SCCA US Double Majors Tour – Gateway Motorsports Park

Editor’s Note: We’d like to extend a warm welcome to the newest member of the OpenPaddock band of misfits, Josh Tons. Josh is the manager of Poor Boys Racing, a rally team out of St. Louis running in select Rally America and regional rallies in the Midwest. Josh is also an accomplished motorsports photographer, owner of Josh Tons Photography, covering many of the events held at Gateway Motorsports Park. Moving forward, Josh will be photographing many of the SCCA, Grand-Am, and rally events around the MidWest. During rally events, he will also be giving us reports from a rally team’s perspective. We’re happy to have Josh on board and we hope you enjoy his photography and writing as much as we do.


The SCCA US Double Majors Tour wrapped up the 2013 season with an event Saturday and Sunday at Gateway Motorsports Park. Seven groups of racers fought door to door in a combined meet for the Mid-States and Northern conferences.   The doubleheader weekend began with seven group qualifying sessions on Saturday morning, followed by 28-lap feature races at the seven turn, 1.65-mile road course. Saturday’s races, followed by Sunday’s battles, were the last remaining point scoring opportunities in the season-long title hunts. Each group was given a 10-lap qualifying session both days, with the finishing order determining grid position in the 28-lap feature races each afternoon.

Saturday’s action began with Group 1 and the battle for the Touring 3 class win as Tommy Boileau’s No. 43 BimmerHaus BMW Z4 battled with Mike Kramer’s No. 16 BFGoodrich Tires Saturn ION for the class lead. Boileau took pole in qualifying and never looked back, stretching out a substantial lead on his way to taking the checkered flag.  Greg Vandersluis, in the No. 93 Carbotech Ford Mustang took home the win in Touring 4 while Bob Schader, in the No. 5 Hoosier Tires Mazda Miata took home the win in Super Touring Lites. Sunday’s action with Bob Schader in the No. 5 Hoosier Tires Mazda Miata taking the overall win, Tommy Boileau in the No. 43 BimmerHaus BMW Z4 clinched the Touring 3 title. While Greg Vandersluis, in the No. 93 Carbotech Ford Mustang took home the win in Touring 4.

Denny Stripling - Group 2 WinnerGroup 2 began with Denny Stripling taking the Spec Racer Ford win by over four seconds in his No. 4 Lightspeed Motorsports SRF, on Saturday. A lap four accidents wiped out five cars, including the No. 69 Apex Driving Academy machine of Mid-States leader Keith Verges. This DNF for Verges put his title in danger and required him to place at least 14th in order to maintain his championship hopes. Denny Stripling established a four second lead for the second consecutive day to take home the Spec Racer Ford on Sunday in his No. 4 Lightspeed Motorsports SRF.

 

Saturday’s Group 3 action consisted of Eric Prill’s F Production No. 7 Jesse Prather Motorsports Mazda Miata beating BillEric Prill - Group 3 Winner Allman’s E Production No. 28 CarStar RX7 in an interclass battle for the overall lead. Allman took an early lead, but after making the pass for the lead, Prill quickly stretched out a win. The H Production race was a two-car battle between the No. 3 Hoosier Volkwagen GTI of Chris Albin and the No. 87 ReK Racing Triumph Spitfire of Aaron Johnson. The battle continued throughout the race until a spin in turn two on lap 20 by Johnson gave Albin the lead and the victory. Sunday’s race concluded with Jim Daniels’ No. 86 MazdaRacers.com Mazda Miata cruising to a dominating overall and E Production victory. Behind him, Sam Henry pushed his F Production No. 37 Springfield Dyno Mazda Miata past the checkered flag for the class win.

Jimmy Simpson - Group 4 WinnerGroup 4’s Saturday race began with Jimmy Simpson in his No. 27 RacePro Marketing Swift/Toyota Formula Atlantic powering away from Jacek  Mucha’s No. 01 Swift 016/Mazda at the drop of the green flag. Simpson took the lead and never looked back as his dominance throughout the race lead him to victory.  Sunday’s race found Jimmy Simpson starting from the rear of the field after the gear shift lever in the No. 27 RacePro Marketing Swift/Toyota broke off in his hand on the opening lap of qualifying. Simpson only needed laps to work his way through the field and into first and eventually the win.

