Cool and sunny is ideal for racing, and the racing steward in the sky smiled on Virginia International Raceway on Saturday for the first day of racing in this weekend’s Hoosier Racing Tire Super Tour. It’s a return to the track that hosted the Runoffs each of the past two seasons, and it always makes for great racing on one of the more challenging road racing circuits around.

Feeling Lighter

Anyone who saw the American Sedan race at least year’s Runoffs certainly remembers the winner interview with new champ Danny Richardson. A multi-generation SCCA racer, Richardson had a pure release of emotion as the realization that he was now a National Champion began to set in.

It was a touching moment that proved how much effort goes into the top title in amateur road racing, complete with tears of joy – and yes, “that moment” at the end of the interview.

With a new season just getting underway, how has life changed for Richardson on the track?

“It’s not much different, other than it feels like there’s a weight off of your shoulders,” Richardson said. “It’s like, we finally did it. I feel a lot more relaxed in the car and it’s more about having fun now. The stress is gone. We’ve made the car faster and I think it’s made me faster too.”

Something is certainly faster. This weekend is the first Hoosier Super Tour of the season for Richardson, who hasn’t yet participated in the January swing through Florida with work and a young family taking up the winter months.

“There’s been a couple of track records that I’ve always wanted to have,” he said. “My home track, Summit Point, and then here. Last week we got the track record at Summit, and this weekend we just did it here. The car’s just flying. We want to see how fast we can make this thing because I know we have some really powerful Mustangs at Road America to go race against.”

For those who saw the interview, Richardson gave a shoutout to his wife, who missed the event to stay home with their three young daughters. He may or may not have made a tongue-in-cheek reference to their behavior which caused a chuckle across SCCA members’ social media accounts.

“It was all in good fun,” he said, as one of those daughters climbed in an out of his Chevrolet Camaro in impound.

And it was – at least until those daughters get old enough to want to watch the race that daddy won. It might be worth a pause button just before the winner’s interview for them, but it's teed up for you right here if you missed it. 

Coolest Guy in the Paddock, Revisited

Speaking of great interviews, Jared Odrick gave an all-time classic after his GT-2 win last year at the Runoffs. A literal former NFL defensive lineman, Odrick was reduced to a puddle of happy tears when the gold medal went around his neck for his new-found accomplishment. But he snapped back to attention when he realized he had held off Barry Boes for the win.

To recap, Odrick said “Barry Boes is like the coolest guy. When I saw him get out of his car at Sebring, and he had a hot chick, and he’s sculpted with three percent body fat, and his profile pic has those sunglasses, I thought how am I going to beat this cool ass guy? Maybe he’ll give me some cool points, I don’t know.”

(Well… he said that and a few other words mixed in, which we went ahead and cut out up there. But you can see it all here.)

Boes, of course, didn’t know that was happening – he found out later when his girlfriend jokingly texted the video and said “that’s me!”

“That’s a lot to live up to,” Boes thought.

It was still quite the compliment, coming from an objectively cool guy with low body fat himself.

“I had heard some of it on the podium, and I was already really impressed by him and his attitude and he’s such a nice guy,” Boes said this weekend in his return to VIR. “But I don’t know how many people have said something to me about it.”

Like Odrick, Boes came to racing as an adult after doing some other fun things along the way.

“I wake boarded, and I was semi-professional but not quite good enough,” Boes said. “Then I started racing dirt bikes, and found out that I was good but not great. I ran into a friend, who said ‘you ought to go try racing cars.’ I had no idea how to do that. It was a childhood dream, but how do you do that?”

That friend and some other buddies had built a Miata for budget endurance racing, and invited Boes to join them in the car for a race. How did it go?

“It was pretty obvious to me quickly that I had more talent in a car than on a dirt bike,” Boes said. “And then I ran into Scott Adams, who is possibly the best driver coach there is. I’ve been working with him for the past six years now, keeping my head down. My goal for myself is to do the best I can do. If that’s first, it’s first. If it’s 37th, it’s 37th. And if I can do that, I’ll be happy.”

More often than not, it’s first. Boes snagged a track record before mechanical gremlins ended his day on Saturday at VIR, and the Hoosier Super Tour is just part of his busy racing schedule. He’s got Pro-Am class wins in Trans Am, including his best overall finishes already this season. He’s added the Trans Am West championship to his calendar, too.

And, of course, he’ll be back at the Runoffs this year, trying to grab the title at Road America. If he does, there’s at least one former football superstar who will be rooting for him.

Unless, of course, Odrick uses his champion’s provisional to take another shot at those cool points.

Saturday’s Coolest Racers

In all, 26 drivers took home class wins on Saturday at VIR. Those class winners, with name and car, are below (all results listed are provisional – official results can be found on the event page here):

American Sedan: Daniel Richardson, Chevrolet Camaro
B-Spec: Stewart Black, Chevrolet Sonic
E Production: John Hainsworth, Mazda RX-7
F Production: Robert Garrison, Mazda Miata
H Production: Steve Sargis, Triumph Spitfire
Formula 600: Cory McLeod, Red Devil Aero
Formula Atlantic: Tony Ave, Swift 016/Mazda
Formula Enterprises 2: Russell Turner, Formula Enterprises/Mazda
Formula F: Chris Smith, Van Diemen RF00/Honda
Formula Vee: Brian Farnham, Silver Bullet FR-S/Volkswagen
GT-1: Michael McAleenan, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO
GT-2: Austin Jurs, Chevrolet Camaro
GT-3: Tony Ave, Acura RSX
GT-Lite: James Gregorious, Mazda RX-7
GT-X: Woody Whichard, Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport
Prototype 1: Todd Vanacore, Elan DP02
Prototype 2: Sherman Chao, Stohr WF1
Super Touring Lite: Chuck Hines, Mazda MX-5
Super Touring Under: Darin Treakle, BMW 325
Spec Miata: Danny Steyn, Mazda Miata
Spec MX-5: Ethan Jacobs, Mazda MX-5
Spec Racer Ford Gen 3: Brian Schofield, Spec Racer Ford
Touring 1: Mark Boden, Mercedes-AMG GT4
Touring 2: John Heinricy, Cadillac CT4 Blackwing
Touring 3: Rob Hines, Nissan 350Z
Touring 4: Marc Cefalo, Mazda MX-5