After wild weather a week ago at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Northern California, Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour (HST) drivers and volunteers alike were hoping for a race weekend where things were dry, and the weather warm. They got their wish Saturday at Portland International Raceway (PIR) on the opening day of HST competition during a May 13-14, 2023, stop hosted by SCCA’s Oregon Region.
Temperatures were in the mid 70s with blue skies above as cars went out in the morning for 20-minute qualifying sessions around the 1.977-mile course with 12 turns. The afternoon was then filled with 25-minute contests for each of the six run groups participating at this weekend’s event. Temperatures climbed into the low 90s as the day progressed, so things got a little toasty for drivers. Still, conditions were pretty fantastic all things considered.
0.097sec: The opening run group featured nothing but Formula Vee® (FV) cars. And while it’s a shame no Formula F or Formula 600 drivers were at PIR Saturday to be part of a wonderful weekend, the FV drivers got the day’s competition off to a fun start.
Quinn Posner was on pole with Marjorie Lundberg alongside at the front of the eight-car field. From the moment the green flag flew, those two never parted ways. Lundberg led several laps in her Formula V Caracal C1, and Posner led plenty in the No. 9 Posner Law Office/PC Protoform P3. In fact, that duo crossed the start-finish line side-by-side many times over 25 minutes, with the Protoform P2 car of Robert Posner right behind in third.
At the white flag, Quinn and Marjorie were still side-by-side. As they approached the checkered flag, it was hard to predict who would emerge victorious. Timing shows the margin of victory was only 0.097sec, with Quinn taking the win.
“It was a heck of a race,” Quinn said. “A classic Formula Vee battle.”
Quinn added that the ashes of a dear, departed friend rode with him in Saturday’s race. To learn more about that, watch Quinn’s post-race video interview found at the SCCA Road Racing Facebook page.
Believe it or not, the FV race tied with Spec Racer Ford Gen3 (SRF3) for having the smallest margin of victory on Saturday. In SRF3, Caleb Shrader started on pole in the 23-car field, and took the early lead followed by Cooper Becklin and three members of the Harris clan – Calvin, Taylor and their father, Todd. But after five laps, it was Shrader and Calvin alone at the front.
Midway through the race, Calvin had gotten around Shrader for the lead, and Taylor joined the fray to make it a three-car contest. For several laps, Shrader was the meat in a Harris sandwich.
On the penultimate lap, the trio encountered some traffic, and Shrader dove beneath Calvin in Turn 7 for the lead. He was able to hold that position in the No. 99 Liquid Death/Flat Out car for the final lap, and earned victory by 0.097sec over Calvin. Taylor was only 0.377sec further back in third.
“It was an amazing race,” Shrader said afterwards. “It was a fun race between us three … and I was the lucky guy this time.”
Shrader added to his victory tally later Saturday by also winning Formula Enterprises®2 in the No. 99 Bulldog Motorsports/Liquid Death car.
Marvelous Mazdas: The day’s second run group included the Spec Miata (SM) class, as well as a special appearance by the Spec MX-5 Challenge (SMX) series. What resulted was 25 minutes of interesting competition.
For those unfamiliar, the SMX field is part of a series positioned between Spec Miata and Global MX-5 Cup. It’s not an official HST competition class, and drivers do not receive Hoosier Super Tour points. But the Spec MX-5 Challenge is a driver development series that offers a variety of competitions to support karters, novice road racers, masters, and even some professionals. Plus, the series will end its season with two races during the 2023 National Championship Runoffs at VIRginia International Raceway. While SMX will not be a recognized SCCA National Championship race at the Runoffs, Spec MX-5 Challenge drivers can still win over $70,000 in prize money.
Jon Davies, in the No. 67 Columbia River Insurance Mazda Spec MX-5, started on pole Saturday in SMX. Driving errors early dropped him back, and Will Schrader took the lead followed by Wesley Mollno and Ryan Gutile.
As laps clicked by, Davies clawed his way back towards the front. On lap seven, he had moved to the second position, and began to pressure Schrader. Then on lap 14, he took the lead for good and brought home a win by 0.899sec over runner-up Schrader.
“This is the first win for us in this class. So, I’m stoked,” Davies said. “It was an exciting race.”
