PUEBLO, Colo. (May 24, 2014) – New track records were the order of the day Saturday, as the Mid-States Conference of the SCCA U.S. Majors Tour ascended on the 2.2-mile Pueblo Motorsports Park circuit for Round Nine of its 2014 Championship.
Five race groups took to the track under partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the 70s for practice and qualifying, followed by 25-minute timed races.
Race One Race one, for small bore Production, GT and ST cars, got off to an auspicious start. Several cars experienced trouble on the first lap, including second-starting Rick Kosdrosky, who spun and stalled his No. 77 Over Fifty Motorsports Caterham 7 in the slick Turn 10. The black flag was displayed, and the field brought to the pit lane before completing lap two.
The field reverted back to grid order, to the joy of some and the chagrin of others. Polesitter Matt Reynolds, of Fair Oaks, Texas, took a dominating overall and E Production win in his No. 71 Reynolds Brothers Racing/JPM/Vintage Connection Mazda Miata, setting a new track record of 1:39.596 in the process.
Despite falling back to third in F Production on the initial start, Eric Prill, of Topeka, Kansas, led restart-to-checkers in his No. 7 MaxtonsFight.org/Jesse Prather Motorsports/Hoosier Mazda Miata. Prill lowered his previous track record to a 1:42.139 in the process.
The best battle of the race was for the H Production win. Alex Burnett, of Louisville, Colorado, put his No. 76 Adept Mobile Datsun 510 into the lead on the restart, but with two laps remaining, saw the No. 81 Austin-Healey Sprite of Aurora, Colorado’s Jerry Oleson retake the lead, beating Burnett to the finish by just 0.269-second.
Jonathan Goodale, of Conifer, Colorado, won GT-Lite and set a new track record (1:44.579) in his No. 04 Mazdaspeed/Hoosier/JoeApex.com Mazda MX-5. Brian Laughlin, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, had similar results in Super Touring® Lite, with a 1:47.020 in his No. 25 Mazda/Hoosier Mazda Miata.
Race Two Small formula cars were on tap for Race Two, including Formula F, Formula 500 and Formula Vee.
Bill Kephart, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, started from the Formula F and overall pole in his No. 37 Vestal 10F/Honda, but saw teammate Michael Lewis, of Poway, California, take the point on lap two in his No. 12 RedLine Oil/Cyclo Vestal 09F/Honda. Lewis’ lead was short lived, though, as Kephart was back out front by lap three and built a gap to win by 4.622 seconds.
David Vincent, of Leavenworth, Kansas, won Formula 500 in his No. 73 Elizabeth Vincent/AJ’s Imports KBS Mk VII over teammate Timothy Friest, but it was early leader Jack Walbran, of Saint Louis, Missouri, who took the track record. Walbran led the first 11 laps in his No. 67 Mitchell Racing Services Scorpion, setting a record 1:41.129 before a late-race tangle took him out of contention.
Tyler Hunter, of Denver, Colorado, took his first of two wins, besting Pueblo’s Bob Neumeister by 22 seconds in his No. 22 Vortec VW. He also set the Formula Vee track record in the process, with a 1:43.761.
Race Three Former SCCA Spec Racer® Ford National Champion Cliff White, of Huntsville, Alabama, led flag-to-flag to win SRF over Jay Messenger, of Muleshoe, Texas, by 8.442 seconds. White set a new SRF track record in the process, with a 1:44.380 in his No. 58 Thompson White Racing entry. Michael Cameron, of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, completed the podium.
Matt Reynolds was the first repeat winner of the day, taking Spec Miata by some 20 seconds over Kyle Watkins, of Broomfield, Colorado. Jonathan Barnett, of Lafayette, Colorado completed the podium after a race-long battle for third with Chandler, Arizona’s Dean Busk. While Reynolds took the win, he was not able to break Watkins’ track record, set in 2012.
Race Four The fourth race, for big-bore and Touring category cars, featured eight class winners, and eight new track records. Todd Peterson, of Boulder, Colorado, won overall and in GT-1 in his No. 12 Peterson Machining Inc., setting a new track record of 1:37.534 in the process. He passed early leader, GT-2 front-runner Jim Valdez, of Denver, Colorado for the overall win, but Valdez took the GT-2 class and track record, with a 1:38.481 in his No. 27 Valdez Motorsports BMW E46.
