GoRacingTV’s Daily News Show from the 46th annual SCCA Runoffs News coverage is courtesy of Honda HPD. Day 2
T3 Class Driver Quotes
Chad Gilsinger – First Place
“I was in race last year as a B car, so this was my first real shot at this. I wasn’t expecting the Nissan [of Bill Steinhoff] to go buy as quick as it did, at the start. I tried to stay with them, and I knew I needed to be patient and wait through the weather. It feels good to get this win.”
Kevin Fandozzi – Second Place
This year was a similar story to last year, the Cobalts seem to race better than they qualify. When it started to rain it helped us a little bit, but I knew from last year the rain could quit. This year, I just tried to put down as many hard laps as possible. When Chad got by me I was looking at my teammate who was off in carousel and those guys came by me. The two of them did a great job, it just meant I needed to be better.
Sage Marie – Third Place
It was a lot like last year. I put my car in the power band anticipating the green, but still got swallowed up by those big high powered cars. The conditions were pretty dicey, it was raining then drying with lots of varying conditions. Certainly the STU cars were certainly a factor, but the BFG tires were great. This is my second runoffs, and my first podium. Starting out on pole, I had high hopes, but this is great.
Great that Honda has been great letting us get involved with this racing – Take us thru the last part of the race Kevin got by me then STU car kept getting in mix – hard for me to get around -they were faster in carousel and kink so only place I could get around him was in Canada Corner.
STU Class Driver Quotes
Richard Cullen – First Place
I know Joel’s a heck of a driver, so I assumed he had a mechanical. Then when I saw the gap, I got a little too full of myself and slowed down too much.
The track was really iffy. It wasn’t dry, it wasn’t wet, and the dry line wasn’t for me. I thought [Weinberger] was out of the race and then I saw him in my mirrors, so I picked it up. I searched all over the track for the best line for me.
He got by me going into Turn Three, which is typically a second-gear turn for me, but it was slippery. He came by, and I knew he had it, so I let him have it. Then, I had the draft and I actually came up from three of four lengths back and had a run on him. I didn’t show the pop out until the end. I was able to make the braking stick, which was the hard part, and was able to get by him.
Joel Weinberger – Second Place
I was going to try and make the move going into Three. I was setting up to get on the power early and come down the inside. The car moved over a little defensively and then right before the apex, I came back across. The car just got a little squirrely and looped around. Fortunately, I was able to keep it somewhat on the track, stick it in gear and keep going.
Phil Parlato – Third Place
There was a little bobble on the part of the Audi at the start of the race and I was able to get by him. Then, I tried to chase down the Acura into Turn One. I saw him bobble in Turn One. I thought I could make a run on him, but the track was too slippery and I went off for a moment. I was able to gather it back up and get going.
F500 Class Driver Quotes
Patrick Gallagher – First Place
“He [Mueller] raced me clean and I have to give him props for that. I wanted to be in second the entire race and just wait until those last couple of laps. As the race went on, I knew that I could pass him coming out of [Turn] 14. I’d been doing it all race long. I tried to see if I could do it before the stripe and what I had to do to get it done there just in case he was leading into 14. He took the lead in 12 and then I got him underneath and came through 13 in the lead. When I came out of 14, I was waiting for him to pop out of the draft, but it did not happen.”
“[Winning a National Championship] this means everything to me. Since I’ve been alive, I think I’ve only missed one or two Runoffs. It is absolutely incredible.”
Mike Mueller – Second Place
“Patrick and I’s cars were very equal. The corner that either one of us had an advantage over the other was he was getting out of [Turn] 14 a little bit better than I was. So, I knew if I was going to get to the front on the last lap I had to do it before the front straightaway. I made the move in Turn 12 [for the lead]. And, he did a good job of back passing me out of the corner and took the lead back. With the draft, we could pass each other rather easily.”
“It was fun race. We gave each other a lot of room. I respect his [Gallagher’s] ability. He earned it.”
David Lapham – Third Place
“It was quite exciting in the middle part of the race racing my teammate Mike Brent. We had some good dices back-and-forth. I think we had some attrition in front of us, which allowed us to finish third.”
“It [the race and the windy conditions] was quite exciting for me and it was actually really much more exciting for Mike Brent right in front of me. We went through the kink and he was about 10 car lengths in front of me. A [wind] gust picked him up at the exit of the kink and moved him out to the grass, and it moved me over, but I was able to go through it. There were quite a few times where we’d get blown [around] at the wrong moment.”
