Results Recap
Day 1 at the College Station Champ Tour has drawn to the end. Light attendance (165 drivers) and efficient operation of the event enabled runs to be complete before 2 pm. Most competitors were able to find shade or air conditioning for the afternoon when the heat would be at its worst. While everyone cools their fried craniums let’s take a look at the day's competition.
As predicted David Hedderick leads AS after Saturday competition (and no cones were injured during his runs). But Kent Kroll is behind by, a closer than expected, .745 seconds, hoping the old David Hedderick will return on Sunday and brush up against some cones.
You know the old saying, "Those who can’t drive fast, design courses,"? Well neither does Vivek Goel. He designed a very fluid yet challenging course worthy of a national stage, and proceeded to hang a 1.837 lead on BS. Both Jeremy Foley (2nd) and Jerry Centanni (3rd) had cones on their fastest runs but neither would have been close enough to make Goel sweat. Perhaps he'll drive Sunday's course in reverse to give them a chance.
CS belonged to Daniel McCelvey and to the 2016 Mazda MX-5 on Day 1. He held the lead after each set of runs, and finished as the only CS driver in the 70s (70.887). He also was obliged to inform all who would listen Saturday night that he held the top PAX position for the event. Jeffrey Bandes was .705 seconds behind in 2nd. Eric Jones (3rd) was the loan FR-S in the top 4, and he can thank Tyler Kvetko for hitting a cone on his fastest run.
In DS, Dennis Sparks and Jordan Towns, co-drove their 2015 WRX to a One/Two finish. And while Sparks is likely safe from Towns with a 1.431 second lead, Towns is just .295 seconds ahead of David Anderson in 3rd place.
Eric Yee is fighting the good fight trying to keep the Germans in their place in FS. Yee was hoping his 2013 Mustang GT would be able to take on the BMWs the way the P51-D took on the venerable Me-109 during WWII. Alas, his attempt proved futile, as Ken Orgeron and his 2011 M3 easily dominated the class by 2.315 seconds on Saturday.
The painful part of a Championship Tour event is having all of Saturday night to think about the mistakes the could have ruined your chances on Sunday. Brad McCann will sleep well with a .654 lead in GS, but Brian Burdette with think about his cone on second runs that cost him nearly nine tenths and first place.
As expected, STS was an all Whitener battle at the top. David will wake up tomorrow with the lead, but Kim is just .231 seconds behind. Don't count out Gerald Terranova or even Barry Booker, who round out the trophy positions. The top 4 are evenly spaced with only a couple tenths between them.
Above: One of these men is cool. One is not.
Ricky Crow and Kerry Coughlin continued their STR tango from Mineral Wells. This time Crow will lead to start Sunday, with Coughlin .393 seconds behind. Landon Thompson could be looking to cut in on Sunday, but will have to come back from .731 seconds behind Coughlin to have a shot.
Vitek Boruvka crushed the interlopers filling up XP for this event. Troy "Raw Time" Acosta, Federico del Toro, and Tom Holt stepped up from FP to have a bit more competition, but were no match for Boruvka’s monster V8 Miata. Acosta finished Saturday 1.827 seconds behind Boruvka. Michael Currie moved up from SSM to take 3rd, .676 seconds behind Acosta.
CP holds the honor of having the tightest gap between first and second on day 1. The great thing about having a co-driver is when they go faster than you, you know what is possible. Chris Cargill was in 1st place after second runs, with almost a nine-tenths advantage in raw time over Wayne Adkins the owner of the 1985 Camaro they drive. Chris couldn't improve on his 3rd run, and with the confidence of knowing the car was capable, Adkins tore off a 69.159. He was likely exhilarated by his massive improvement; however, he came up an inch short. Cargill's 69.158 would stand as the top time for CP by a .001 second sliver of time over Adkins. Both should be looking out for Mark Madarash who will be looking to leap frog both on his way to victory.
All in all, Saturday was filled with enough excitement to make up for the all the sunburns, sweat, and exhaustion July in Texas could bring. And tomorrow should be even better.
