Indianapolis, Indiana (September 29, 2017) – Jeff Shafer, of Las Vegas, left the Prototype 2 field behind from the Tire Rack Pole and cruised to his second SCCA Runoffs title in a row on Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Tim Day, Jr., of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Greg Gyann, of Willowbrook, Illinois, joined Shaffer on the podium after a back and forth battle.
Shafer qualified his No. 28 One Motorsports Stohr WF1/Suzuki on the pole by more than three seconds, and was nearly 10 seconds ahead of the field after just two trips across the yard of bricks.
From there, it was all about maintaining the gap to the title.
“My journey with my wife started here, about 23 years ago,” Shafer said. “We lived here for a year, and I had just started getting into racing cars. I came and watched the Indy 500, and obviously dreamed of driving on the race track. It hasn’t worked out on the big oval, but this is pretty darn close. It’s fun to come back. It’s an awesome feeling to get out here and actually win the race. We saw a big list of names on the podium of Formula 1 and NASCAR guys who have won the race, and hopefully SCCA gets added.”
Behind the champion, however, was a back and forth battle. Day’s No. 8 Mere Mortal/Hoosier Stohr WF1/Suzuki started second, but briefly lost the position on the opening lap to Gyann. Day recovered, but held his mirrors full of Gyann’s No. 83 Argus Magnetics/Gycor International Stohr WF1/Suzuki for seven laps.
Gyann moved in front of Day on lap seven, but the two black prototypes remained in lockstep. Coming down the Hulman Strait on lap 12, Day moved back to the runner-up position under braking in Turn 7, and held on for the final seven laps for his first Runoffs podium.
“Although we were second fiddle to Jeff Shaffer, (Gyann) and I were neck and neck,” Day said. “Early in the race, he got a good run on me, and at that moment I knew I had to be 100 percent focused because it was game on. The important thing was not to overdrive the car and let him get a serious gap.
“It was a really good race, I think he’s a great competitor. This is my first year in P2, so we’re completely stoked with the results.”
Gyann earned his second podium in as many years with the third-place finish.
It was great. It’s always fun. Last year at the Runoffs, I had basically the same situation with Sherman Chao, and this year, here I was again. It’s a lot of fun. You try to form a hair of a strategy before the race starts, and then the green flag drops and that’s out the window. I had no intention of getting Tim in turn one or two, but it was there and I took it. It’s fun to just be out there and improvise.”
The aforementioned Chao, in the No. 3 Lee Racing/GDRE/Hoosier/Hawk Stohr WF1/Suzuki, and Jake Thielmann, in the No. 55 SOBright/Phoebe Products/Moons Cycle Stohr WF/1 Suzuki held their starting positions through the race to finish fourth and fifth, respectively.
Mark Schnell started 24th in the No. 79 Osthoff Resort/CG Bretting/InShape Carbir CR6 Sports Racer/Mazda to earn the Sunoco Hard Charger.
The 54th SCCA National Championship Runoffs, the Pinnacle of American Motorsports, crowns Sports Car Club of America’s Road Racing National Champions this year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway from Friday, September 29 through Sunday, Oct 1.
While the live broadcast of all 28 National Championships is available at SCCA.com and Motor Trend OnDemand, each race will be on demand in the coming weeks.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Provisional results for Friday’s Prototype 2 (P2) race at the 54th SCCA National Championship Runoffs from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car and laps complete.
1, (1), Jeff Shafer, Las Vegas, NV, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 19.
2, (2), Tim Day Jr, Scottsdale, AZ, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 18.
3, (3), Greg Gyann, Willowbrook, IL, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 18.
4, (4), Sherman Chao, Palm Beach, FL, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 18.
5, (5), Jake Thielmann, Kiel, WI, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 18.
6, (8), Scott Rettich, Columbus, OH, Mazda ESR Mazda, 18.
7, (6), Lucian Pancea, San Antonio, TX, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 18.
8, (7), Mike Davies, Aurora, CO, Van Diemen P2 Mazda, 18.
9, (17), Thomas Kaufman, Cheriton, VA, Stwest WFX-101 Kawasaki, 18.
10, (14), Ross Wolf, Bellevue, WA, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 17.
11, (13), William B Niemeyer Jr, Loveland, OH, Sorcerer Suzuki, 17.
12, (19), Jim Hallman, Kitchener, ON, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 17.
13, (20), Vaughan Scott, Royal Oak, MI, Hidari Firefly Suzuki, 17.
14, (12), Dave Tweedlie, Riverside, CA, Radical SR3 Suzuki, 17.
15, (16), Robert Iversen, Gulf Breeze, FL, Radical SR3 Suzuki, 17.
16, (24), Mark L. Schnell, Kiel, WI, Carbir CR6 Sports Racer Mazda, 16.
17, (11), Charlie DiPasquale, Dayton, OH, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 16.
18, (23), David William O'Leary, Cranberry Township, PA, Mygale SJ04 Suzuki, 16.
19, (9), Michael Crowe, Chattanooga, TN, Stohr WF1 Suzuki, 13.
20, (21), Richard Colburn, Northbrook, IL, Nostendo 1 Reupert, 11.
21, (22), Bruce Gurney, Aurora, CO, Carbir CS2 Ford, 11.
22, (10), Bryan Yates, Clemmons, NC, West WR1000 Kawasaki, 8.
23, (18), Doug Piner, Chapel Hill, NC, West WR1000 Suzuki, 8.
24, (15), Pat Witherspoon, Omaha, NE, Beasley - Ralt Sports Racer Mazda, 5.
DNS, (25), Mike Reupert, Hubertus, WI, Nostendo 1 Reupert, .
Length of Race: 49 miles
Overall Time of Race: 30:20.726
Average Speed: 97.375 mph
Margin of Victory: 1 lap
Fastest Race Lap: No. 28 Shafer 1:32.481 (100.899 mph)
Lap Leaders: No. 28, laps 1 – 19
Sunoco Hard Charger: No. 79 Mark Schnell
Photo: Jeff Shafer, P2 Champion
Credit: Mark Weber/SCCA