 

Group 5 began its Saturday race with an overall group win by Michael Lewis in his No. 57 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.  Phillip Smith took the American Standard class win, withTodd Napieralski taking home the Touring 1 win and Natha Wakldbaum taking the win in Touring 2. Sunday’s action began as Todd Napieralski drove to Touring 1 and overall victory, completing a weekend sweep in the No. 3 Total Performance Racing Chevrolet Camaro. Keith Moody drove his No. 01 Bo-Daddy Shrimp Chevrolet Monte Carlo to two GT-2 wins at Gateway while Natha Waldbaum swept the weekend in her No. 5 Hutter Performance Chevrolet Corvette to earn her Touring 2 title. Chad Bacon swept the event in GT-3 with a pair of wins in the No. 18 FedEx Ground Toyota Celica.

Group 6 began Saturday as Jim Drago piloted his No. 2 East Street Racing Mazda Miata to a win in Spec Miata, Erik Stearns’ No. 97 East Street Racing Miata finished second to Drago, with Bruce Andersen’s No. 17 Senson Racing Grp Miata finishing third. Drago would have to earn an eighth place finish on Sunday in order to take the crown in the Mid-States. Sunday’s race was nearly identical to Saturday’s as  Drago took the win with Stearn finishing in second.

Group 7 Saturday race began as Cliff Johnson pulled away from the field after a red flag on a lap four incident to take the Formula F win in his No. 4 Alpine Litho-Graphics Piper DF-5. The battle for the final podium spots began at the drop of the green and lasted throughout the entire race, with Bill Kephart, Lewis and David Livingston each spending time in the second and third slots. Kephart finished as the runner-up in the No. 37 Vestial 10F, with Lewis’ No. 77 Red Line Oil Vestial finishing third. Bill Johnson took an early lead in the Formula Vee race in his No. 42 Portable Work Tools Volkswagen. However in the final laps, Brad Stout in his No. 35 ACI Distributors VW closed the gap and moved to the lead with eight to go. Once in front, Stout kept Johnson at bay to take the win. Sunday’s race saw CJ McAbee drive his No. 1 AJ’s Import GarageRotax to the overall win. After a black flag due to a Formula 500 hitting the wall in turn one, Cliff Johnson piloted his Formula F No. 4 Alpine Litho-Graphics Piper DF-5 to a class win, while Bill Johnson, driving his Formula Vee No. 42 Portable Work Tools Volkswagen, took home the win.

Saturday’s Provisional Winners

Class

Name

Hometown

State

Car

American Sedan

 Philip Smith

 New Albany

 Ohio

 Chevrolet Camaro

B-Spec

 Mike Asselta

 Overland Park

 Kan.

 Mini Cooper

D Sports Racing

 Richard Colburn

 Northbrook

 Ill.

 NosTendo 2

E Production

 Bill Allman

 Topeka

 Kan.

 Mazda RX-7

F Production

 Eric Prill

 Topeka

 Kan.

 Mazda Miata

H Production

 Chris Albin

 Maryland Heights

 Mo.

 Volkswagen GTI

GT-1

 Michael Lewis

 Poway

 Calif.

 Chevrolet Monte Carlo

GT-2

 Keith Moody

 Harrisonville

 Mo.

 Chevrolet Monte Carlo

GT-3

 Chad Bacon

 Kingsport

 Tenn.

 Toyota Celica

GT-Lite

 Steve Sargis

 Frankfort

 Ill.

 Triumph Spitfire

Formula 500

 William Cobb

 Cambridge

 Wis.

 CNB Milton Bana

Formula Atlantic

 Jimmy Simpson

 Indianapolis

 Ind.

