ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (September 22, 2012) – Scott Tucker, of Overland Park, Kan., grabbed his second title of the week on Saturday at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs®, winning D Sports Racing and becoming the first SCCA Club Racer to break the two-minute lap time barrier in a race at Road America. Lee Alexander, of Las Vegas, Nev., and Tom Bootz, of Evansville, Ind., finished on the podium.
Tucker cruised to a 34.988-second win, averaging 118.308 mph over the 13-lap, 52-mile race at Road America. Tucker was never seriously challenged in the No. 55 West Race Cars/Hoosier West WX10/Suzuki for the lead, especially after turning a lap of 1:59.991 on lap four to become the first to break that historic mark in a race.
With the lap, Tucker will be recognized by the Chicago Region SCCA with a plaque hung in the Road America office, as well as a charitable donation to the SCCA Foundation. Tucker eventually turned the Hawk Hastest Lap of the race with a 1:59.684 (120.317 mph), running three laps under the two-minute barrier. Those fast laps earned Tucker the GoPro Hero Move of the Race.
It’s the fifth National Championship for Tucker, who also won the Super Touring® Over title earlier in the week.
“That was a mission statement when we started this project, we’ve been working on it all year,” Tucker said of breaking the two minute barrier. “I didn’t realize what a big deal it was until we got here and we did it in qualifying. It’s really our crew and team that really did all the underneath the hood work and did all of the development work to get the car where it is today. Today was really an experiment to see what we’ve developed, if it would last 13 laps in a very high strung environment. So far, so good, but we’ll have to tear it down and see where the issues are.
“It’s such a great class, where you have the opportunity to be somewhat unlimited.”
Alexander started third in the No. 48 Factory 48 Motorsports/APE Raceparts Stohr WF1/Suzuki and battled early with Chris Farrell and Lawrence Loshak, until Farrell’s No. 58 C&M Manufacturing/GDR Engines/Hoosier Tire Stohr WF1/Suzuki spun in Turn Five. The spin caught out Loshak’s No. 7 ETE Reman/Moon Supercycle/Goodyear Stohr WF1/Suzuki, who sheared off Farrell’s wing. Though Loshak continued for one more lap, his day ended shortly thereafter.
With that, Alexander was left alone for the remaining laps, battling only the track and the threat of rain.
“I wasn’t really quite sure what happened to Chris and Lawrence,” Alexander said. “I outbroke Chris going into five and then looked in my mirror and they weren’t there. I was all by myself and at that point I knew there was no chance of catching Scott. I just wanted to make sure I put in consistent laps and not do anything really dumb, especially toward the end when it started misting out there. It was getting really slippery.
“It changes so quickly here. It can be drizzling in one corner on one lap, and then the next lap you come around again and it’s not. At that point my crew told me I had enough of a gap, just to take it easy. The worst part seemed to be the back half of the track… but I think we finished just in time.”
Bootz started eighth after changing to his fourth engine of the week in the No. 36 Hoosier/Havoc Motorsports/Bootz Industries Stohr WF1/Suzuki, then survived two spins to finish third. The defending class champion held on for his third career podium finish at the Runoffs.
“To begin the week, we lost an engine in testing,” Bootz said. “Then we lost an engine in testing. And then we lost an engine in the first qualifier. This was on engine number four today, so we didn’t get many qualifying laps. We started in eighth and got by a couple of guys at the start, and just hung in there as good as we could. We tried to keep a few guys in passing distance, and whatever the melee was in Turn Five helped a lot. It was a good run, it’s good to be back here on the podium.”
Greg Bell finished fourth in the No. 33 The Door Company/Young Racing Stohr WF1/Suzuki, while Jim Vogel earned the Sunoco Hard Charger after improving six spots from his starting position to finish fifth in the No. 54 Vogel Investments Stohr WF1 Suzuki.
Now in its 49th year, the SCCA National Championship Runoffs annually crowns Champions in the Sports Car Club of America’s Club Racing classes. The live broadcast of all 28 National Championship races will be available through Sunday at www.SpeedcastTV.com/scca and later available On Demand from the same site.
Follow the action on Twitter @SCCAOfficial or the SCCA, Inc. Official Facebook page at facebook.com/sccaofficial. More information is available at www.scca.com.
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. - Provisional Results from Saturday’s D Sports Racing National Championship Race, part of the 49th SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Road America with finish position, starting position in parenthesis, driver, hometown, car and laps complete.
1, (1), Scott Tucker, Overland Park, KS, WEST WX10 Suzuki, 13. 2, (3), Lee Alexander, Las Vegas, NV, Stohr WF-0, 13. 3, (8), Tom Bootz, Evansville, IN, Stohr WF-1 Suzuki, 13. 4, (5), Greg Bell, Metcalfe, ON, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 13. 5, (11), Jim Vogel, Madison, WI, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 13. 6, (6), Jim Hallman, Kitchener, ON, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 13. 7, (12), Richard Colburn, Northbrook, IL, Nostendo Suzuki, 12. 8, (9), Dave Knaack, Neenah, WI, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 12. 9, (10), Matt Graham, Greely, ON, Critter CSR1 Suzuki, 11. DNF, (2), Chris Farrell, Salt Lake City, UT, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 3. DNF, (4), Lawrence Loshak, Grafton, WI, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 2. DNF, (7), Kirk Kindsfater, Eaton, CO, Speads RS11 Suzuki, 0. DNS, (13), David Locke, Lafayette, IN, Stohr WF1 Suzuki.
Overall Time of Race: 26:22.304 Average Race Speed: 118.308 mph Margin of Victory: 34.988 seconds Hawk Fastest Race Lap: 1:59.684 Fastest Race Lap Average Speed: 120.317 mph Sunoco Hard Charger: #54 Jim Vogel Lap Leaders: #55 – laps 1-13
2012 SCCA National Championship Runoffs
