RACE: June Sprints Saturday SCCA report

First Three June Sprints Races in the Book

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 26, 2010) -- The 55th Chicago Region SCCA WeatherTech June Sprints got underway Saturday with the first three races of the summer's biggest SafeRacer SCCA National Racing Series event at Road America.

In Race One, Joe Koenig, of Glenview, Ill., passed polesitter and early leader Kip Olson on lap nine, just before the race's second full-course caution period came out, effectively ending the race. Koenig took the overall and Super Touring O class win in his No. 70 Drywall Art.com/Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3. Olson did edge Koenig for the new class lap record though, with a 2:19.937 in his No. 49 Driving Ambition Acura NSX.

John Heinricy, of Holly, Mich., captured the Touring 1 class win in his No. 35 Torvec Chevrolet Corvette after polesitter and early leader Tom Sloe pulled off with a mechanical issue. David MacNeil, of Hinsdale, Ill., finished second in his No. 79 WeatherTech.com Ferrari F430 Challenge.

Andy McDermid, of Grand Ledge, Mich., went flag-to-flag for the American Sedan class win in his No. 24 Felice Performance Engines Ford Mustang over Richard Jones' No. 77 Jomac Truck Bodies & Cranes Ford Mustang.

Joel Weinberger, of Hinsdale, Ill., and former National Champion Andy Wolverton, of Papilion, Neb., cruised to wins in Super Touring U and Touring 2, respectively. Weinberger set a new class lap record in his No. 3 Continental Audi of Naperville Audi A4, with a 2:32.937. Cooper MacNeil, of Hinsdale, Ill., equaled his father's second place finish behind Wolverton's No. 86 Raw Racing/Hoosier Tire Pontiac Solstice GXP in Touring 2.

Race Two for C and D Sports Racing as well as Sports 2000 saw polesitter Steve Forrer, of Fox Point, Wis., score a dominating flag-to-flag win overall in his No. 84 Forrer Supply Ralt RT-41. Forrer's C Sports Racing competition fell by the wayside during the event, allowing D Sports Racing winner Chris Farrell, of Salt Lake City, Utah, to advance to second overall in his No. 58 C&M Manufacturing/GDR Engines Stohr WF1. Farrell turned the fastest lap of the race, a record-setting 2:06.075. He needed to push hard as the race wound down, with 12th-overall starting Jason Barfield, of Granville, Ohio charging to the front in his No. 76 Young Racing Stohr WF1.

For the second-straight year, the family battle for Sports 2000 went to young Corey Fergus, of Powell, Ohio. Fergus started his No. 07 Hoosier Tires/Fergus Companies Carbir CS2 second to father John, a six-time National Champion. The younger generation driver was able to move past his father and drive on to victory.

The third, and final, race of the day for Formula Continental and Formula F cars set up a great battle for the overall win between the two chief protagonists in the FC 2009 National Championship Runoffs event--Niki Coello and Revere Greist.

Polesitter Greist got the jump on four-time National Champion Coello and led the way for the first nine laps of the 13-lap contest. At one point, Greist's No. 56 Waypoint Health Innovations Van Diemen held nearly a three-second advantage, but Coello cut the lead down by the beginning of lap nine. When the field crossed the stripe a lap later, it was Coello's No. 81 Ralf Firman Racing Van Diemen at the point ahead of Gerald Szykulski's No. 31 Rotary Systems Van Diemen, and Greist headed to pit lane with a mechanical problem.

Jeremy Treadway, of Ticonderoga, N.Y., went flag-to-flag to take the FF win in his No. 12 Goodyear Swift DB-6. Reid Hazelton finished second in his No. 01 The Mob Van Diemen.

Celebrating its 55th-consecutive year at Road America, the Chicago Region WeatherTech June Sprints is the largest annual SafeRacer SCCA National Racing Series event, offering drivers the opportunity to compete against drivers from all across the country on one of the country's premier racetracks as well as complete one leg of the SCCA Super Sweep. Drivers winning their class will be one step closer to the coveted honor that includes a key event win, a Divisional Championship, the Nation-wide Points Championship and the National Championship Runoffs.

Full results for today's races, as well as qualifying results for Sunday's seven races, are available at www.scca.com.

-source: scca