GT-Lite Class
Peter Shadowen – First Place
(Thoughts on Dentici’s pass attempt in The Kink)
The first thing I thought was ‘I hope we both make it,’ but he’s a former National Champion and I’ve seen this guy race before. If there was anyone I’d feel comfortable doing that with, it’d be one of these guys up here (on the podium) with me today. That was sight. A lot of adrenaline there at the end.
On the start, I got passed by a couple cars. I certainly didn’t have a drag race into Turn One. The car on the Goodyear tires was perfect. It was a little loose, but that’s the way I like it. Everything went well for us. We had a rough start early in the week and in the test days. We lost our Runoffs motor on the first test day. We had to piece together something with other year’s Runoffs motor and this year’s motor and it turned out to be an excellent package and everything was just right for this race.
Jim Dentici – Second Place
The start was going to be interesting and we knew that. I was happier being inside the second row, rather than the outside of the front row where Chris [Bovis] was. We just figured that we could go two abreast through Turn One and everyone gave each other room. We didn’t give each other a lot of room, but we gave each other enough room to run.
The first part of the race was a lot of back-and-forth between Chris, Peter and me. I was looking in my mirrors and Kent was there. I said, ‘we’ve got to get out of here!’ You don’t want Kent coming up behind you!
It’s too bad that Chris had an overheating problem.
We just settled down and tried to catch back up to Peter and put some pressure on him. When Chris dropped out, I just figured I’d put as much pressure on him as I can. I got by him once and he got by me again. I finally called the guys in the pits and asked them how many laps we had left. They told me ‘you’re working 12 and you’re going to be on the last lap,’ so I figured I better do something.
I got a pretty good run on him coming out of Eight coming through the Carousel and I actually pulled up next to him coming into The Kink, which is always interesting. Each of us just breathed off a little bit and he took the spot into 12. I got a little run coming out of Turn 14, because I changed the line a little bit. I thought I’d get a run on him and I finished right next to his door.
Obviously, I’m disappointed that I didn’t win, but we had an absolutely great race and a great week. To run a race like that; 13 laps, nose-to-tail, with two or three guys. It was a really great race.
Kent Prather – Third Place
The race went really well. I was right up on those guys and then it looked like they started to get away from me a bit. (Guy behind me) started passing me in Canada Corner and slowed us up, so then I decided I needed to do something to get away from him. Once I got away from him, I was able to try and catch up. Then, all of a sudden water temperature when way up. Apparently I had some leaves in the grill. From that point on, it was just don’t make any mistakes and get on the podium.
Spec Miata Class
Andrew Charbonneau – First Place
Running in this class is the best. Running mirror-to-mirror is isn’t unusual.
The first four or five laps you’re wondering who’s going to come plowing through and how you’re going to get to the front so you don’t get caught in the back. You have that anxiety. That said, everybody did a good job not piling on top of each other.
We got into the oil in Turn Five and I was already deep braking, because I was a little farther back. I literally slid off, onto the rumble strips. At that point, I just focused on hitting my marks and I had really good speed through the Kink. I think that’s where I was picking it up on both of these guys (Gorriaran and Coello). I just had to stay in it.
With only a couple laps to go, there’s going to be guys making moves they shouldn’t be making. I knew I either needed to be up front or second on the last lap to have a shot. I made a couple moves that helped me get in front of Steve and Steve was gracious enough to let me keep it. I appreciate that. That’s great racing. He knew he was going to have a shot at me in Canada Corner and we went side-by-side through there also.
Steve Gorriran – Second Place
Any of us could have won and that’s what makes Spec Miata racing exciting.
I’ve been racing these things for a while and I think it’s better, like Tony said, if you can break away. With the three of us, it just seemed like we kept going back and forth and part of that was my fault. The car, going into Five, kept cutting out. It’s an electrical problem we’ve been having all week. Andrew would go by me and then Tony would go by me. So, part of that was my fault, that we couldn’t just get in line and get away from everybody. Had we, I think we could have checked out easily. That would have been the smart way to run it.
Tony Coello – Third Place
First of all, my car was perfect the whole way from the beginning to the restarts. My family does a great job as a group getting the car ready. I came back from Formula Ford to race Spec Miata because Mazda does a great job with their support program. It doesn’t get much better than this-being able to race with 60-something cars and really go at it.
All three of us were really close. No one had a big advantage on the straights or anything. All three of us ran similar line and we were all really close. For whatever reason we lost Jim Drago and at one point Steve and I were able to build a little bit of a gap. Someone put a lot of oil down in Turn Five and we had to go through there really careful. We got through that and then the three of us got back together again. We were swapping positions all over the place, but I don’t think anyone hit anybody really.
