The 2017 Road to Lincoln has started at the Dixie Champ Tour in Adel, Georgia. The day started off chilly, but reached comfortable temperatures in the high 70s in the afternoon.
First heat brought the first appearance of the Ladies Heat. Linda Duncan (DSL) ran flying second and third runs to take the lead after Day One over Laura Johnson (BSL) by .8, then Cindy Duncan (FSL) just .6 back. Laraine Wilkinson (ASL) follows just a tenth behind, making the premier of the Ladies Heat an exciting battle.
Heat one also contained C Street, bringing some of the closest racing of the weekend. In the 11-car class, six cars sit within 1 second of the lead. Mike Lawson currently leads in his FR-S, but he’s closely followed by Chris Sparks (RX-8), Randall Prince (FR-S), and GH Sharp (MX-5) to finish out the trophy positions. This will be one to watch early in the morning.
When heat two hit the course, we saw the first round of cars bumping to higher classes in the hope of earning some contingency. In D Modified, Steven Duckworth and Geoffrey Zimmer pushed their FSP “Lamborbunni” to first and second after day one. They were easily outrun by the Lotus Super 7 Replica of David Ball and Jeep of Paul Wright, but dirty runs by both handed the lead to the underpowered Rabbit.
Meanwhile, in E Street, Eric Peterson laid down a flying run on his first attempt to take the lead, but was unable to follow it up cleanly. Jonathan Roberts and Trevor Renson follow closely thanks to fast third runs.
The three trophy positions in D Street Prepared currently sit in the top 15 in overall PAX. John Vitamvas currently leads by .209 over Michael Kuhn, then .757 over Shelly Monfort. The nature of Sunday’s course could make all the difference between the pair of BMW pilots and the RX-8.
Super Street Modified brought a traditional sight: Matthew Glagola and Randall Wilcox fighting tooth and nail for the lead. After Day One, Glagola leads by .247, but this is another class where a different type of course could make a huge difference in final results.
The battle in Street Touring Roadster caught the attention of grid as David Marcus and Ricky Crow handed the lead back and forth between runs. Crow took the early lead, but Marcus reclaimed it on second runs. When third runs came, Crow ran first, setting his fastest time and lowering the mark by .600. Two cars later, Marcus bested his time, taking the lead by just .085. There’s no telling how this battle will end after Sunday!
Steve Hoelscher probably thought his attempt at a D Prepared win would be a cakewalk. Michael Kiline and Danny Kao bumped their C Street Prepared Miata, yet are giving him a run for his money. Hoelscher leads Kline by .092, with Kao just .723 back. These Miata drivers are going to make the MR2 earn the win.
In the Tune-In, we talked about the Waymire-Thomas battle in F Prepared. It turns out that Thomas may be working through some mechanical issues, causing him to follow 1.581 seconds behind Waymire. Thomas is fighting an uphill battle if he wants to surpass the PAX-leading Waymire.
Finally, in Super Street R, we see the return of the perennial battle between Sam Strano and Matthew Braun. Strano started with a dirty run what would have cleanly set the time to beat. On run two, he cleaned it up and found almost another second. Braun followed just .401 back. Both were dirty on their third runs, failing to improve. They have nearly a one second lead on the third position.
Follow along with the Dixie Champ Tour tomorrow at sololive.scca.com.