 Swift 016a/Toyota

Formula Continental

 Robert Allaer

 Lithia

 Fla.

 Van Diemen RF02

Formula Enterprises

 Henry Donohoo

 Arvada

 Colo.

 Formula Enterprises/Mazda

Formula F

 Cliff Johnson

 Stilwell

 Kan.

 Piper DF-5

Formula Mazda

 Alan McCallum

 Houston

 Texas

 Formula Mazda

Formula Vee

 Brad Stout

 St. Charles

 Mo.

 Vortech/VW

Spec Miata

 Jim Drago

 Memphis

 Tenn.

 Mazda Miata

Spec Racer Ford

 Denny Stripling

 McKinney

 Texas

 Spec Racer Ford

Sports 2000

 Rob Sherwood

 Saint Louis

 Mo.

 Carbir CS2/Ford

Super Touring Lite

 Bruce Andersen

 Sarasota

 Fla.

 Mazda Miata

Super Touring Under

 Tom Kraft

 Des Moines

 Iowa

 Mazda Miata

Touring 1

 Todd Napieralski

 Chelsea

 Mich.

 Chevrolet Camaro

Touring 2

 Natha Waldbaum

 Omaha

 Neb.

 Chevrolet Corvette

Touring 3

 Tommy Boileau

 Monument

 Colo.

 BMW Z4

Touring 4

 Greg Vandersluis

 North Olmsted

 Ohio

 Ford Mustang

 

Sunday’s Provisional Winners

Class

Name

Hometown

State

Car

American Sedan

 Philip Smith

 New Albany

 Ohio

 Chevrolet Camaro

D Sports Racing

 Richard Colburn

 Northbrook

 Ill.

 NosTendo 2

E Production

 Jim Daniels

 Memphis

 Tenn.

 Mazda Miata

F Production

 Sam Henry

 Republic

 Mo.

 Mazda Miata

H Production

 Chris Albin

 Maryland Heights

 Mo.

 Volkswagen GTI

GT-1

 Michael Major

 Collinsville

 Ill.

 Chevrolet Camaro

GT-2

 Keith Moody

 Harrisonville

 Mo.

 Chevrolet Monte Carlo

GT-3

 Chad Bacon

 Kingsport

 Tenn.

 Toyota Celica

GT-Lite

 Peter Zekert

 Maryland Heights

 Mo.

 Nissan 200SX

Formula 500

 CJ McAbee

 Topeka

 Kan.

 AJ’s 2012/Rotax

Formula Atlantic

 Jimmy Simpson

 Indianapolis

 Ind.

 Swift 016a/Toyota

Formula Continental

 Jim Victor

 Davenport

 Iowa

 Firman RFR/Ford

Formula Enterprises

 Henry Donohoo

 Arvada

 Colo.

 Formula Enterprises/Mazda

Formula F

 Cliff Johnson

 Stilwell

 Kan.

 Piper DF-5

Formula Mazda

 Alan McCallum

 Houston

 Texas

 Formula Mazda

Formula Vee

 Bill Johnson

 Leawood

 Kan.

 Vortech/VW

Spec Miata

 Jim Drago

 Memphis

 Tenn.

 Mazda Miata

Spec Racer Ford

 Denny Stripling

 McKinney

 Texas

 Spec Racer Ford

Sports 2000

 Rob Sherwood

 Saint Louis

 Mo.

 Carbir CS2/Ford

Super Touring Lite

 Bob Schader

 Longmont

 Colo.

 Mazda Miata

Super Touring Under

 Tom Kraft

 Des Moines

 Iowa

 Mazda Miata

Touring 1

 Todd Napieralski

 Chelsea

 Mich.

 Chevrolet Camaro

Touring 2

 Natha Waldbaum

 Omaha

 Neb.

 Chevrolet Corvette

Touring 3

 Tommy Boileau

 Monument

 Colo.

 BMW Z4

Touring 4

 Greg Vandersluis

 North Olmsted

 Ohio

 Ford Mustang

 

 

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