SCCA Runoffs Qualifying Record Falls Again at Mid-Ohio Wednesday
LEXINGTON, Ohio (September 21, 2016) – Keith Grant was faster Wednesday in his Formula Atlantic than the record-setting time he laid down Tuesday to become the fastest SCCA Runoffs qualifier ever at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The problem was that fellow FA driver Ryan Norman was even quicker.
During the second day of qualifying for the 53rd SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB, Grant recorded a lap of 1:16.581 that bested the old record set in 2005 by now IndyCar racer Graham Rahal. But on Wednesday, the third of four Runoffs qualifying days, Norman put down a lap of 1:16.174 to take the top spot in class.
“Coming into the Runoffs I knew Graham Rahal ran a 1:16.600, so that was my goal the whole time,” Norman said. “We tweaked the car from Tuesday and really hit our laps down today and pulled off the new record. Last week in testing, I turned a lap of 1:15.700, so I feel there’s still some time to gain.”
In fact, a giant lump of SCCA Runoffs qualifying records at the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course are set to fall this year. In F Production, Eric Prill took hold of the pole with a 1:36.136 lap, a new best for the class at the track. And former Formula F champion John LaRue is also on pace to reset the record in Formula Continental and claim a Tire Rack Pole Award.
Also on record pace is four-time title holder Michael Varacins in Formula Vee. The same can be said for previous champion Tom Sloe in American Sedan and Calvin Stewart, the defending Formula 500 Runoffs winner. Six-time champ Andrew Aquilante remained on pole in GT-2 with a qualifying record in sight, and multi-time champion Cliff Ebben in GT-1 is also on his way to a Tire Rack Pole Award and new Runoffs qualifying record at Mid-Ohio.
Mike Miserendino has moved to pole in Spec Racer Ford. The four-time SRF Runoffs winner took .274-second off the previous best lap held by Todd Harris, who now sits second about three-tenths behind. Touring 3 also has a new person leading the group. It’s Charles Hurley who cut three-tenths off the existing best lap. In GT-Lite, Kyle Disque has grabbed the pole for the first time, as well as Cameron Maugeri in Super Touring Under. Then there’s E Production ace Joe Moser who is now in the running for a Tire Rack Pole Award.
“This has been a busy week with some real intense racing,” Moser said while working on his racecar running in both EP and Street Touring Under at the Runoffs. “The E Production class, we’re all within a tenth of one another. It’s going to be an incredible race. A bunch of different cars with a bunch of different strengths.”
Jacob Loomis in Formula Mazda kept his pole spot for a second straight day, as did Spec Racer Ford Gen3’s Patrick Byrne. Oscar Jackson, too, has remained on pole now for two days in Touring 4, but lowered his lap time Wednesday by more than a second.
Returning Runoffs GT-3 champ Joe Kristensen has held the top spot in that class for three days straight. After Tuesday’s qualifying session, Kristensen said he believed there was more speed in his car. He went out and proved that by cutting another two-tenths off his lap time Wednesday. Justin Hille in Spec Miata managed to do the same by cutting down his pole time by almost two-tenths of a second. And returning national champion Kevin Boehm remained at the head of Super Touring Lite by cutting his lap time down by .229 second. Then there’s Tom Feller who is still leading in H Production, but cut almost a full second off his time.
John Buttermore has managed to keep hold of the Touring 2 pole for all three days of qualifying, but hopes to find even a little more in the car.
“My Touring 2 car has been running really, really good. We came here for practice and test days to get this thing dialed in and it has been working the way we hoped it would,” Buttermore said. “But we’ll keep pushing and trying to find more speed and hopefully we can stay ahead as we’ve been able to do so far.”
Several others have also maintained their pole position in class across three days of qualifying. Those racers include: James Devenport in Prototype 1 and Prototype 2 ace Jeff Shafer; 15-year-old Neil Verhagen in Formula F; Formula 1000’s Alex Mayer; former champion David Daughtery in B-Spec; Touring 1’s Ross Murray, a former Runoffs winner; and Scott Rettich in Formula Enterprises, who has seven consecutive Runoffs poles in the class.
There is one more chance Thursday for drivers to set a fast lap and claim one of the 28 Tire Rack Pole Awards. Below are provisional pole sitters in each class from the first three days of qualifying at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs, presented by Garmin VIRB, with Class: Name, Hometown, Car and Lap Time.
-American Sedan: Tom Sloe; Novelty, OH; Ford Mustang; 1:33.468
-B-Spec: David Daughtery; Fortville, IN; Honda Fit; 1:46.928
-E Production: Joe Moser; Wilmette, IL; Honda Prelude; 1:34.330
-F Production: Eric Prill; Topeka, KS; Mazda Miata; 1:36.136
-H Production: Tom Feller; Holland, MI; Triumph Spitfire; 1:40.409
-Formula 1000: Alex Mayer; Harleysville, PA; JDR 2014 Yamaha; 1:19.983
-Formula 500: Calvin Stewart; Novi, MI; Novakar Blade F600 1:28.528
-Formula Atlantic: Ryan Norman; Aurora, OH; Swift 016a Mazda; 1:16.174
-Formula Continental: John LaRue; Muncie, IN; Citation Snipe FC; 1:21.962
-Formula Enterprise: Scott Rettich; Columbus, OH; SCCA Formula Enterprises; 1:28.222
-Formula F: Neil Verhagen; Mooresville, NC; Mygale SJ11 Honda; 1:30.109
-Formula Mazda: Jacob Loomis; Corinth, TX; Formula Mazda; 1:27.086
-Formula Vee: Michael Varacins; Burlington, WI; Speed Sport AM-5; 1:38.047
-GT-1: Cliff Ebben; Freedom, WI; Ford Mustang; 1:21.927
-GT-2: Andrew Aquilante; Chester Springs, PA; Chevrolet Corvette; 1:25.405
-GT-3: Joe Kristensen; London, ON, Can.; Acura RSX; 1:31.536
-GT-Lite: Kyle Disque; Philadelphia, PA; Toyota Tercel; 1:35.941
-Prototype 1: James Devenport; Modesto, CA; Norma Auto Concept M20 FC; 1:18.764
-Prototype 2: Jeff Schafer; Las Vegas, NV; Stohr WF1 Hyabusa; 1:20.188
-Spec Miata: Justin Hille; Ypsilanti, MI; Mazda Miata; 1:40.514
-Spec Racer Ford 3: Patrick Byrne; Spokane, WA; SCCA Spec Racer Ford 3; 1:34.526
-Spec Racer Ford: Mike Miserendino; Bakersfield, CA; Spec Racer Ford; 1:37.344
-Super Touring Lite: Kevin Boehm; Marysville, OH; Honda Civic Si; 1:35.891
-Super Touring Under: Cameron Maugeri; Holly Hill, FL; Lotus Exige; 1:34.302
-Touring 1: Ross Murray; Marina Del Rey, CA; Dodge Viper; 1:28.656
-Touring 2: John Buttermore; South Lyon, MI; Chevrolet Corvette Z06; 1:31.901
-Touring 3: Charles Hurley; Monroe, WA; BMW 330Ci Coupe; 1:36.741
-Touring 4: Oscar Jackson; Chino, CA; Scion FR-S; 1:39.590
Photo: Formula Atlantic racer Ryan Norman making his way to a new SCCA National Championship Runoffs qualifying record at Mid-Ohio.
Credit: Jay Bonvouloir
