DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 25, 2015) – Philip Royle, of Winnetka, Calif., led every lap to win the T4 race at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB in the No. 09 Honda/BFGoodrich/HMS/Lucas Oil Honda Civic Si. Lance Stewart, of Coconut Grove, Fla., finished second in the No. 77 Hoosier/Mazda/Hawk/Summit Mazda RX-8 and Michael Tsay, of Irvine, Calif., was third in the No. 21 Honda Performance Development/THR-W Honda Civic Si.
Royle won in a Honda Civic Si that was making its first race start but he and the team didn’t let some new-car teething issues stop them from victory.
“I had about everything that could tell me what I am doing in the car fail,” Royle said. “My data system turned off and I was using my phone to read live timing, and then that went off. Then, on the last lap, my left front tire gave up. These BFGoodrich tires are great, but abusing them with a front-wheel drive car at 3,000 lbs. for 14 laps, the front left gave up and with one lap to go I was seriously wondering if I was going to make it.”
Royle won his first National Championship from the Tire Rack Pole and crossed the finish line with a 5.663 second margin of victory. Stewart, who won a National Championship in 1986, finished second for the third time in his last four appearances at the SCCA Runoffs.
“We had a great car, we gave it all we had but it just wasn’t enough,” Stewart said. The last few years I feel like I am Mr. Second Place. I have second place down really well! It is a great feeling to come to the Runoffs, this is our World Series, and I won it my first time out back in 1986. I really wanted to do it here too but we came up just a little short.”
Tsay avoided an opening lap skirmish in Turn 1 to improve from sixth on the grid for the third place finish.
“We were three across at the start,” Tsay said. “I got bumped in the rear in Turn 1, the tail slid out and I thought I was done but I just kept my foot in it and merged back in to traffic. It was a tough run trying to catch up with Lance but he had just a little bit more.”
Four different manufacturers were represented in the T4 top five.
Michael Scornavacchi, of Matthews, N.C., finished fourth in the No. 25 Angry Sheep Motorsports/Hoosier Ford Mustang and Toby Grahovec, of Little Elm, Texas, completed the top five in the No. 24 Classic BMW/Hoosier/Carbotech BMW Z4.
The 52nd SCCA National Championship Runoffs®, The Pinnacle of American Motorsports, will crown Sports Car Club of America’s Club Racing National Champions at Daytona International Speedway, Friday, September 25 through Sunday, September 27.
The live broadcast of all 27 National Championship races is available live at SCCA.com, along with live timing and notes. Each race will be on demand at a later date.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Provisional results for Friday’s SCCA T4 National Championship at the 52nd SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB at Daytona International Speedway, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car and laps complete.
1, (1), Philip Royle, Winnetka, CA, Honda Civic SI, 14.
2, (3), Lance Stewart, Coconut Grove, FL, Mazda RX-8, 14.
3, (6), Michael Tsay, Irvine, CA, Honda Civic SI, 14.
4, (2), Michael Scornavacchi, Matthews, NC, Ford Mustang, 14.
5, (4), Toby Grahovec, Little Elm, TX, BMW Z4 2.5I, 14.
6, (7), Tom Wickersham, San Ramon, CA, Mazda RX-8, 14.
7, (5), Tim Myers, Atlanta, GA, Mazda RX-8, 14.
8, (8), Ralph Porter, Kokomo, IN, BMW Z4, 14.
9, (9), Don Knowles, Pittsboro, NC, Pontiac Firebird, 14.
10, (12), Jared Lendrum, Queensbury, NY, Subaru BRZ, 14.
11, (11), Scotty B White, Auburn, WA, Ford Mustang V6, 14.
12, (16), Andrew Charbonneau, Delray Beach, FL, Ford Mustang, 14.
13, (10), Stan Czacki, Truth Or Consequences, NM, Acura RSX Type-S, 14.
14, (17), Steve Strickland, Marion, VA, Mazda Mazda MX5, 14.
15, (15), Derrick Ambrose, Vancouver, WA, Mazda 3 4-Door, 14.
16, (19), Joseph Cooley, Durham, NC, Mazda MX-5, 14.
17, (18), Bob Demers, Dover, NH, Pontiac Solstice, 14.
18, (21), Thomas Aquilante, Phoenixville, PA, Chevrolet Camaro, 14.
19, (22), Tracy Geiger, Viera, FL, Honda Civic Si Coupe, 13.
20, (14), James Place, San Antonio, TX, Acura Integra GS-R, 2.
21, (20), Stephen Lewis, Wilbraham, MA, Ford Mustang, 0.
DNS, (13), Alex Bolanos, Miami, FL, Ford Mustang Coupe
Length of Race: 50 miles
Overall Time of Race: 32:04.654
Average Speed: 93.224 mph
Margin of Victory: 5.663 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: No. 09 Royle - 2:15.994 (94.239 mph)
Lap Leaders: No. 09 Royle 1 -14
Sunoco Hard Charger: No. 69 Andrew Charbonneau
Image: Philip Royal celebrates his first SCCA National Championship
Credit: Jay Bonvouloir
