BYERS, Colo. (July 6, 2013) – Mid-States Conference drivers headed to central Colorado for the first half of a Sports Car Club of America U.S. Majors Tour doubleheader Saturday at the Freedom Sprints Presented by Mazda of Lakewood at High Plains Raceway.
Drivers battled temperatures in the mid-90s throughout the afternoon for Round Seven of the Mid-States Majors Conference Championship. That didn’t deter Matt Reynolds, of Fair Oaks, Texas, from taking separate class wins in back-to-back races to begin the day. Reynolds ran away with Spec Miata in race group one in the No. 74 Reynolds Brothers Racing Mazda Miata to score his second-straight Conference win and take the points lead. Anthony Simmers, of Boulder, Colo., led flag-to-flag to win overall and in Super Touring® Under in the No. 45 Backcountry Pizza/Mix1 Volkswagen GTI.
Once that task was complete for Reynolds, he led the group two field to the green flag in the No. 11 Reynolds Brother Racing/Jesse Prather Motorsports Mazda Miata, speeding away to the overall and E Production win. It was Reynolds’ fifth-consecutive Conference win in EP. Behind Reynolds, F Production polesitter Eric Prill saw Bill Hingston, of Aurora, Colo., get the jump in his No. 08 Little Bill Racing/Mazdaspeed Mazda Miata. Hingston and Prill were never more than two seconds apart as the 18-lap, 45.9-mile race wore on, until Prill slid off course on lap 12, necessitating a trip to the pits to clear his radiator opening. Hingston was then able to cruise to his second-straight Conference win.
Stan Czacki, of Truth or Consequence, N.M., won Touring 4 in his No. 00 Whitehead/DGI/BFG/Summit Acura RSX Type S. Jerry Oleson, of Aurora, Colo., was victorious for the third-straight race in H Production, driving his No. 81 Austin-Healey Sprite.
Keith Verges, of Dallas, Texas, led flag-to-flag in group three for Spec Racer Fords in his No. 69 Apex Driving Academy entry. Jim Nelson finished second in his No. 41 LaRue Motorsports SRF, followed by Tim Blakeley, who held off Steve Stansfield in the closing stages of the race to finish third.
In Group Four, James Stiehr, of Evergreen, Colo., had it all his way, leading flag-to-flag in the No. 5 Carpe Metam Racing/Morgan Adams Piper DF5. Bill Kephart, of Colorado Springs, Colo., emerged on top of a race-long battle that also included Doug Stout and David Loken to secure the runner-up spot in his Vestal 10F.
Like Stiehr, Tim Friest, of Leavenworth, Kan., led all the way in Formula 500 to win in his XTRacing/RodEndSupply KBS over polesitter and teammate David Vincent’s similar machine. Bob Neumeister, of Pueblo, Colo., took Formula Vee in his No. 94 Hoosier Tires/Redline Oil/RCE Lynx Querida.
Jim Valdez, of Denver, Colo., led flag-to-flag to win Group Five overall in his No. 87 Valdez Motorsports BMW E46, just edging out Touring 2 winner Michael Pettiford, of Louisville, Colo., in his No. 4 GO 4 IT Racing Schools Chevrolet Corvette at the finish line by just 0.353-second.
Jason Ott, of Thornton, Colo., led all the way in Touring 3 to take the win in his return to the No. 09 BimmerHaus/Hoosier Tire BMW Z4 Coupe after a season’s hiatus. Bob Schader, of Longmont, Colo., won his sixth Conference race in STL, driving his No. 5 Hoosier Tire/Miatacage.com Mazda Miata. Jim Wheeler, of Lenexa, Kan., won American Sedan in his No. 20 Hoosier/Wilwood/KC Raceware Pontiac Trans Am, as did Justin Napoleon, of Magnolia, Texas, in his GT-2 class Chevrolet Camaro.
Dwight Rider, of Aurora, Colo., came from the back of the field to win group six overall and in Formula Atlantic driving a Ralt. Other winners included Robert Adams (No. 13 Astra) in Formula 1000, Alan McCallum (No. 1 Alan McCallum Racing) in Formula Mazda, Kirk Kindsfater (No. 32 Speads RS 11) in C Sports Racing and Steve Myer (No. 48 Lola 89/90) in Sports 2000.
Sunday brings Round Eight of the Mid-States Conference SCCA U.S. Majors Tour. For results and additional event information, please visit www.scca.com/highplainsmajors.
BYERS, Colo. – Winners from Saturday’s SCCA U.S. Majors Tour race at High Plains Raceway with class, driver, hometown and car. American Sedan, Jim Wheeler, Lenexa, Kan., Pontiac Trans Am. C Sports Racing, Kirk Kindsfater, Eaton, Colo., Speads RS 11. E Production, Matt Reynolds, Fair Oaks, Texas, Mazda Miata. F Production, Bill Hingston, Aurora, Colo., Mazda Miata. Formula 1000, Robert Adams, Denver, Colo., Astra. Formula 500, Timothy Friest, Leavenworth, Kan., KBS Mk VII. Formula Atlantic, Dwight Rider, Aurora, Colo., Ralt RT-41. Formula Enterprises, Henry Donohoo, Arvada, Colo., Formula Enterprises. Formula F, James Stiehr, Evergreen, Colo., Piper DF5. Formula Mazda, Alan McCallum, Houston, Texas, Formula Mazda. Formula Vee, Robert Neumeister, Pueblo, Colo., Lynx Querida. GT-2, Justin Napoleon, Magnolia, Texas, Chevrolet Camaro. GT-3, Jim Valdez, Denver, Colo., BMW E46. H Production, Jerry Oleson, Aurora, Colo., Austin-Healey Sprite. Spec Miata, Matt Reynolds, Fair Oaks, Texas, Mazda Miata. Spec Racer Ford, Keith Verges, Dallas, Texas, Spec Racer Ford. Sports 2000, Steve Meyer, Longmont, Colo., Lola 89/90. Super Touring Lite, Robert Schader, Longmont, Colo., Mazda Miata. Super Touring Under, Anthony Simmers, Boulder, Colo., Volkswagen GTI. Touring 2, Michael Pettiford, Louisville, Colo., Chevrolet Corvette ZO6. Touring 3, Jason Ott, Thornton, Colo., BMW Z4 Coupe. Touring 4, Stan Czacki, Truth or Consequences, N.M., Acura RSX-S.
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Freedom Sprints Double Majors 2013 U.S. Majors Tour
