TOPEKA, Kan. (Sept. 25, 2019) – The SCCA® U.S. Majors Tour® Southern Conference has concluded its 2019 calendar. More than 430 racers took part in the Southern Conference’s 12-round season that visited four different venues. Drivers who excelled have rightfully earned a Southern Conference championship.
Tyler Quance managed to gobble up two class championships in the Southern Conference this year. In Spec Miata, Quance came out on top by only nine points over Trevor McCallion in a field of 75 competitors. Then in Touring 4 (T4), Quance drove a Mazda MX-5 to the championship by earning 16 more points than the Mazda RX-8 of T4 runner-up Sergio Zlobin. It should also be noted that Mark Snyder earned his second championship of the year by claiming the Southern Conference’s Formula Enterprises (FE) title. His first FE championship, driving an SCCA FE Mazda, came earlier in the Mid-States Conference.
There were several Southern Conference championships decided this year by only a handful of points. The GT-3 championship actually ended in a tie as Gary Grantham, in a Datsun 240Z, and Chad Bacon, in a Toyota Celica, shared GT-3 top honors this year.
The battle in both Prototype classes was tight, too, in the Southern Conference. Darryl Shoff took the Prototype 1 victory by only two points over John McAleer, and William Munholland was a single point behind McAleer in third place -- with all three drivers piloting Elan DP02 racecars. Then in Prototype 2 it was Marvin Hodges and his Lola T 598 who bested second-place finisher Jack Donnellan and his Lola B07/90 by only eight points.
Five points was the winning margin in Spec Racer Ford Gen3 (SRF3), which had nearly 80 challengers this year. With six victories in the Conference, Denny Stripling earned the top SRF3 spot over Whitney Strickland. Then in Touring 1, six points was the difference as Colin Cohen and his Audi TTRS claimed the championship over the Ford Mustang of Paolo Salvatore. And the Touring 3 finish was just about as close with Stephen Jeu and his Honda Civic Si collecting seven more points than runner-up Glen Morris in a Porsche Boxster.
Rounding out the tight Conference battles was the Formula F class where Randy Acock, driving a Van Diemen RF98-Honda, emerged victorious over the Spectrum 014 Honda of Alex Trubey by only 10 points.
The Southern Conference began its season in late January with an event at Motorsport Ranch just southwest of Forth Worth in Cresson, Texas. The second stop on the Conference schedule was a Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. March then saw a second Hoosier Super Tour event at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit in Jennings, Oklahoma. Then it was back to Texas in May for Round 7 and Round 8 at MSR Houston, followed by another stop at Circuit of the Americas in June. The season then closed in late August back at MSR Houston.
Conference points are awarded to the top 20 finishers in each class. Winners earn 25 points, and 21 points go to second. Points are then doled out to others starting with 18 and descending to a single point for the 20th finisher. Only the best eight finishes at Southern Conference races count towards a driver’s point total. Below are Southern Conference Champions with Class: Name, Hometown, SCCA Region and Car.
-American Sedan®: Phillip Waters; Grand Prairie, TX; Texas Region; Chevrolet Camaro Z-28
-B-Spec: John Phillips; Sealy, TX; Houston Region; Mazda 2
-E Production: James Rogerson; Angleton, TX; Houston Region; BMW Z3
-F Production: Jon Stautberg; Sugarland, TX; Houston Region; Mazda Miata
-H Production: Christopher Salyer; Longview, TX; Houston Region; Honda Civic
-Formula 500: John W. Walbran; Saint Louis, MO; St. Louis Region; Scorpion 2006
-Formula 1000: James Michael; Fort Worth, TX; Texas Region; Stohr F1000
-Formula Atlantic®: Dave Zavelson; Austin, TX; Lone Star Region; Star Pro Formula Mazda
-Formula Continental®: Randall Smart; League City, TX; Houston Region; Van Diemen RF 97
-Formula Enterprises: Mark Snyder; Southlake, TX; Texas Region; SCCA FE Mazda
-Formula Enterprises 2: Robert Vanman; Allen, TX; Texas Region; SCCA FE2 Mazda
-Formula F: Randy Acock; Corpus Christi, TX; South Texas Border Region; Van Diemen RF98-Honda
-Formula Mazda: Karl Markey; Rosharon, TX; Houston Region; Star Formula Mazda
-Formula Vee®: Hunter Phelps-Barron; Longview, TX; Texas Region; Mysterian M4
-GT-1: David Fershtand; Fort Worth, TX; Texas Region; Chevrolet Corvette
-GT-2: Brad Gross; Grapevine TX; Texas Region; Chevrolet Camaro TA2
-GT-3 (tie): Chad Bacon; Mooresville, NC; North Carolina Region; Toyota Celica
Gary Grantham; Springfield, MO; Ozark Mountain Region; Datsun 240Z
-GT-Lite: Larry Svaton; Alvin, TX; Houston Region; Mazda Miata
-Prototype 1: Darryl Shoff; Reading, PA; Northeastern Pennsylvania Region; Elan DP02
-Prototype 2: Marvin Hodges; Brazoria TX; Houston Region; Lola T 598
-Spec Miata: Tyler Quance; Cypress, TX; Houston Region; Mazda Miata
-SRF3: Denny Stripling; McKinney, TX; Texas Region; Spec Racer Ford Gen3
-Super Touring® Lite: Jose Garcia; Nederland, TX; Houston Region; Mazda Miata
-Super Touring® Under: David Fiorelli; Coppell, TX; Texas Region; Subaru BRZ
-Touring 1: Colin Cohen; Southlake, TX; Lone Star Region; Audi TTRS
-Touring 2: James Smith; Friendswood, TX; Houston Region; Chevrolet Corvette
-Touring 3: Stephen Jeu; Houston, TX; Houston Region; Honda Civic Si
-Touring 4: Tyler Quance; Cypress, TX; Houston Region; Mazda MX-5
The U.S. Majors Tour is one pathway to the 2019 SCCA National Championship Runoffs® being held Oct. 8-13 at VIRginia International Raceway along the border of North Carolina and Virginia. U.S. Majors Tour drivers qualify for the Runoffs by participating in three U.S. Majors Tour weekends and starting at least three U.S. Majors Tour races in the same car class over the course of the season.
The Sports Car Club of America®, Inc., founded in 1944 and currently celebrating its 75th Diamond Anniversary, is a 67,500-member motorsports organization that incorporates all facets of autocross, rally and road racing at both Club and professional levels. With headquarters in Topeka, Kansas, the SCCA annually sanctions over 2,000 events through its 116 Regions and subsidiary divisions. Much of the SCCA’s activities are made possible with support from the following Official Partners: Hagerty, the Official Insurance Partner of SCCA; Hawk Performance, the Official Brake Products of SCCA; Sunoco, the Official Fuel of SCCA; and Tire Rack, the Official Tire Retailer of SCCA. To learn more, please visit www.scca.com.
Photo: Tyler Quance took two Southern Conf. class championships this year. One was in Spec Miata (pictured), and the other in Touring 4 driving a Mazda MX-5
Photo Credit: Jay Bonvouloir