E Production Class
Jon Brakke – First Place
“As I thought, Greg [Ira] got me at the start. But, I didn’t see this one [Downey] coming, though I was not surprised. The Miata just doesn’t have quite the good pulling power that the RX-3 and the Nissan do. Then, it was a matter of running my own race. The Miata’s forte is handling. From corner five to the last corner is where the Miata shines. I thought if I could get ahead, so that there was no fighting in the corners, we would be able to show the kind of times that we turned in qualifying. Then, the throttle stuck open.”
“I don’t think this [win] is any more meaningful [than his first SCCA National Championship win], nor any less meaningful. SCCA is a great organization, with great drivers. It’s a privilege [to win].”
Greg Ira – Second Place
“My car seems to be fast right from the start, with minimum warmup. I tried to go with the fastest pace I could. Aaron [Downey] and Jon [Brakke] were mixing it up a bit. I think a led by about three seconds. I put my head down and did not even look in my mirrors. That [the win] is something I might have pulled off had the race stayed green.”
“I had an idea of what I wanted to do on the restart, which did not work at all. [I planned] sort of a NASCAR-type start where you might go a little bit before you see the green. He [the starter] really held it for a long time. Jon had a good run and so did Aaron. They both passed me going into [Turn] One. So, that didn’t work. But, once Jon got warmed up, I baked my car trying to keep the same interval and that really didn’t work.”
Aaron Downey – Third Place
“I kind of set a strategy for myself. [I figured] if I could stay with them in the corners, I thought I would have enough horsepower to actually stay with them down the straightaway. And, with the way these two [Brakke and Ira] have battled for years, at the June Sprints and at the Runoffs, that they would give me enough time to work myself into a groove and stay with them, which was the case for a lap and half – maybe two laps. But, Jon came on strong. His tires definitely came in. His motor woke up and he was gone.”
“Then the caution came out and I thought, ‘Well, maybe there’s an opportunity to do this again. Who knows what might happen?’ Once the restart happened, I had a great race to Turn One. Greg [Ira] got me in Turn Five and that was the last I saw of anybody. There wasn’t much racing for me after that.”
D Sports Racing Class
Lawrence Loshak – First Place
Looking through some data, I wasn’t really happy with the mechanism on our car which helps keep the throttle to the floor while we shift. I wasn’t happy with what it was doing to the air/fuel ratio, so I disconnected it. The green flag was actually my first time going back to the old fashioned way where you lift as you shift. I hit the rev limiter going into second and third. Then third was actually when I was able to pull on Chris a little bit. Knowing Chris’ background, I’ve race with him a couple of times this season, I knew we could go in there two-wide and be respectful. I was able to go in to Turn One full force. I looked in mirrors, but didn’t know about the mayhem going on behind me, so I just put my head down and went at it.
We were disappointed last year, so my crew worked their tails off to get here. We had many sleepless nights, so this was my turn to work hard. I didn’t want to let them down and bringing home the gold was definitely the goal.
(Commenting on the windy conditions)
It’s nerve-racking when you’re by yourself. You look at your gauges and everything is fine, then all of a sudden ‘woosh’, this big gust of wind comes along. It’s fine when you’re on a straightaway, but when you’re in the middle of a turn, it’s quite surprising, especially at the speeds we’re going through there nowadays. It got pretty gusty. I’ve never driven a sports racer in this type of weather before. It was quite entertaining.
Chris Farrell – Second Place
We came up wide open at about ten thousand RPM in first gear and punched it. Through first and second gear Lawrence and I were pretty dead even and we hit third gear and I think Lawrence had the push-to-pass button, because he just leapt. By the time we got to the corner it was basically his. His tail was equal to my nose and there was not point in fighting it.
I’ve got to take my hat off to Lawrence. He did a hell of a job. He was very fast.
I don’t know if I missed my gearing a little bit or if it was the wind, but there were times that I’d come down the back stretch and almost feel like the motor would just drop three or four thousand RPM. One time I thought I’d ceased my motor and it would start back up again, so I think I just missed the gearing.
There were a couple of times where I was catching people in spots where more condusive for my timing and others spots where it was more consusive to his timing, but Mike is a great driver and he’s always raced me clean. I really didn’t think he was going to drill me.
Michael Scully – Third Place
I had some concerns because we had some really fast cars here, that hadn’t run together throughout the week. I knew that there was going to be some pandemonium, and that proved to be the case. I think we lost two quick cars in Turn One. Luckily enough, that was clear of me and Chris and I could start a battle.
I guess I can have some satisfaction in that we set the fastest lap of the race, but strategically, I think I could have made some moves that were a little more aggressive and could have got me to the front sooner.
