Hoosier Super Tour Opens Weekend at Willow Springs

Hoosier SCCA Super Tour Opens Weekend at Willow Springs International Raceway in Southern California

ROSAMOND, Calif. (March 11, 2017)Willow Springs International Raceway, sometimes referred to as the “Fastest Road in the West,” is the site this weekend for the Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour‘s first visit to the West Coast.  For many racers, this is the first time they have competed in a Hoosier Super Tour event, the SCCA’s premier Road Racing series.

Saturday’s action saw some very close racing and miraculous performances.  In the fourth race of the day, featuring Formula F and Formula Vee classes, drivers who finished at the front of the field had to fight for their wins.  In Formula F, it was Skip Streets in his No. 51 Hoosier/Bet On Black Racing/Ron Chuk Piper DFS that finished ahead of the pack, but just barely.

“I started out third and stayed there for a couple laps while running with a bunch of great guys,” Streets said while kneeling next to his racecar after the win.  “A couple guys spun off, but Denny Renfrow and I were neck-and-neck all the way to the end the last five laps.  We were having fun just inches apart from each other.  It was a super race.”

In Formula Vee, Mark Edwards emerged victorious in his No. 74 Red Line/Hoosier Glamdring after experiencing a setback in qualifying.

“I changed engines between qualifying and the race because the first engine didn’t make it, but the race engine ran fine,” Edwards said. “Stephen Saslow was ahead early on, but looked like he was starting to get loose five or six laps in. So, I caught up and passed him.  He was faster in a couple turns and I was better in a couple turns.  But, eventually, he ran out of fuel.  So, I had a big gap at the end!”

Spectators watching the Touring 1 race may have thought that Marc Hoover, in his No. 198 Hooverspeed/NRA/Necksgen/Redline Oil Mazda MX5 Miata, took an easy victory.  However, that was anything but the case.

“My car likes this track.  The greatest challenge is just to keep the tires under the car,” Hoover said after the race.  “But the car actually helped me out a little bit with that today.  It developed a misfire and then was dropping cylinders.  I kept having to reset the ECU from about the midpoint of the race until the end.  It made the race challenging to drive.”

A second day of Hoosier Super Tour competition from Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, California, begins Sunday at 11:20 a.m. local time with 35-minute or 50-mile races.  Follow all the action live at www.scca.com/live.

Below are provisional race results from Saturday’s Hoosier Super Tour at Willow Springs International Raceway with Class: Name, Hometown and Car.
-American Sedan®: Christopher Qualls; West Los Angeles, CA; Ford Mustang
-E Production: Bernardo Martinez; Redondo Beach, CA; Honda Prelude
-F Production: Joe Huffaker; Petaluma, CA; MG Midget
-H Production: Jason Isley; Coto de Caza, CA; Toyota Yaris
-Formula 1000: Gary Hickman; Santee, CA; Phoenix F1000
-Formula Atlantic®: Ed Lever; Bakersfield, CA; Swift 014a
-Formula Continental®: Mitch Egner; West Kelowna, BC; Van Diemen
-Formula Enterprise: Brandon Aleckson; Campbell, CA; Van Diemen FE
-Formula F: Skip Streets; San Clemente, CA; Piper DFS
-Formula Mazda: Mike Anderson; Anza, CA; Mazda Star Mazda
-Formula Vee®: Mark Edwards; Los Angeles, CA; Glamdring
-GT-1: Kenneth Davis; Escondido, CA; Chevrolet Corvette
-GT-2: Shane Lewis; Jupiter, FL; Chevrolet Camaro
-GT-3: Wolfgang Maike; Santa Barbara, CA; Toyota Paseo
-GT-Lite: Troy Ermish; Tracy, CA; Datsun 510
-Prototype 1: Jim Devenport; Modesto, CA; Norma M20FC
-Prototype 2: Tim Day Jr.; Scottsdale, AZ; Stohr WF1
-Spec Miata: Daniel Langon; Alamo, CA; Mazda Miata
-Spec Racer Ford 3: Jack Willes; Palm Desert, CA; Spec Racer Ford Gen3
-Spec Racer Ford: Mike Miserendino; Bakersfield, CA; Spec Racer Ford
-Super Touring® Lite: Robert Strohmeyer; Las Vegas, NV; Honda CRX HF
-Super Touring® Under: Ian Barberi; Pleasanton, CA; BMW M3
-Touring 1: Marc Hoover; Shingle Springs, CA; Mazda Miata MX5
-Touring 2: Christopher Qualls; West Los Angeles, CA; Ford Mustang
-Touring 3: Andrew Newell; Bellevue, WA; BMW 330CI
-Touring 4: Oscar Jackson; Chino, CA; Scion FR-S

Photo: Wolfgang Maike, Saturday’s GT-3 winner, takes his Toyota Paseo down the main straight at Willow Springs International Raceway during Hoosier Super Tour competition.

Photo Credit: SCCA Staff