It was a fine Mother’s Day in the Northwest for mums who love motorsport as the Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour (HST) wrapped up action at Portland International Raceway (PIR) during a May 10-11, 2025, weekend hosted by SCCA’s Oregon Region.
Under cloudy skies, on-track activities began Sunday morning with 15-minute qualifying for each of the six run groups. Light precipitation early made things a bit treacherous in opening rounds of qualifying, but conditions remained mostly dry for 35-minute or 25-lap contests conducted on the 12-turn, 1.977-mile circuit in the park where PIR is found.
Temperatures were cooler than Saturday as the thermometer only reached the upper 50-degree range with slight wind gusts every now and again. So, the day’s schedule was executed with ease at the seventh of 10 HST stops contained within this year’s calendar. Plenty of trophies were handed out to skilled racecar drivers, as well as commemorative bottles of Mazza Vineyards sparkling wine.
Dakar Dude
The short trip to Portland from San Francisco must have been a breeze for Taz Harvey, 63, considering the extraordinary feat he undertook earlier this year. That’s because Harvey ventured to compete in his first Dakar Rally back in January.
“Participating in the Dakar Classic takes an incredible amount of patience, especially when dealing with the logistical challenges of racing in Saudi Arabia,” Harvey wrote in a social media post. “From getting the car from the port to the starting point, navigating a road system with very different rules compared to the Western world, and adjusting to an 11-hour time difference, every step required focus and adaptability.”
Driving the No. 742 Montana Racing/Technosport diesel Nissan Terrano, which is referred to as a Pathfinder in the U.S., Harvey and navigator Mike Krynock tackled challenging conditions that included constant wind and sandstorms. But compared to Baja or Arizona, Harvey said the trail through Saudi Arabia felt relatively smooth and wasn’t overly technical.
“The speeds weren’t particularly high either,” Harvey noted on social media. “The fastest I went in the race car off-road was around 60 to 70 mph.
“The dune sections were the most difficult for us,” he continued. “Tackling sand dunes requires serious horsepower, and without it, both the car and the crew were under immense stress. Ultimately, pushing too hard in the dunes led to our crash and early exit.”
It was Stage 8 when Harvey successfully climbed another dune, but the Nissan then nosed hard into the sand on the other side. Both driver and navigator were ultimately OK, although sore for a few days afterwards. Still, their Dakar adventure had come to an end.
“From a handling and suspension perspective, the car performed exceptionally well,” Harvey wrote. “We fine-tuned it to the point where it was solid, comfortable, and easy to drive. In terms of reliability, the car was great and could have finished the race without mechanical issues if not for the crash.”
There were no dunes to climb this weekend at PIR as Harvey scored victory Saturday in GT3U driving the No. 88 Harvey Auto Group Honda Civic TCR car. He reappeared Sunday atop the podium, but this time in GT-1 driving the No. 43 Harvey Auto Group/Hoosier Acura NSX GT3 Evo 22 machine.
One Tough Mazda
Almost exactly one year ago, Super Touring Lite (STL) driver Ryan Gutile had an inauspicious start to his HST weekend at PIR. Early in that event, he was on track and coming through the Turn 4/Turn 5 complex when his No. 116 FlyinRyan Motorsports Mazda MX-5 went a little off track. The damp grass caused a leisurely rotation of the car, which then went backwards into the tire wall.
The fun wasn’t over, however, as the car’s rear climbed the wall. A guttural howl of “no, no, no!” could be heard from the driver as the vehicle he built in 2023 slowly tipped over on its roof. While certainly annoying, the mishap didn’t slow him down one bit. The member of SCCA’s San Francisco Region, who runs his own prep shop, was back on track later that day to compete in both STL and Spec MX-5 competitions.
Fast forward to fall 2024 and Gutile was at Road America for SCCA’s National Championship Runoffs®. During a test day, he was coming through The Kink when his car left the circuit. That removed the right-front suspension from the racecar and caused a loss of brakes. Unable to stop, the vehicle headed back out on track where it made contact with another competitor.
“That pretty much totaled my car from the firewall forward,” Gutile said. It also removed any hope he had of racing at last year’s Runoffs.
Turned out the car wasn’t totaled. In fact, Gutile was already home and making repairs before the 2024 Runoffs were even over. The work continued all winter, but he was all set to hit the track in spring when it was time for the 2025 season to begin.
Rebuilt and ready to go, Gutile took a STL victory during HST’s February visit to The Circuit at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in California. He backed up that performance with a weekend sweep in STL during April’s HST visit to Hallett Motor Racing Circuit in Oklahoma.