I’m glad to be here. We put a lot of effort into the car and a lot of development.
I wasn’t able to really draft past Chris when I needed to. In any case, it was really close. Chris and I raced each other very respectfully I thought. We never touched, but we were side-by-side a lot. It is the Runoffs, so maybe I shouldn’t have been quite so respectful.
In the slower stuff my car was a lot quicker. If I’d been able to back it off just a touch and get a run on him in the slower stuff, I think that would have set me up for a good pass. We were alongside each other going into the Carousel, for maybe the first part of the turn. I was on the outside and it’s better not to be on the outside, so maybe if I’d buckled down at that point I could have cleared him.
SSC Class
Mark McCaughey – First Place
It’s really just indescribable. We’ve been here the last couple of years and qualified really well, but didn’t have the distance in the race. This car was perfect, we had great tires that allowed me to run my race. Joel was very fast in qualifying, and I thought it was going to be difficult to run with him. But the Hoosier Tires are just great. Joel is really the one to beat here, and it’s pretty cool to be able to do that.
Having a lead like that is one of the most difficult things to do in a race car. I’ve had similar versions of that at National races, but here for the first time you keep telling yourself the basics. Keep focusing on everything you do, each shift, each turn. You have to force yourself to do that. It’s pretty difficult.
Joel Lipperini – Second Place
It’s always good to be here at the Runoffs and finish on the podium. We showed up with last year’s setup, and progressively through the week we grew a brain and tried some different things, but unfortunately I think each time we went backwards a little bit. We’ll come back with the set-up next year. It was a good week, we’re second and I’ve got two good guys on the podium with me. I enjoyed the week.
Jonathan Start – Third Place
We started seventh and got a great start. Brian and I had a good race, and about halfway through I was able to get around him. Once I did, I stayed in front and did what I had to do. He and I put on a good race, it was fun. I got right behind him on the start and he and I were nose-to-tail. My tires stayed in and I think his faded just a little bit.
FF Class
Tim Kautz – First Place
The first few laps I had no plan to go around Jeremy. The goal was for us to get away. I thought if Jeremy could work together, push each other and go, then the last couple of laps we could duke it out for the win. After, I believe, it was about lap five or six, I saw some other cars coming up to play in my mirrors and I had the straighline speed to go around him, so it was time to go. We did and the car was so good. The Hoosiers were awesome today. Sometimes the skinny tires can go away, but the temperature was perfect and the car was great.
After what happened last year, I was talking to myself. ‘Don’t make a mistake. Hit your marks.’ All stuff I say I never do, I was doing it and talking myself around the track. I was fortunate enough to not put anything too wrong.
This is incredible. I was not a fun person to be with after last year’s race. So, I have to thank everybody that helped me claw out of the doldrums and get me back up here. This is very sweet for me.
Jeremy Treadway – Second Place
Most people brake a little too hard for Turn One on the first lap. I figured on the outside line, when I ran Formula Atlantic here during the June Sprints, I got stuck out there and realized it wasn’t too bad on the outside line on the curbs. So, I went to the outside, knowing that we had to. We knew that we were going to be down a little on straight-line speed and we were going to try and gap them as quick as we could. It just wasn’t possible before that caution. We maintained it. Timmy worked well with us, behind us. He could have gone around just about any time he wanted to, but he was working with us to gap them. Then the caution came.
[The lead] was just temporary. I got a little bit of a lead and tried to get some heat in the tires, but it was just temporary. It was a matter of time, a matter of laps before Timmy went around us and we just tried to maintain and keep him close in case he made a mistake.
If you’re faster on the straightaway, but slower in the corner than somebody, it’s pretty easy to block them, but when you’ve got two miles of straightaway here, it’s pretty tough. You try to hustle as hard as you can through the turns to get a little bit of a run on them, to make it so it’s a braking maneuver to get by, but that wasn’t happening today. [Tim] got off the turns as well as us and just motored by us. We were in a different league speed wise today.
Scott Rubenzer – Third Place
I had a pretty uneventful race. I had a decent start, but when I got to the second corner I knew I just didn’t have the grip I did the other day. I probably should have made more changes than I did, but being old and conservative I didn’t. I struggled with the car the whole time. I was sliding all over. I was hooked up the other day. I wished for 80 degrees, but it didn’t happen.
It was a good race. Everything was nice and close. You can run close with these guys because they’re good drivers. I think each individual’s car comes in at a different time. All of a sudden Tim or Jeremy’s car starts working better and they gap us, then all of a sudden we’d close a little and it goes back and forth like that for awhile before it stabilizes.
These two guys were just much better than I today.
Source http://www.scca.com
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