BRASELTON, Ga. (November 7, 2011) – The American Road Race of Champions presented by Grassroots Motorsports wrapped up on Sunday afternoon with a three-hour enduro, capping a weekend at Road Atlanta packed with class racing action.
The Atlanta Region staple actually began with the 2012 season-opening event for the Atlanta-area Pro IT class on Friday afternoon. Trever Degioanni, of Cumming, Ga., turned the fastest lap of the race in the No. 9 JRI Shocks/Kingpin Machine Acura Integra GSR on his way to a 16.541-second overall and ITS class win.
Brian Price (No. 51 RP Performance Mazda) in ITA, Cliff Brown (No. 00 Talley Land Development Mazda Miata) in ISM, Kirk Knestis (No. 42 Volkswagen/FASTtech Ltd Volkwagen Golf) in ITB, Tom Rogers (No. 73 MartinAtlanta Mazda Miata) in ISM2, and Alan Faver (No. 74 Mazda RX-7) in IT7 all also earned class wins.
Sprint races filled the day on Saturday, with eight groups of regional and national classes a part of the racing action. Jim Kellogg opened the day with an overall Group 1 win behind the wheel of his No. 96 Kellogg Excavating BMW Mini-cup in the SPU class, just one of six classes in the group.
GT1, GTA, and SPO ground pounders made up Group 2, where Simon Gregg (No. 59 Derhaag Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette), Grant Leadbetter (No. 5 Allied Steel/Red Cactus Salsa Dodge Charger), and Randy Walker (No. 21 Chevrolet Monte Carlo) survived for wins in a wild race that was shortened to 16 laps because of caution periods.
Seven open-wheel classes in Group 3 gave way to the Improved Touring-heavy Group 4, featuring the regional ITS, IT7 and ITB classes that the event is tailored to. Matt Reppert’s No. 8 High Sports Racing BMW 325 topped Mauricio Montana’s similar No. 5 VR II Body Shop BMW 325 for the overall win and ITS title. Ben Wolf won the battle of the RX-7 machines in the IT7 class, while Tristan Herbert’s No. 33 BRIMTEK/RenGruppe Motorsports Volkswagen Golf took the ITB victory.
The ITA classes dominated the Group 6 classes, with Brian Price earning a 10.048-second win in the No. 51 RP Performance/Performance Autoworks Mazda. Kevin Ruck (NO. 73 Hoosier/Honda Performance Development Acura Integra) and Robert Moser (No. 3 Moser Racing Inc. Honda CRX Si) joined Price on the podium in the 14-car class.
National classes composed most of Group 7, with Bob Mayer’s No. 38 Hoosier/Carbotech Chevrolet Corvette Z06 taking the STO win and edging Jeff Dernehl by just 0.211-second in the No. 03 Roswell Outback Auto/RRE/Hoosier Mazda RX-7. Dernehl took the GT-2 win.
Track records fell in the Group 8 “wings and things” class. Jean-Luc Liverato set a new track record in the No. 8 K-Hill Motorsports/Hoosier/8-Ball Swift JMS014 CSR-class machine, though Jim Downing’s No. 68 Downing Atlanta Inc Peach Mazda took the class title. Jacek Mucha set an ASR track record on the way to a win in the NO. 07 Phoenix/Innotech Swift jms016cp Mazda, and Michael Mallinen set a new record in FS driving the No. 71 Hoosier Tires/TRD Swift 014a, but J.R. Osborne took the class win in the No. 83 Stohr/Hoosier/C3 Construction Stohr F1000.
The ARRC presented by Grassroots Motorsports concluded with a three-hour enduro on Sunday afternoon, following pro races from the SCCA Pro Racing Spec Racer Ford and Formula Enterprises series.
More information and full event results will be posted at the Atlanta Region’s www.arrc-online.com.