Meanwhile in SM, Jason Rawlins continued his dominance driving the No. 20 Miatacage.com/G-LOC Brakes Mazda Miata. Just like last weekend at Thunderhill Raceway Park, Rawlins moved to the front early and kept building on his lead. And just like Thunderhill last weekend, Nick Leverone slowly whittled down Rawlins’ advantage Saturday until it was just 0.169sec at the end. With another couple laps, who knows if Leverone might have been able to pass Rawlins for the lead. But that answer could come tomorrow at PIR with HST races 10 minutes longer than Saturday’s events.
Staying with the Mazda theme in run group two, it was a pair of E Production (EP) Mazda RX-7s that shared the overall lead in that race. The battle was between Austin Bradshaw and Kurt Frietzsche, with Bradshaw ahead early.
The duo swapped the top spot a few times, and the gap between the two EP racers never really grew to a full second. Instead, they chased each other around the circuit with much zeal, weaving through traffic with skill and gusto. Or at least that was the case until lap 12 when Bradshaw went off track while working through traffic. Frietzsche then scampered away to victory in the No. 40 Pacific Access Elevator/Haag Performance Mazda RX-7.
“I got held up in traffic, then Austin got held up in traffic,” Frietzsche said about the race. “But it was an awesome race, and I think this is the first time I’ve beat Austin here at his home track.”
Sunday’s Schedule: Another day of Hoosier Super Tour on-track activity begins at 9 a.m. Pacific Time from Portland International Raceway with 15-minute qualifying for each of the six run groups on Sunday. There will then be 35-minute or 25-lap races for each group throughout the afternoon.
Races from PIR can be followed live, online and for free thanks to the new Hoosier Super Tour enhanced video and audio package. Brian Bielanski and Gregg Ginsberg will again provide the play-by-play call, and DriversEye Live delivers video from upwards of 12 cameras positioned around the circuit.
Finding the HST Portland broadcast online is a cinch. Coverage is streamed at the SCCA YouTube channel and SCCA Facebook page. Post-race video interviews with many winners from Saturday, and Sunday victory podium celebration videos, can also be found at the SCCA Road Racing Facebook page. And as always, live Timing and Scoring is available throughout the weekend at www.scca.com/live.
Saturday Race Winners: Below are provisional race winners from Saturday’s Hoosier Super Tour at Portland International Raceway with Class: Name, Hometown and Car.
B-Spec: Tom Tuttle; Austin, TX; Mini Cooper
E Production: Kurt Frietzsche; Mountain View, CA; Mazda RX-7
F Production: Garry Small; Damascas, OR; Volvo P1800
H Production: Bill Okell; Victoria, BC; MG Midget
Formula Atlantic®: Tony Opheim; Garfield, WA; Swift 014.a Toyota
Formula Continental®: Hunter Tatman; Fort Collins, CO; Van Diemen RF06
Formula Enterprises®2: Caleb Shrader; Tigard, OR; SCCA Enterprises FE2 Mazda
Formula Vee®: Quinn Posner; Camas, WA; Protoform P3
GT-1: Justin Dempsey; Kennewick, WA; Chevrolet Camaro
GT-2: Jim Valdez; Portland, OR; BMW E46
GT-3: Collin Jackson; Langley, BC; Nissan 240SX
GT-Lite: Scott Twomey; Tacoma, WA; Toyota Tercel
Spec Miata: Jason Rawlins; Gaston, OR; Mazda Miata
Spec MX-5 Challenge: Jon Davies; Hood River, OR; Mazda Spec MX-5
Spec Racer® Ford Gen3: Caleb Shrader; Tigard, OR; Spec Racer Ford Gen3
Prototype 1: Jim Devenport; Alamo, CA; Elan DP02 Mazda
Prototype 2: John MacIntyre; San Jose, CA; Stohr WF1
Super Touring® Lite: David Palfenier; Miami, FL; Mazda RF
Super Touring® Under: Rylan Hazelton; Soquel, CA; Honda S2000
Touring 1: Thad Berger; Redmond, WA; Porsche GT4 Clubsport MR
Touring 2: Gamaliel Aguilar-Gamez; Renton, WA; BMW M240iR
Touring 3: Chris Hart; Yakima, WA; Nissan 370z
Touring 4: Marc Cefalo; Swoyersville, PA; Mazda MX-5
Photo: Quinn Posner (No. 9) leads Marjorie Lundberg (No. 24) and Robert Posner (No.4) on his way to victory Saturday in Formula Vee during the Hoosier Super Tour at Portland International Raceway.
Photo by Doug Berger/DBPics.com
