SONOMA, Calif. (Oct. 20, 2018) -- There was no stopping Kristofer Olson, of Shingle Springs, California, Saturday on Sonoma Raceway’s 12-turn, 2.52-mile circuit as he immediately grabbed the lead and charged away to the Touring 1 (T1) win at the SCCA® National Championship Runoffs®. This was Olson’s first National Championship in only his second appearance at the Runoffs.

“It’s just joy. Happiness. A feeling of reward after all the hard work,” Olson said about the sensation of cruising to a win in the No. 49 Driving Ambition Acura NSX Turbo. “Have fun, be safe first … and everything will work out. And today, I got lucky.”

Pole-sitter Andrew Aquilante, in the No. 33 Phoenix/Hoosier/Hawk Chevrolet Corvette, was quickly eclipsed by Olson, who went on to establish a 13.950-second margin of victory.  But Aquilante drove hard to develop what ended up being a 32-second gap back to the third-place finisher.

“We knew what Olson’s speed was going to be, so the start was kind of a formality,” said multi-time Runoffs champion Aquilante after the race. “But this is a fun track and I was excited to come out here. That’s what I like about the Runoffs moving around to different tracks. You go to places you don’t get to go to all the time.”

Mark Boden, in the No. 47 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3, was solidly in third place most of the race. But on lap 17, he dropped out with car problems.  That moved Darrell Anderson, in the No. 50 Hoosier/AV8 Supercars Ford Mustang GT, up to the third and final podium spot.  But it wasn’t easy for Anderson as he spent the first 15 laps fending off Hugh Stewart, in the No. 23 Hi Speed Motorsports/Hoosier BMW M3, who was all over Anderson until a spin took him out of the race.

“It was awesome. Probably one of the better battles I’ve had in a long time,” Anderson said about racing with Stewart for his first-ever Runoffs podium finish. “It was everything I could do to keep him behind me. We were both sliding around. It was a lot of fun.”

Adrian Wlostowski, in the No. 96 F.A.S.TAuto/TitanCarbon/TitanBarrel Chevrolet Corvette, finished fourth. Fifth place went to the No. 41 GO 4 IT Racing Schools/Hoosier/Hawk Chevrolet Corvette driven by Michael Pettiford, who also won the Sunoco Hard Charger award for starting in the 12th position.

The 55th SCCA® National Championship Runoffs®, the Pinnacle of American Motorsports, crowns Sports Car Club of America’s Road Racing National Champions this year at Sonoma Raceway in California Friday, Oct. 19 through Sunday, Oct 21.

Live, online video coverage of Runoffs races, presented by Mazda, is available throughout the three days of competition at SCCA.com/live. An audio race call, supplied by the Super Tour Radio broadcast team, is also available at www.SCCA.com/live, as well as live timing and scoring for each National Championship race.

SONOMA, Calif. -- Provisional results for Saturday’s Touring 1 race at the 55th SCCA National Championship Runoffs from Sonoma Raceway, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car and laps completed.
1, (2), Kristofer Olson, Shingle Springs, CA, Acura NSX Turbo World Challenge, 20.
2, (1), Andrew Aquilante, Chester Springs, PA, Chevrolet Corvette, 20.
3, (5), Darrell Anderson, Petaluma, CA, Ford Mustang GT, 20.
4, (9), Adrian Wlostowski, Maspeth, NY, Chevrolet Corvette, 20.
5, (12), Michael Pettiford, Louisville, CO, Chevrolet Corvette, 20.
6, (6), Pratt Cole, Salt Lake City, UT, Ford Mustang, 20.
7, (10), James Candelaria, Hillsborough, NJ, Chevrolet Corvette, 20.
8, (8), Brad McCall, Boca Raton, FL, Porsche Cayman, 20.
9, (11), Joseph Gaudette, Manassas, VA, Chevrolet Corvette, 20.
10, (13), Igor Lyustin, San Francisco, CA, Acura NSX Turbo World Challenge, 19.
11, (14), Bill Collins, Saint Paul, MN, Chevrolet Corvette, 19.
12, (15), Dennis Moser, Dallas, TX, Porsche Cayman, 18.
13, (3), Mark Boden, Buffalo Grove, IL, BMW E92 M3, 16.
14, (7), Hugh Stewart, Milford, CT, BMW E46 M3, 14.
15, (16), Carl Fung, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, Chevrolet Corvette, 9.
16, (4), Charlie Hayes, Walnut Creek, CA, Mazda MX-5, 0.
DNS, (17), Mike Henderson, Alpine, CA, Dodge Viper ACR-X,  .

Length of Race: 50 Miles
Overall Time of Race: 34:36.097 (avg. 87.395 mph)
Margin of Victory: 13.950 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: 1:41.125 (89.711 mph)
Lap Leaders: #49 laps 1-20
Sunoco Hard Charger: #41 Michael Pettiford

Image: There was no stopping Kristofer Olson who marched to a Touring 1 win at the Runoffs

Credit: ZoomPics.com