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RACE: June Sprints Sunday summary

Hard Charging Day Two Puts Wraps On 49th Kohler SCCA Chicago Region June Sprints ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 20, 2004) -- Following the lead set by Saturday's races, the final five races of the Kohler SCCA Chicago Region June Sprints wrapped up a ...

Hard Charging Day Two Puts Wraps On 49th Kohler SCCA Chicago Region June Sprints

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 20, 2004) -- Following the lead set by Saturday's races, the final five races of the Kohler SCCA Chicago Region June Sprints wrapped up a fantastic weekend of competition.

More than 80 of the SCCA's 110 regions were represented, by drivers and workers, at Road America, strengthening the Sprints' stand as one of SCCA Club Racing's premier National events.

Wisconsin's weather put it's best effort forward for the weekend, as Sunday was a few degrees warmer than Saturday, with temperatures moving into the lower 70s by the afternoon under sunny conditions.

Using the ideal racing conditions to his full advantage, Lee Fleming, of Lake Forest, Calif., started third and held off a late charge from TJ Acker, of Agua Dulce, Calif., claiming the first win of the day in Group Four. Fleming took the checkered flag in his Champion Motorsports Spec Racer Ford by 0.313-sec. over Acker's Andrews Electronics SRF. Chris Funk, of Kansas City, Mo., wound up third, 3.465 seconds back, after starting tenth.

Group Five, featuring five classes (Touring 1, Touring 2, Showroom Stock B, Showroom Stock C and American Sedan), had an auspicious beginning to the afternoon portion of Sunday's show as the weekend's first and only full-course yellow was called.

Naykid Racing's Cindy Lux, in her Kumho Tires/Redline/Kodiak Wheels Chevrolet Corvette Z06, came away with the T1 win by 0.647-sec., after a lap-nine spin by T1 competitor Christopher Ash, of Parker, Colo., caused a collision with AS driver Martin Shook, of Beachwood, Ohio.

The caution wiped out a sizeable lead that Lux had built, but she forged another lead after the restart. Lux's teammate, pole-sitter Scotty B. White, in his Kumho Tires/Redline/Corsa/Kodiak/WH Z06, used the restart to bolt a second-place finish after sitting fourth for much of the race before the yellow flag came out. Lance Knupp, of Fenton, Mich., wound up third in his IEC/Hawk/Phoenix/Reddog Saloon Corvette.

In the other Group Five classes, Andy McDermid, of Grand Ledge, Mich., started second and finished first in his A Sedan Lane Automotive/Goodyear/Redline Oil Ford Mustang. The only two-time national champion in the field finished ahead of third-qualifier Monte Cowles, of Dumfries, Va., in his Cowles Ford/Goodyear/Redline Oil Mustang. Craig Weidner, of Cadillac, Mich., drove his Hoosier Tire/Red Line Racing Oil Mustang to a bronze finish after starting sixth.

Showroom Stock B may come down to an off-track decision. During the race's final two laps, potential podium finishers Harry Manning, of Racine, Wis., and Jim Leithauser, of Westminster, Colo., were reported to be in separate, car-to-car incidents that have been appealed. Leithauser's incident, which came as he was leading, left him in the gravel at turn 12 on lap 12, while Manning eventually crossed the finish line as the unofficial winner. A decision may not be known for several days.

Manning's Rosen Mazda/RedLine/HoosierHawkBosch Mazda Miata took the win over silver finisher Patrick Jeffords, of Elm Grove, Wis. Jeffords, in his Jan/Kerry/Mike/Jimmy/Hoosier BMW Z4, finished ahead of Jack Tippens, of Woodstock, Ill., in his Dora/Anderson Mazda/Hoosier Miata.

In T2, Jordan Sandridge, of Westfield Center, Ohio, in his Grandma's Potato Salad/Goodyear Pontiac Firebird, utilized the mid-race delay to jump past Toby Grahovec, of Palos Park, Ill. Grahovec led for most of the first half of the race in his Sky Tek/Mopar/Hoosier Dodge SRT-4 before finishing in second. John Fernandez, Director of Motorsports for Dodge, settled in third place in his Chrysler/Hoosier Dodge SRT-4.

Jim Daniels, of Germantown, Tenn., led the pack in a relatively quiet SSC race on his way to the victory in his Mazdaspeed/Hoosier/JD-INC.com Mazda 3. Behind Daniels, Ryan Ciechanski, of Sterling Heights, Mich., grabbed the second spot in his CieMotorsports/SWB Racing Honda Civic, and Pete Taylor, of Ortonville, Mich., in his Hankook Tire/Sky Tek Engineering Dodge Neon took third.

There was never any doubt whatsoever about who the top performer in the Group 6 race was Sunday. Cliff Ebben, of Appleton, Wis., went into the Sprints looking for his fifth consecutive class win at this event, and didn't appear to ever lift his foot from the gas as he blew away the GT1 competition. On the fourth lap of 13, pole-sitter Ebben opened up a five-second advantage over eventual second-place finisher Pete Mohrhauser and never looked back, taking the win in his Lamers Motorracing/Hoosier/Baumgart Tire Corvette. Mohrhauser, of Racine, Wis., held on to second in his Retail Maintenance Service Ford Mustang, just ahead of the Central Power Distributors Inc. Camaro driven by John Schaller, of Burns Township, Minn.

