Waterford Hills Road Racing was alive this weekend for race number two of six. The weather was hot, the track was hot, the racecars were hot and the excitement was even hotter. This is an overview of Groups One through Three. Group Four through Six will be review later in the week.
Group One
The first group on the track and the largest field of the weekend included Spec Miata, Spec Neon and STU. Veteran #38 Lynn Kraft won first overall and first in STU over rookie #74 Marc Augustine and veteran #46 Steve Djelebian, less than two seconds from first to third. Unfortunately on Sunday #74 Marc wrecked his BMW into the first turn wall. He was ok, hopefully he can rebuild and return soon.
In Spec Miata, #8 Seth Rowley beat #66 Ben Schaut by a little over a second for the Saturday class race win. They beat the rest of the 23 car field. The Spec Miata group is growing and is very exciting to watch. #8 Seth and #66 Ben finished that way in the Sunday class race as well. #9 Mike Novak was third. In the Feature #66 Ben got the win and #8 Seth was second #16 Doug Spencer was third.
#72 Eric Mozer picked up the win in Spec Neon for the Saturday class race and Sunday Feature race. #11 Andrew Mozer picked up the win during the Sunday class race.
Group Two
The field of F500 and FV took to the track. On Saturday, #33 Bill Harburn beat #4 Tom Diehm (last year’s F500 Champion) by 0.259 seconds. That was close! #98 Dave Satterley won in FV over an improving second year driver #90 Taylor McCormick.
On Sunday, #4 Tom was the class of the field, beating #45 Joe Dunn and #33 Bill. #98 Dave won again in FV with #13 Sean McCormick finishing second.
For the feature, #4 Tom and #45 Joe both had problems and #33 Bill got the win over second year driver, but rookie to F500, #20 Mo Makki. #13 Sean McCormick picked up the win in FV with #74 Stu Delaney finishing second.
Group Three
Six classes in the field of fourteen racecars started their Saturday class race in the heat of the day. The action on the track was even hotter. Canadian #6 Mike Patterson beat #7 Bruce “Ironman” Wentzel to the line by 0.037 second for the overall victory. It was close. #4 Randy "Triple Time" Shaw (Triple Time, races in SM, STL & ITS) finished third overall to beat out the girls #2 Liz Hammond and #16 Kristen Novak, all running Mazdas, for a win in STL.
#66 Ben Schaut and #81 Seth Rowley finished first and second in ITA to continue their weekend battle (Yes same drivers and cars that raced in Spec Miata). #53 Tim Wade finished third in his Honda.
#14 Steve Ives won in FP over #1 Ted Jacques by a little over a half a second. Another close class race.
On Sunday #6 Mike, won overall, with room to spare over #4 Randy, who won STL again. #66 Ben beat #81 Seth in ITA whom finished 3rd and 4th overall with #42 Chris Benfant finishing third in class. #7 Bruce finished 5th overall first in EP. #8 Bob Cross won IT7 by 0.039 seconds over #14x Charles Tobel, another close one, and #14 Steve again won FP.
For the feature, #6 Mike completed the weekend sweep with an overall win. #7 Bruce finished second for a win in EP. #4 Randy beat the girls again for a weekend sweep in STL. #14x Charlie won IT7, #81 Seth beat #66 Ben in ITA. #14 Steve finished the weekend sweep in FP.
Co-Driver
Nine racers took the green flag in the co-driver race for the last race on Saturday. #13 Bob Reid led early, lost the lead but took back the lead from #11 Drew Cattell near the end for the overall win in an ITE Mustang. #11 Drew finished second and beat three others in AS including #17 Bob Robinson by 0.521 seconds. #5 Dave Campbell won the battle of the Miatas over #17 Alex Pagani, #91 Jay Diehl and #1 Joe Riera.