WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (July 14, 2010) The Northeast Division hosted their SafeRacer SCCA National Racing Series Super Sweep even on Sunday, July 11 at Watkins Glen International as the back end of the double National weekend at the historic track. A strong field of 270 competitors took the green flag in 29 classes spread over seven race groups in the event, hosted by the Glen Region. Group 1 featured Touring 3, Showroom Stock and Spec Miata classes, with the No. 82 Rockland Standard Gear/Phoenix/Hoosier Chevrolet Cobalt of Andrew Aquilante, of Chester Springs, Penn., the class of the field. Aquilante edged John Costellos No. 2 Racelabz/King Motorsports/Hoosier/Red Line Oil Honda S2000 to the line by just 0.371-second in the 13 lap race on the 3.41-mile long course at Watkins Glen. Meanwhile, Steven Gorriaran, of Providence, R.I., topped a 45-car Spec Miata field in his No. 44 Gorilla Racing/Driven Performance Mazda Miata to take his class victory. Bob Beede, of Greenwich, Conn., won SSB in the No. 21 Bill Fenton Motorsports Honda and Joel Lipperin, of Pittston, Penn., captured the SSC win in his No. 1 RaceLabz/BFGoodrich/RaceShopper.com Acura. Group 2 featured the muscle cars of Touring 1 American Sedan as well as the sports cars of Touring 2, with 11-time National Champion John Heinricy, of Holly, Mich., taking a commanding 19.578-second victory in his T1 No. 35 Torvec/Phoenix/Heinrocket/Hawk/Hoosier Chevrolet Corvette. Mike Lavigne, of Hooksett, N.H., crossed the finish line first in AS in his No. 42 AutoRe-Nu-It AutoBody/Hoosier Tire Ford Mustang. Syosset, New Yorks David Brand earned the Touring 2 victory in his No. 36 Lotus Exige. Group 3 featured Production classes, Super Touring® Under and the GT-Lite class at The Glen. Fred Pignataro, of East Northport, N.Y., edged Phil Parlato, of Commack, N.Y., for the STU and overall win in Group 3. Pignataros ex-World Challenge Touring Car No. 12 Habberstad BMW BMW 323 earned the 8-lap win by 1.160-seconds over Parlatos No. 16 Phils Auto Body, Inc. BMW 325i. Kevin Leigh, of Harrisonburg, Va., ran fourth overall in taking the E Production victory in his No. 55 Caterham 7, one spot ahead of GTL champ Robert Lentz, of Chantilly, Va., in the No. 60 Auto Expectations Nissan Sentra. Akron, Ohios David Strittmatter grabbed the F Production title in the No. 18 Summit Racing Equipment/Hoosier Tire Lancia Scorpion, with Tom Broring, of Derwood, Md., winning H Production in the No. 19 Blue Crab Racing Triumph Spitfire. Group 4 was the first of the open-wheel cars, slotting Formula F, Formula Vee® and Formula 500 machines into a 46-car field. Jeremy Treadway, of Ticonderoga, N.Y., earned a 3.865-second overall win and the FF victory in the No. 12 Goodyear Swift DB6 over Arthur Foster and the No. 21 Hoosier Tire Van Diemen. Mike Brent, of Bethel, Conn., took the F500 title in the No. 47 QRE/Hoosier Tire Invader QC-1, while Roger Siebenaler, of North Hero, Vt., won in Formula Vee in his No. 7 Autowerks/Hoosier Tire Mysterian. Spec Racer Ford and Sports 2000 composed Group 5, with Matthew DiRenzo, of Medford, N.J., driving his No. 17 Goodyear/DiRenzo Racing JRE SR71F to the S2000 title. His 15.893-second margin of victory over Jim Hallman, of Fitchener, Ontario, was also good for the overall win. Jeffrey Lehner, of Ballston Spa, N.Y., led 32 SRF machines to the checkered flag in his No. 77 Johnstown Auto Parts Spec Racer Ford. The big-bore GT cars and the Super Touring® Over class combined for Group 6, where Kent, Ohios Amy Ruman drove her McNichols Co/Goodyear/Cenweld/Ruman Racing Chevrolet Corvette to a 6.647-second margin of victory, both overall and in the GT-1 class. Rumans closest competition was William Rozmajzl, of Bristol, Conn., in the No. 59 Slipclutch Racing Oldsmobile Cutlass. Jim Goughary, of Houston, won the GT-2 race in the No. 46 Red Line Oil Nissan 350Z, with James Burke, of Suwanee, Ga., winning GT-3 in the No. 3 PFM/Motion/Nissan/Redline Nissan. David Pintaric, of Canfield, Ohio, took the STO checkers in the No. 40 Ohio Technical College/WRP Investments/Hoosier Dodge Viper. Group 7 ended the weekend with some of the fastest classes in SCCA Club Racing. Jason Barfield, of Granville, Ohio, won overall and in D Sports Racing in the No. 76 Young Racing Stohr. Paul LeCain, of Sandown, N.H., won a Formula Atlantic battle in the no. 90 Hoosier Tires/Toyota Ralt RT-41, while Glen Cooper, of Roswell, Ga., won the Formula 1000 race in the No. 43 RFR/Hoosier Tire/Hell No Kitty RFR. The No. 8 Crestwood Metals Corp. Swift of William Goldkind, of Holbrook, N.Y., was the first C Sports Racing machine to cross the finish line, while Chrs Fahan, of Reading, Conn., took the checkers in Formula Continental in the No. 39 Fahan Paving/Goodyear/Valvoline VanDiemen RF99. The Formula Mazda and Formula Enterprises races were won by Joe Colasacco (No. 80 Star Mazda), of Greenwich, Conn., and Justin Huffman (No. 1 Jamison Formula Enterprises), of Herndon, Va., respectively. The races were the second of two races that weekend where drivers earned valuable points toward the Nation-wide and Divisional Championships in each of the SCCA Club Racing classes. Winning drivers on Sunday have now met the initial qualification toward the SCCA Super Sweep, which includes a key event win, a Divisional Championship, the Nation-wide Point Championship and the National Championship at the Runoffs all in the same class. The Glen weekend was the final opportunity for drivers to qualify for the Super Sweep. A list of Super Sweep event winners and current Nation-wide Point Standings are available at http://www.scca.com/contentpage.aspx?content=91.