Tom Patten, of Hamilton, Ohio, gained the lead on lap eight after starting fourth in GT2 and never looked back, finishing first in his Tire Discounters/Redline Oil/ Fel Pro Sunbeam Tiger. Top-qualifier James Ferro, of Minooka, Ill., dropped a few places during the race, but managed to rebound and finish second in his C&P Racing/Tracradios.com Corvette. Scott Sanda, of Western Springs, Ill., earned third in his TRO Manufacturing Porsche GT3 Cup.

It almost ended up Mazda 1-2 in GT3 with Mike Henderson, of El Cajon, Calif., leading the class in his M2 Motorsports Mazda/Goodyear Mazda RX-7. Pole-sitter Henderson and Rob Warkocki, of Frankfort, Ill., fought back-and-forth for the lead through the first half of the race. But in the end, Warkocki's Second Shift Motorsports/Mazda RX-7 dropped to third behind the RedLine Oil/Toyota Motorsports/TRD Toyota Celica driven by multi-time national champion Mike Cyphert, of Burton, Ohio.

Defending national champion Jon Brakke, of Fargo, N.D., held off a surprising early bolt from sixth-qualifier Lawrence Loshak, of Glendale, Wis., to take the E Production and Group Seven overall win. Brakke was the class' top-qualifier in his Calibrated Combustion Motorsports Mazda Miata and set a new race lap record with a 2:31.959 (95.134 mph) en route to the victory.

Loshak, in his Eng & Trans/Hyperformance/DPR Honda Prelude, also broke the previous lap record and, after the early lead, finished almost 13 seconds behind Brakke. Jesse Prather, of Topeka, Kan., was the benefactor of Tony Rivera, of Littleton, Colo., and Ken Kannard, of East Troy, Wis., falling upon misfortune in the late portions of the race and finished third in his Prather Racing/MazdaSpeedMotorsport RX-7.

Steve Sargis, of Frankfort, Ill., took the FP win and earned a seventh-overall finish in his Hoosier Tires/SBS Batteries Triumph Spitfire. Sargis was fast all weekend, breaking his three-year-old qualifying record by more than a second. Behind Sargis, Luis Rivera, of Kiowa, Colo., steadily moved up from his fourth-qualifying spot and finished second in his RPM Motorsports Mazda Miata. John Loomis, of Elkhart, Ind., nabbed third driving a MG Limited/Temple Products MG B.

While it wasn't surprising that Karl McColl, of Arvada, Colo., took the checkered flag in his G Production TMR Rally/Sport Goodyear/Redline Oil Nissan 510 from his pole position, the second and third spots claimed by Richard Luening, of Greenfield, Wis., and Greg Gauper, of Hubertus, Wis., respectively, were not expected. The opportunity to move up opened for the pair when Kent Prather, of Wakarusa, Kan., went off course late in the race.

There were no surprises in H Production as the top three qualifiers finished in that order during Sunday's race. John Salisbury, of Gurnee, Ill., claimed the win in his A&M Motorsports AH Sprite, putting two other cars between him and silver finisher Richard Root, of Kenosha, Wis. Root's Stuckey Construction VW Rabbit topped third-man Andrew Wright, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., who drove his Hoosier/Redline Oil/Hawk Brakes AH Sprite MK1.

In Grand Touring 4, Daryl Wessel, of Waukesha, Wis., topped Bill Partridge, of Mooresville, Ind., to take the class win. Wessel qualified first in his WRT Specialties/Reina Intl. Auto Fiat 131 and never looked back, beating out Partridge's Laughlins Men's Wear/Nissan Nissan Sentra. Robert Nelson, of Rockton, Ill., got third in his Team Hurley/Abbott Plastics Sentra. The lone finisher in the GT-5 race was Jim Dentici, of Wconomowoc, Wis., in his Raglin Racing Fiat 128 SL.

In the day's final race, Group 8, which featured Formula Atlantic and Formula Continental, Tom Jagemann, of Two Rivers, Wis., made it seem easy as he toyed with the rest of the FA crowd. After second-place finisher Jacek Mucha, in his Ralt RT40, had closed an early gap to seven-tenths of a second, Jagemann dropped the hammer in his Jagemann Stamping Co Ralt RT 41 by setting a new race lap record and jetting out to a three-second lead on lap five.

Jagemann continued to roll as his lead grew to its final margin, an unbelievable 40.365 seconds. Behind Mucha, who had to slow because of a fuel shortage, Dan Cobb, of Green Oaks, Ill., finished third in his Camelot Construction LLC Swift .014.

Brian Tomasi, of Elgin, Ill., made a sweep of the weekend in FC as he took the pole and then the win driving his Hoosier Racetire/RMX/NOVA Van Diemen RF 01. Behind Tomasi, 2003 Sprints winner Dave Weitzenhof, of Bath, Ohio, moved up from his starting fourth position to claim second. And Steve Forrer, of Mequon, Wis., finished third in his ForrerSupplyCo./KHillMotorsports Van Diemen 2000.

For a listing of provisional results and information about the Kohler SCCA Chicago Region June Sprints and SCCA Club Racing, visit www.scca.com.

-scca-

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