DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 26, 2014) – Andrew Aquilante, of Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, separated from the rest of the Touring 1 field and took the class win on Saturday at the SCCA Runoffs Presented by Garmin VIRB at Daytona International Speedway. Cameron Maugeri, of Ormond Beach, Florida, swapped places with Pratt Cole, of Salt Lake City, Utah, on the final lap to finish second and third, in that order.
Aquilante, piloting the No. 36 Phoenix Performance/Haw/Hoosier Ford Mustang Boss 302, sat on the Tire Rack pole and used that to his full advantage. He took the lead into Turn One and threw down solidly quick laps that allowed him to inch away from his pursuers. The win was Aquilante’s sixth at the Runoffs in 13 starts.
“Our start went to plan,” Aquilante said. “We pulled Mark Boden around for a couple laps, then he fell off. People say ‘You’re up by a couple seconds in qualifying, it’s not a big deal.’ But, the race is completely different. After Boden fell off, we could check that box off, then start the process of conservation to keep from burning the car down if there is a full-course yellow. The crew kept giving me a gap and you adjust what you do to make sure the car lasts.
“The nice thing about this track is that you can keep track by looking at the scoring pylon to see what the situation is. I was hoping the laps would click away more quickly, because you hear every little creak and moan the car makes.”
Maugeri drove his No. 06 BTI Motorsports Ford Mustang to second on the final lap. In his first trip to the Runoffs, he finished ahead of three former National Champion drivers.
“By the last lap, I wasn’t really thinking about Pratt ,” Maugeri said. “We had problems of our own. Something just didn’t feel right on the last lap and when we got to the pits, I found out we had a flat tire. Throughout the race, I was just trying to concentrate on my own race by keeping my head down and running fast laps.
“I saw Pratt starting to have issues and my car was becoming covered in oil. It was really making the track slippery and made it difficult to stay on track.”
On the final of 14 laps, the power steering system of the Cole’s No. 88 Western Metals suffered damage, spewing oil on the windshield headed into Turn One. The failure allowed Maugeri to make easy work of him headed into the bus stop chicane.
“I went across the start/finish line and into Turn One on the white-flag lap,” Cole said. “I unloaded the oil from my power steering pump onto my windshield. I’m not sure exactly what went on there, but I all I knew was that a bunch of oil flew up to block my view going into the turn. I had a really hard time seeing into the right-hand turns since it just covered that side so badly. Heading into the bus stop on that lap, Cameron brought it into the brake zone and I had nothing for him.
“We used our stuff up. We brought a 13-lap car to a 14-lap race. Other than that, the experience was a scream. I had never been to this track before and just had a ton of fun.”
Joseph Gaudette, in the No. 86 Over1G-Racing/Carbotech/Phoenix Chevrolet Corvette, finished fourth and also was the Sunoco Hard Charger after starting sixth.
Finishing fifth was Tim Myers in the No. 22 BFGoodrich Racing/Carbotech/ACI Worldwide/Hammer! Dodge Viper ACR-X.
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. - Results for Saturday’s SCCA Touring 1 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), Andrew Aquilante, Chester Springs, PA, Ford Mustang Boss 302, 14.
2, (3), Cameron Maugeri, Ormond Beach, FL, Ford Mustang, 14.
3, (4), Pratt Cole, Salt Lake City, UT, Ford Mustang, 14.
4, (6), Joseph Gaudette, Manassas, VA, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, 14.
5, (5), Tim Myers, Atlanta, GA, Dodge Viper ACR-X, 14.
6, (7), David Sanders, Upper Chichester, PA, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, 14.
7, (9), Scotty B White, Auburn, WA, Dodge Viper, 14.
8, (8), Alan Kossof, Prospect Heights, IL, BMW M3, 14.
9, (2), Mark Boden, Winnetka, IL, BMW M3 Coupe, 14.
10, (11), Joe Aquilante, Chester Springs, PA, Chevrolet Corvette C6 Coupe, 13.
11, (10), John R. Buttermore, Wolverine Lake, MI, Chevrolet Corvette, 14.
12, (12), Thomas Ellis, Sunrise, FL, Ford Mustang Boss 302, 14.
Overall Time of Race: 27:17.030
Average Race Speed: 109.603 mph
Margin of Victory: 7.771 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: Andrew Aquilante, 1:55.494 (110.967 mph)
Sunoco Hard Charger: #86 Joseph Gaudette
Lap Leaders: Laps 1-14, Andrew Aquilante
Image: Andrew Aquilante ran and hid from the rest of the Touring 1 field at the SCCA Runoffs Presented by Garmin VIRB at Daytona International Speedway.
Credit: Jay Bonvouloir