Jim Leithauser, of Westminster, Colorado, topped a five-car Touring 3 field in his No. 74 Hoosier/Alpine Motorsports BMW Z4 Coupe, setting a record 1:44.000 in the process. Daniel Kalvar, of Lakewood, Colorado, topped a five-car Touring 4 field, setting a new record of 1:49.032 in his No. 66 Club Auto Colorado Pontiac Solstice.
Other class winners and record setters included: Dan Goodman (Erie, Colorado), in Touring 1, with a 1:38.718 in his No. 56 Hoosier Tire/SCR Performance BMW M3; Michael Pettiford (Louisville, Colorado), in Touring 2, turning a 1:40.754 in his No. 42 GO 4 IT Racing Schools Chevrolet Corvette; Anthony Simmers (Boulder, Colorado), in STU, turning a 1:42.872 in his No. 45 REbayREseller.com/Hoosier Volkswagen GTI and Jim Speights (San Antonio, Texas), in GT-3, turning a 1:46.296 in his No. 103 HIS Racing Mazda RX-7.
Race Five Like the first race, the final race of the day, for winged formula cars and prototypes, got off to a rough start, as polesitter Tyler Hunter spun his No. 22 SWAN Racing Swift 014a/Toyota on the pace lap, but was able to re-join before anyone passed by.
When the green came out, Hunter took off, scoring a 44.853-second overall victory, setting a new Formula Atlantic track record of 1:21.749 – the fastest-ever SCCA lap at Pueblo.
Kirk Kindsfater, of Eaton, Colorado, won Prototype 1 in his Speads RS11, setting a class record of 1:24.451. Jose Gerardo, of El Paso, Texas, also set a new track record in his No. 14 General Labels & Printing Stohr F1000 en route to the Formula 1000 victory, with a 1:25.110.
Defending Sports 2000 SCCA National Champion Mark Mercer, of Aurora, Colorado, scored his first Prototype 2 win, setting a record 1:29.940 in his No. 34 Ferenco/Hoosier Lola 90/91 in the process. Other class winners included Pueblo’s Doug Stout in Formula Continental (No. 19 DS Masonry/Front Range Motorsports Van Diemen Ford), and Henry Donohoo, of Arvada, Colorado in Formula Enterprises in his No. 10 Mazda of Lakewood entry.
Sunday brings morning warm-ups, followed by 45-mile feature races for all five run groups.
For full results and more information, please visit www.scca.com/pueblomajors.
PUEBLO, Colo. – Class winners from Saturday’s SCCA U.S. Majors Tour race at Pueblo Motorsports Park, with class, driver, hometown and car. E Production, Matt Reynolds, Fair Oaks, Texas, Mazda Miata. F Production, Eric Prill, Topeka, Kan., Mazda Miata. Formula 1000, Jose Gerardo, El Paso, Texas, Stohr F1000/Suzuki. Formula 500, David Vincent, Leavenworth, Kan., KBS Mk. VII/Rotax. Formula Continental, Doug Stout, Pueblo, Colo., Van Diemen/Ford. Formula Enterprises, Henry Donohoo, Arvada, Colo., SCCA Enterprises. Formula F, Bill Kephart, Colorado Springs, Colo., Vestal 10F/Honda. Formula Vee, Tyler Hunter, Denver, Colo., Vortech/VW. GT-1, Todd Peterson, Boulder, Colo., Ford Mustang. GT-2, Jim Valdez, Denver, Colo., BMW E46. GT-3, Jim Speights, San Antonio, Texas, Mazda RX-7. GT-Lite, Jonathan Goodale, Conifer, Colo., Mazda MX-5. H Production, Jerry Oleson, Aurora, Colo., Austin-Healey Sprite. Prototype 1, Kirk Kindsfater, Eaton, Colo., Speads RS11/Suzuki. Prototype 2, Mark Mercer, Aurora, Colo., Lola 90/91/Ford. Spec Miata, Matt Reynolds, Fair Oaks, Texas, Mazda Miata. Spec Racer Ford, Cliff White, Huntsville, Ala., SCCA Spec Racer Ford. Super Touring Lite, Brian Laughlin, Tulsa, Okla., Mazda Miata. Super Touring U, Anthony Simmers, Boulder, Colo., Volkswagen GTI. Touring 1, Dan Goodman, Erie, Colo., BMW M3. Touring 2, Michael Pettiford, Louisvelle, Colo., Chevrolet Corvette. Touring 3, Jim Leithauser, Westminster, Colo., BMW Z4 Coupe. Touring 4, Daniel Kalvar, Lakewood, Colo., Pontiac Solstice.
Pueblo Majors
