DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 26, 2015) – Michael Varacins, of Burlington, Wisconsin, charged from fifth to first in his No. 65 Speed Sport Engineering/Veetech Speed Sport AM-5 on the last lap to win the Formula Vee National Championship Saturday in the SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB at Daytona International Speedway. Andrew Whitston, of Neenah, Wisconsin, finished second and Richard Shields, of Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, finished third.
Varacins led the most race laps and appeared to be the driver to beat until his competitors hooked up in a draft and swarmed him coming down to the white flag. He was shuffled back to fifth as the last lap started but stayed in the thick of the battle until the checkered flag.
“I certainly didn’t want them anywhere around me but I didn’t have much of a choice,” Varacins said. “I just went out and ran every lap like a qualifying lap because I knew we were pretty quick in the infield. I was hoping if I could open a little gap every lap in the infield I might have a chance to control my own destiny when I came down to the checkered flag.”
Instead, Varacins, who led 11 of the race’s 14 laps, began the final lap in his lowest running position of the race.
“Andy jumped out into the lead and I got shuffled back pretty far to fifth,” said Varacins, who won his fourth career National Championship and third in the last four seasons. “I forced my way through a few guys because I knew Andy was pretty quick and I didn’t want to end up more than one or two cars behind him. On the last lap I just kept forcing my way by people to make sure I wasn’t any further back than that and it all just worked out. Andy gave me a nice little draft coming down to the checkered and without that I probably wouldn’t have won it. I owe him a big thanks for that.”
The only lap Whitson led in his No. 12 Rocket Motors/Subway Protoform P2 was the white flag lap.
“I played it pretty conservative early on,” Whitston said. “I knew we were going to mix it up, so I just tried to conserve the car and save it to the end. I thought there was two laps to go when I took the lead and all of a sudden I saw the white flag and I thought I was in deep trouble. Luckily, everybody decided they wanted to pass me back going into the Bus Stop and I had a great run coming out of there. It was a great spot to be, I had a great finish and I am very happy.”
Shields had his No. 77 ARS Inc/VeeSportRacing/Autowerks VDF 2 in second behind Varacins for most of the race and closed in to draft with him in the last two laps.
“I thought if I got up and drafted behind Mike we could pull away from the other group but it actually may have hurt us more than it helped us,” Shields. “They caught us fairly quick, but it was a great race and an exciting race. I didn’t know it was the checkered flag until I saw Mike waving at everybody. I looked up on the board and saw I finished third, so I was happy. Not as happy as I should have been, but pretty happy.”
The margin of victory was a scant .058 of a second and the top five crossed the line in a tight group split by just .152 of a second. Charles Hearn, of Houston, Texas, finished fourth in the No. 37 Noble Racing/Hoosier Tires Vortech FV and Mitchell Ferguson, of Salem, Virginia, completed the top five in the No. 52 Vorscha.com Vorscha GB5. Ferguson, who started 18th, also earned the Sunoco Hard Charger award for improving the most race positions.
A contact incident on lap six eliminated two of the race’s top competitors and early leaders. Tire Rack Pole-winning driver Roger Siebenaler, of North Hero., Vermont, and Stevan Davis, of Danielsville, Georgia, were uninjured when they came together in Turn 1 but their cars were not able to continue.
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. (September 26, 2015) – Provisional results for Saturday’s Formula Vee race 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, (2), Michael Varacins, Burlington, WI, Speed Sport AM-5, 14.
2, (4), Andrew Whitston, Neenah, WI, Protoform P2, 14.
3, (5), Richard Shields, Bridgeville, PA, VDF VDF-2, 14.
4, (10), Charles Hearn, Houston, TX, Vortech Vortech FV, 14.
5, (18), Mitchell Ferguson, Salem, VA, Vorscha GB5, 14.
6, (8), Gary Kittell, Tully, NY, Caracal D/SB, 14.
7, (13), Alex Scaler, Flemington, NJ, Mysterian CM2, 14.
8, (3), Ron Whitston, Neenah, WI, Protoform P2, 14.
9, (12), Tyler Hunter, Denver, CO, Vortech FV, 14.
10, (15), Andrew Abbott, Livonia, MI, Vector AM-1, 14.
11, (16), Mark Edwards, Los Angeles, CA, Other Glamdring, 14.
12, (9), Laura Hayes, Fletcher, NC, Protoform P2, 14.
13, (19), Andrew Pastore, Watertown, MA, Womer EV3, 14.
14, (6), Jonathan Weisheit, Baltimore, MD, JK Technologies LLC XP1, 14.
15, (17), Sherman Engler, Adger, AL, Protoform 94v, 14.
16, (25), Charles Turner, Mission Viejo, CA, Vortech 1, 14.
17, (21), Russell Fredericks, Northport, NY, Caracal Caracal D, 14.
18, (23), Lisa Noble, Topeka, KS, Vortech Vortech FV, 14.
19, (20), Russell Stalvey, Jacksonville, FL, Caracal Caracal D, 14.
20, (26), Mark Felsen, Denver, CO, Vortech FV, 14.
21, (24), Anthony Henderson, Soddy Daisy, TN, Caracal Caracal C, 14.
22, (30), Harry Schneider, Cape Coral, FL, Adams Aero, 14.
23, (29), Peter Cheamitru, New Port Richey, FL, Lynx Lynx B / Splinkie, 14.
24, (14), Guy Bellingham, Brantford, ON, BRD AFV01, 11.
25, (11), Donnie Isley, Fletcher, NC, Agitator 16, 10.
26, (28), Duke Waldrop, Winter Haven, FL, Protoform P2, 9.
27, (22), John Fuchs, Inglis, FL, Caracal Caracal D, 6.
28, (27), Justin Willbanks, San Antonio, TX, 6.
29, (1), Roger Siebenaler, North Hero, VT, Mysterian M2, 5.
30, (7), Stevan Davis, Danielsville, GA, Wedge SB-1, 5.
Length of Race: 50 miles
Overall Time of Race: 39:49.478
Average Speed: 81.207 mph
Margin of Victory: .058 of a second
Fastest Race Lap: No. 12 Whitston and No. 37 Hearn, 2:21.142 (90.802 mph)
Lap Leaders: No. 72, laps 1 - 2; No. 65, laps 3 -12, 14; No. 12 lap 13
Sunoco Hard Charger: No. 52 Mitchell Ferguson
Image: No. 65 Michael Varacins made a last lap pass to win the Formula Vee race and his fourth National Championship in the SCCA Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday.
Credit: Mark Weber
