ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (September 19, 2013) – Twenty-eight cars secured historic SafeRacer Pole Awards Thursday at the 50th SCCA® National Championship Runoffs® at Road America. The final qualifying session set the grids for this weekend’s National Championship races.
As it turns out, each of the top qualifiers were determined during Tuesday’s qualifying sessions. Tuesday’s weather provided racers with nearly ideal conditions, followed by two mornings of rain that slowed the drivers.
Three drivers extended their consecutive SafeRacer pole streaks to all five years at Road America.
Brian Schofield, of Lakeland, Fla., will be the first of 53 Spec Racer Ford cars to the green flag during their race Saturday. His No. 61 PM Racing Spec Racer Ford is on pole for the fifth consecutive year and the fifth of his career.
Michael Varacins, of Burlington, Wis., will have the chance to go flag-to-flag for a National Championship in the Formula Vee race Saturday. For Varacins’ No.65 Speed Sport/Veetech/Hoosier Speedsport AM-5/Volkswagen, it’s his sixth career pole, all in Formula Vee.
Scott Rettich, of Canfield, Ohio, drove his No. 17 Alliance Autosport/PDI Communications Formula Enterprises/Mazda to the front of the Formula Enterprises 11-car field. The SafeRacer pole award for Sunday’s race is Rettich’s fifth career milestone.
Two different drivers earned SafeRacer Pole Awards for their qualifying performances in two different classes.
Lawrence Loshak, of Grafton, Wis., topped the qualifying charts in two very different classes. Loshak will start Friday morning’s fast Formula 1000 race on the pole, before prepping for the afternoon’s H Production race. Loshak will strap into the No. 2 JDR/ETE Reman/Moon Super Cycle JDR F1000/Suzuki for the morning battle, and the No. 02 ETE Reman/RWM Auto/Hoosier Honda CRX in the afternoon. Loshak, a two-time National Champion, now has three career SafeRacer Pole Awards.
Andrew Aquilante, of Chester Springs, Pa., topped both the Touring 1 and the GT-2 time sheets. Making the proper adjustments between sessions, Aquilante topped the charts in both classes using the same No. 36 Phoenix Performance/Hoosier/Hawk Chevrolet Corvette. Aquilante now has six career SafeRacer pole positions.
Thursday’s qualifying ended with a spectacular site, as each of the 690 cars were invited to take place in a group photo on the front straight to commemorate the 50th running of the crown jewel of amateur racing.
With the grids now set, 28 National Champions will be crowned during 24 races at the 50th on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Road America.
Follow all the live timing and scoring at www.scca.com/runoffs. Live Twitter stream is available @SCCALive. Follow this week’s activities on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SCCAOfficial.
The 50th SCCA National Championship Runoffs®, The Pinnacle of American Motorsports, will crown Sports Car Club of America’s Club Racing National Champions at Road America, Friday, September 20 through Sunday, September 22.
Each race will be broadcast live on www.speedcastTV.com. ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Polesitters in the 28 classes for this week’s 50th SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Road America, with class: name, hometown, car, fastest time (speed). * - Denotes better than existing track record.
American Sedan: Tom Sloe, Newbury, Ohio, Ford Mustang, 2:26.570 (98.247). *B-Spec: Joel Weinberger, Hinsdale, Ill., MAZDA2, 2:54.936 (82.316). *C Sports Racing: Lee Alexander, Las Vegas, Nev., Stohr WF1/Suzuki, 1:59.638 (120.363). D Sports Racing: Chris Farrell, Salt Lake City, Utah, Stohr WF1/Suzuki, 2:01.662 (118.361). E Production: Aaron Downey, Rossmoor, Calif., Mazda RX-3, 2:29.795 (96.131). F Production: Mark Carpenter, Charlotte, N.C., Acura Integra, 2:33.193 (93.999). H Production: Lawrence Loshak, Grafton, Wis., Honda CRX, 2:41.750 (89.026). *Formula 500: James Weida, West Lafayette, Ind., Scorpion S1/Rotax, 2:21.517 (101.755). *Formula 1000: Lawrence Loshak, Grafton, Wis., JDR F1000/Suzuki, 2:04.786 (115.398). Formula Atlantic: Sedat Yelkin, Canfield, Ohio, Swift 014a/Toyota, 2:03.089 (116.989). Formula Continental: Peter Portante, Plainville, Conn., Van Diemen RF01/Ford, 2:11.394 (109.594). Formula Enterprises: Scott Rettich, Camden, Ohio, Formula Enterprises/Mazda, 2:13.403 (107.944). Formula F: Tim Kautz, Geneva, Ill., Piper DF3D/Honda, 2:21.221 (101.968). Formula Mazda: Doug Peterson, Bonita Springs, Fla., Star Formula Mazda, 2:16.042 (105.850). Formula Vee: Michael Varacins, Burlington, Wis., Speedsport AM-5/Volkswagen, 2:41.293 (89.279). GT-1: Cliff Ebben, Appleton, Wis., Ford Mustang, 2:03.917 (116.207). *GT-2: Andrew Aquilante, Chester Springs, Pa., Chevrolet Corvette, 2:14.320 (107.207). GT-3: Mike Henderson, Alpine, Calif., Mazda RX-7, 2:23.405 (100.415). GT-Lite: Robert Lentz, Chantilly, Va., Nissan Sentra SER, 2:33.281 (93.945). *Spec Miata: Jim Drago, Memphis, Tenn., Mazda Miata, 2:41.862 (88.965). Spec Racer Ford: Brian Schofield, Lakeland, Fla., Spec Racer Ford, 2:37.974 (91.154). Sports 2000: Mark Mercer, Aurora, Colo., Lola 90/91/Ford, 2:18.276 (104.140). *Super Touring Lite: Rob Huffmaster, Clarkston, Mich., Mazda RX-8, 2:32.995 (94.121). Super Touring Under: Marc Hoover, Cameron Park, Calif., Mazda Miata, 2:24.693 (99.521). *Touring 1: Andrew Aquilante, Chester Springs, Pa., Chevrolet Corvette, 2:14.673 (106.926). * Touring 2: Kurt Rezzetano, Phoenixville, Pa., Ford Mustang GT, 2:24.619 (99.572). *Touring 3: Chad Gilsinger, Marysville, Ohio, Acura TL, 2:31.631 (94.967). *Touring 4: Michael Scornavacchi, Matthews, N.C., Ford Mustang, 2:40.493 (89.724).
50th SCCA National Championship Runoffs
