Event Results
The engines are silent.
The cones are stacked.
The grills no longer sizzle.
The fireworks cease to light the night sky.
An epic holiday weekend of autocross took place at the 2016 College Station Championship Tour. The event had 165 participants making it on the small side for a Champ Tour event. Competitors from outside of Texas seemed to stay home, perhaps fearing the hot temperatures July in Texas would bring.
Anyone who stayed home missed out on a great event. The course was large and fast, and the concrete did not disappoint. The weather proved to not be an issue. The tents and water provided gave everyone an escape from the heat and the efficient operation of the event kept the heats short. Competition was over by 2pm on both Saturday and Sunday to avoid the heat of the day, and Sunday was blessed with cloud cover and a steady breeze.
David Hedderick came into Sunday holding a .745 lead over Kent Kroll in AS. It looked as if the Hedderick of old had returned after he coned away his first two runs of the day. Kroll was having his own issues with the cones, and it looked like Zach Driver might take the win. Hedderick was able to get a clean run on his final run to move back into first. Kroll also cleaned up and was close to Hedderick’s Sunday time, but not enough to make up the gap from Saturday.
BS was not quite as exciting. Vivek Goel started Sunday with a 1.837 second lead over Jeremy Foley, and by the second run on Sunday had extended his lead. Eventually Foley would finish 3.904 seconds behind Goel, with Jerry Centanni in 3rd.
Unfortunately for the other CS competitors, Daniel McCelvey figured out his 2016 Mazda MX-5 this weekend. In addition to top overall PAX for the event, McCelvey claimed first place in CS by 1.396 seconds over Jeffrey Bandes. Tyler Kvetko overcame some cone troubles on Day 1 to finish 3rd ahead of Andy Hollis.
Ken Orgeron continued his Saturday domination of FS on Sunday. Stretching a 2.315 second lead to 4.743. Saturday's second place finisher Eric Yee, couldn't find a clean run on Sunday and slipped to 5th place, but his co-driver Jay Cryderman was able to take 2nd for the event in his place.
Brian Burdette had one of the few comeback stories of the weekend. He squandered a potential lead in GS with two fast but dirty runs on Saturday. But on Sunday was able to find enough time to surpass Brad McCann and take the win by .200 seconds.
Going into Saturday morning, it looked to be an all Whitener battle at the top of STS. David held up his end of the bargain by maintaining his first place position. However, Kim was ousted from second place by Gerald Terranova who had the fastest Sunday time for STS.
Kerry Coughlin made the drive from Louisiana most likely to go head to head with Ricky Crow once again. After Saturday's runs Crow held a .393 lead over Coughlin. Sunday came and this time the roles reversed from the Mineral Wells ProSolo where Coughlin held the overnight lead. Coughlin laid down a first run 67.975 that put him in first immediately and Crow was not able to better it all day, finishing .183 seconds behind in 2nd. Landon Thompson finished 1.468 seconds behind Crow in a distant 3rd.
Saturday's XP leader Vitek Boruvka hoped to rest on his 1.827 lead on Sunday. It was made easier when the 2nd Place car driven by Troy "Raw Time" Acosta busted the sound limit for the second time and was disqualified. Acosta slipped to 5th, having to count his only legal run and the two cones that came with it. Acosta's absence allowed Michael Currie (2nd) and Richard Holden (3rd) to move into the remaining trophy positions. Currie posted an impressive Day 2 time in the 3-rotor SSM RX7 of 65.827, just .056 behind Boruvka’s Day 2 time.
CP had the smallest gap between 1st and 2nd after Saturday’s runs with Chris Cargill and Wayne Atkins separated by just .001 seconds. This issue for them wouldn’t be each other, it would be multi-time national champion just .286 behind. Madarash already had a come from behind victory over Cargill this year at Spring Nationals, and College Station proved to be a repeat performance as he leap frogged both Atkins and Cargill to take a .453 second win. Cargill would finish 2nd .160 second ahead of Atkins.
No doubt everyone who came to College Station enjoyed the site and the hospitality. They will be back next year, will you?
