K-Hill Motorsports/Forrer Supply Ralt RT41. The amazing lap didn’t guarantee a win for Forrer, however – he finished second to Jean-Luc Liverato’s No. 8 Hoosier Tire/K-Hill/8-Ball Racing Swift JMS014 after a back and forth battle. Liverato earned a 1.043-second victory.
Kevin Ruck made his first visit to Summit Point a memorable one, winning in F Production and setting a track record with a lap of 1:22.292 in the No. 23 Hoosier/HPD/Cobalt/Slomo Acura Integra. Brian Downey set a GT-Lite track record with a time of 1:21.462 in the No. 63 Auto Expecations Nissan 200Sx, but fell just shy of chasing down Bobby Lentz’s No. 60 FGR/Auto Expectations Nissan Sentra. According to Lentz on the podium, this was the first time in 10 years that someone had topped Downey at this race – making his feat all the more difficult.
Kevin Leigh’s No. 97 Hoosier Tires/JBS Racing BMW Z3 earned the overall win in his Group 1 E Production machine, with Tom Broring (H Production No. 9 Blue Crab Racing/Mountjoy’s Autoshop Triumph Spitfire) and Beran Peter (Super Touring Lite No. 68 Associated Environmental Systems Mazda Miata) also grabbing wins.
New car teething pains in her No. 23 McNichols Co/Goodyear/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette kept Amy Ruman from extending her Summit Point GT-1 record, but not from running away from the field for a 12.994-second margin of victory in Group 2. Jim Goughary, however, was able to get a track record in GT-2 with a lap of 1:15.175 on his way to a win in the No. 46 Redline Oil/Hoosier Tire Nissan 350Z. Steven Lustig’s No. 51 Autosport Auto Group Acura Integra won GT-3.
Though many believe the days of driving – rather than towing - a Touring or Showroom Stock car to the track for an SCCA National are long gone, Joey Wang-Defilippis drove more than five hours from his Fort Lee, N.J. home to finish on the podium in Touring 2, dragging a small trailer of BFGoodrich Tires behind him. His lap times in the No. 51 Mitsubishi Evolution weren’t quite as quick as winner Marty Grand’s No. 34 UCS Performance/Hoosier Pontiac Solstice, but was quick enough for a third place finish in the class. The reality is, no one has gone as fast as Grand’s machine, which set a new track record with a lap of 1:22.228.
One of the cars that Wang-Defilippis was passed by in Group 3 was the eventual overall and Super Touring® Over winner David Pintaric. Pintaric didn’t arrive with his No. 40 Kryderracing/Hoosier/Carbotech Dodge Viper until qualifying was complete on Saturday, and started from the rear of the grid. Pintaric picked off cars one by one until he caught fellow STO competitor Robert Nimkoff’s No. 2 Nimrod Racing Aston Martin Vantage at the head of the field, setting a new track record in 1:17.293 and taking the overall win.
David Sanders (No. 73 Phoenix Performance Chevrolet Corvette) held off a hard-charging Joe Aquilante’s No. 32 Phoenix/Hawk/Hoosier Chevrolet Corvette for the Touring 1 win, while Gregory Easton (No. 45 Wise Consulting/Jeff Wise Automotive Ford Mustang) won American Sedan.
As far as close races go, it doesn’t get much closer than the 0.031-second that separated Spec Miata winner Brian Price’s No. 70 RP Performance/Performance Auto Mazda Miata from Yiannis Tsiounis’ No. 69 Quicksilver Leasing Mazda Miata at the checkered flag. The two swapped the lead multiple times, but the final margin of victory was only about five feet.
“We needed to build a longer nose,” Tsiounis joked on the podium.
Jerry Wannarka (No. 13 Wannarka Consulting Honda S2000) won in Touring 3, while Chris Dryden (No. 2 Training Pro/Paypal/Carbotech Mazda MX-5) and Barry Brown (No. 75 Springfield Auto Body Honda Civic) grabbed gold in Showroom Stock B and C, respectively.
Bob Perona ran away and hid in the No. 73 DF-3 Ford to take the Group 5 overall and Formula F win, and Jeremy Morales used his driving ability to take the Formula 500 win in the No. 10 JMR/Mitchell Racing Raptor De-2B. The group action took place in Formula Vee, however, in what would start as a five-car battle up front.
When the dust settled, one driver had spun into the gravel in Turn 10, one had been separated from the leaders avoiding the incident, and Roger Siebenaler had driven his No. 72 Autowerks/Hoosier Tire Mysterian M-2 to a win in the class over Jonathan Weisheit (No. 67 JK Technologies JK Tech XP1) and Gary Kittelll (No. 76 Autowerks Caracal D).
Scott Rettich drove the Spec Racer Ford race like he was in a hurry – which he probably was, considering he was scheduled to also start on pole during Group 7’s Formula Enterprises battle. Rettich wasted no time pulling away from the field in his No. 17 Alliance Autosport/PDI Communications Spec Racer Ford, racing to an uncharacteristic 13.885-second win in the class. Rob Stewart (No. 51 Apple Motorsports SRF) and Tray Ayres (No. 7 Ayres Racing SRF) completed the podium after a race-long battle for 2nd place.
Rettich set a new track record in the SRF machine with a 1:23.867, then backed that up with a 1:11.140 in the No. 17 Alliance Autosport/PDI Communications Formula Enterprises machine.
In addition to Liverato’s fast win, Garrett Kletjian won D Sports Racing in the No. 01 George Dean Race Engines West Wx10, and overall polesitter Chris Fahan brought his No. 39 Fahan Paving/Hoosier Tires Swift 016 to the checkered flag ahead of his competition. Chuck Moran (No. 45 Barbara Van Diemen RF99) won Formula Continental, while Bruce Crockett (No. 89 Concert Illusions Star Mazda) bagged a Formula Mazda victory.
At every BFGoodrich Tires Super Tour race, the Saturday night participant party features random drawings as door prizes for attendees. Formula Enterprises driver Jim Adleberg took home $500, while workers Evans Browne, Bill Forman, Angela Slocum, Swanson Williams, and DeWitt Payne each grabbed $100 prizes.
Round Six of the nine-race BFGoodrich Tires Super Tour moves to the Great Lakes Division and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, June 1-3.
Results and more are available on the event page here.
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BF Goodrich National Race at Summit Point Raceway