Gutile’s STL outcomes at PIR this weekend were a little less fantastic. He finished seventh Saturday in a race won by Jon Davies driving the No. 67 Columbia River Insurance Mazda Miata. He improved to fifth Sunday in the STL contest won by Roldan de Guzman in the No. 9 OspreyWest-Troglotech/G-Loc Brakes/Hoosier/TRD/Team Hayai Scion FR-S.
Gutile’s results, however, will not hamper his drive to succeed. “I will work until I can say I am best in one of the toughest classes,” the 52-year-old Gutile stated with gusto.
PIR’s Formula Vee Show
As many know, 2025 HST series changes meant only a few stops on this season’s schedule would be able to host a run group specifically for Formula 600, Formula F and Formula Vee (FV) cars. Those weekends included February’s visit to The Circuit at Buttonwillow Raceway Park, the upcoming WeatherTech Chicago Region June Sprints®, and this weekend’s PIR party.
The FV field made the most of its HST appearance in Oregon with two knockout races. Saturday’s contest was won by Quinn Posner in the No. 9 Posner Law Office/PC Protoform P3 car, but only 0.102sec behind in a Protoform P4 was Gavin Sweeney. Posner also got the victory Sunday after Sweeney had troubles and spun on a track that was damp at times.
Standing on the top step of Sunday’s victory podium, Posner seemed shocked to learn he’s won the last six FV races at PIR, having now swept three straight HST weekends at the track.
“I grew up around this track,” Posner noted about PIR. “My dad started racing Vees in ’82 and I’ve been around this track ever since. I’ve been racing here since ’92 and have a lot of experience.”
While it sounds like Posner doesn’t plan to be at this year’s June Sprints where FV will again run an HST event, he does plan to be in Wisconsin and at Road America this fall for the 2025 SCCA National Championship Runoffs.
Sunday Race Winners
Below are provisional race winners from Sunday’s Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour at Portland International Raceway. Each entry includes Car Class: Driver Name, SCCA Region, and Car. An asterisk (*) denotes drivers with a weekend sweep in the class.
*B-Spec: Derrick Ambrose, Oregon Region, Mazda 2
*E Production: Austin Bradshaw, Oregon Region, Mazda RX-7
*F Production: Michael Lewis, Cal Club, Mazda RX-7
*H Production: Bill Okell, Oregon Region/San Francisco Region, MG Midget
*Formula Enterprises® 2: Caleb Shrader, Oregon Region, SCCA Enterprises FE2 Mazda
*Formula F: Patrick Tritico, Oregon Region, Honda Crossle 30F
*Formula Vee®: Quinn Posner, Northwest Region, Protoform P3
GT-1: Taz Harvey, San Francisco Region, Acura NSX GT 3 Evo 22
*GT-2: Brad McAllister, Oregon Region, Ford Mustang
GT3U: Tony Rivera, San Diego Region, Mazda RX-3
*Spec MX-5: Ethan Lampe, San Francisco Region, Mazda MX-5
Spec Racer® Ford Gen3: Caleb Shrader, Oregon Region, SCCA Enterprises SRF3
Super Touring® Lite: Roldan de Guzman, Northwest Region, Scion FR-S
Super Touring® Under: Cameron Wagner, Oregon Region, Porsche Boxster
*Touring 1: Pratt Cole, Central Florida Region, Ford Mustang GT/CS
*Touring 2: Scotty B White, Northwest Region, Ford Mustang
Touring 3: Chris Hart, Northwest Region, Nissan 370Z
*Touring 4: Oscar Jackson, Cal Club Region, Mazda Miata
No Break Before Mid-Ohio
HST’s Bravo Trailer is already packed up and heading east. That’s because there’s no break in the action as the series continues in just a few days from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course found between Columbus and Cleveland.
The eighth event on the 2025 calendar, SCCA’s Ohio Valley Region hosts this particular meetup taking place May 16-18, 2025, on Mid-Ohio’s 2.4-mile Club circuit with 15 turns. The venue has an extraordinary connection with SCCA, and spectators are welcome at a price of only $10 per person.
If you can’t be at Mid-Ohio, be sure not to miss any of the developments thanks to HST’s multi-camera, online video broadcast produced by DriversEye Live. Tune in and see it all happen in real time through SCCA’s YouTube page, with commentary provided by Gregg Ginsberg and Brian Bielanski.
Before then, feel free to reminisce about the PIR weekend with on-demand video playback of races at the SCCA YouTube channel. Also find Sunday victory podium celebration videos for the next 30 days at the SCCA Road Racing Facebook page.
Photo: There were no dunes at PIR to slow Taz Harvey from winning HST’s GT-1 contest Sunday.
Photo by Doug Berger
