DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 25, 2015) – Chris Farrell, of Salt Lake City, Utah, won his third-straight SCCA National Championship with a flag-to-flag P2-class victory in his No. 58 C&M Manufacturing/Hoosier Tires/Geartronics Stohr WF1 in the SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB at Daytona International Speedway. Jeff Shafer, of Las Vegas, Nevada, finished second in the ONE Motorsports Radical SR3 and Sherman Chao, of Palm Beach, Florida, was third in the Lee Racing/GDRE/Hoosier/Hawk Stohr WF1.
Farrell started the race from the Tire Rack Pole and was never seriously challenged in the 14-lap race on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course. The winning Margin of Victory was .957 of a second.
Farrell’s previous National Championships were also earned from the pole in D Sports Racing at Road America in 2013 and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in P1 last year.
“This one is pretty sweet,” Farrell said. “My first one at Road America was also very sweet, Laguna Seca was nice last year, but this one was the toughest race this year. Jeff kept me more honest than I really wanted to be. I had to drive my butt off to keep ahead of him.”
Shafer, who set the fastest race lap at 1:52.355 (114.067 mph), was frequently within two seconds of Farrell but was never close enough to attempt a pass for the lead.
“On the last lap I was the closest and for the most part the traffic I think every time benefitted me,” Shafer said. “I had to make a couple kind of sketchy passes to make sure Chris didn’t get away. I just had a great time. Chris was just outside of my reach for most of the race, we hit traffic and I thought for a moment I could take advantage of him, but he did well in traffic too and kept the gap he needed.”
Farrell and Shafer worked under the same tent this weekend and their teams traveled to Daytona together.
“Jeff and I were under the same tent, he actually brought my stuff out here, and I want to thank him,” Farrell said. “It was really nice of him as a competitor to bring me here and it was great racing with him.”
Chao improved from fifth on the grid to finish third, making up for a DNF in his Runoffs debut last year at MRLS.
“Hopefully I showed a little bit more of who I am as a person and a driver this year,” Chao said. “I have only been at Daytona this year but I still had an advantage over the other guys on the podium who have never been here before. I am very, very grateful for how things have unfolded this year.”
The 52nd SCCA National Championship Runoffs®, The Pinnacle of American Motorsports, will crown Sports Car Club of America’s Club Racing National Champions at Daytona International Speedway, Friday, September 25 through Sunday, September 27.
The live broadcast of all 27 National Championship races is available live at SCCA.com, along with live timing and notes. Each race will be on demand at a later date.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Provisional results for Friday’s SCCA P2 National Championship at the 52nd SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB at Daytona International Speedway, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car and laps complete.
1, (1), Chris Farrell, Salt Lake City, UT, Stohr WF1 GDRE, 14.
2, (2), Jeff Shafer, Las Vegas, NV, Radical SR3 Powertee, 14.
3, (5), Sherman Chao, Palm Beach, FL, Stohr WF1, 14.
4, (4), Anders Graff, Kohler, WI, Prince LSR, 14.
5, (6), Greg Gyann, Willowbrook, IL, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 14.
6, (8), Richard Colburn, Northbrook, IL, Duckway Suzuki, 14.
7, (12), Sherry Dowling, Nokomis, FL, Beasley Lola T-540 Suzuki, 14.
8, (10), Michael Reupert, Hubertus, WI, Nostendo Wood Duck Reupert, 14.
9, (13), John McTaggart, Clearwater, FL, Praguar 002 Suzuki, 13.
10, (14), Bruce Gurney, Honolulu, HI, Carbir CS-II Ford, 13.
11, (15), Doug Piner, Chapel Hill, NC, Dauntless/Tatuus MX-1, 13.
12, (16), Jack Donnellan, Chickasha, OK, Lola B07/90, 13.
13, (11), Thomas Kaufman, Cheriton, VA, West WX-10, 13.
14, (17), Ed Ronshausen, Saint Petersburg, FL, Van Diemen Kestral Suzuki, 13.
15, (9), Jake Thielmann, Kiel, WI, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 12.
16, (7), Bryan Yates, Clemmons, NC, West WR1000 Kawasaki, 5.
17, (3), Michael Crowe, Chattanooga, TN, Stohr WF1, 1.
Length of Race: 50 miles
Overall Time of Race: 26:23.194
Average Speed: 113.330 mph
Margin of Victory: .957 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: No. 28 Shafer – 1:52.355 (114.067 mph)
Lap Leaders: No. 58 Farrell 1 -14
Sunoco Hard Charger: No. 47 Sherry Dowling
Image: Chris Farrell won his third-consecutive SCCA National Championship Friday at Daytona International Speedway
Credit: Jay Bonvouloir