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 Four through Six.
GROUP 4
The Ground Pounders hit the track 19 racecars strong. The 2009 SM Champion #97 Don Walsh took the lead and held on for the win for the Saturday class race. But the veteran and reigning STO champion #37 Danny Kellermeyer was at his rear bumper. Both running Corvettes, they finished 1st and 2nd overall and in STO. #84 James Bambard finished third overall and in class.
#06 Bob Hofmann finished first in GT1 in his Oldsmobile. #6 Tyler Williams beat #68 Kris Smith (Not running his ITC Beetle this weekend) for the win in AS.
The Sunday Class race hit the track in the early afternoon. #97 Don beat the veteran #37 Danny with #84 James in third overall and in STO, just like the day before. #06 Bob won GT1. #13 Todd Lincoln won ITE in his Mustang. #68 Kris got the better of #6 Tyler winning AS.
With a smaller field for the feature, #97 Don Walsh held off #84 James and #20 Aaron Bambach for the overall and the STO win. #30 John Blanchard won AS over #17 Bob Robinson both driving Chevy Camaros.
GROUP 5
The Waterford Hills Road Racing 2010 Top Driver of the Year and ITA champion Canadian #98 Alex Pagani won overall and ITS in each race of weekend #2. #46 Steve Djelebian finished second to #98 Alex during the Saturday class race. #43 Christian Cook came from the rear of the field on Saturday to finish 3rd overall and in class.
In ITB #81 Chris Tumpkin continued his winning ways winning both class races for the weekend. #73 Kimi Cordier finished second in ITB to beat her Dad, #47 Dave Cordier in third in the Saturday class race.
The Sunday class race had #43 Christian chasing #98 Alex for second overall and in ITS. #46 Steve finished third. #47 Dave swapped finishing positions with #73 Kimi for second in ITB class.
The feature race had #43 Christian again finishing second to #98 Alex and #38 Lynn Kraft finished third. #41 Sean Conely won his first ITB race, the #81 Chris finishing second. Canadian #49 Bill Writt finished third in ITB.
Group 6
#38 Ralph Provitz was the class of the field winning easily in DSR and overall for all three races of the weekend. Behind him during the Saturday class race was a battle.
#16 Tim Gafney got a great start to get by #6 Bruce MacDonald and #18 Paul Knight. These three raced nose to tail for seven straight laps on the hot and slick Waterford Hills Road Course. #6 Bruce made a spectacular pass on the front stretch to get by #16 Tim. He held off a hard charging #18 Paul for the win in CFC and the second overall position. #18 Paul won first in FC over #16 Tim who ended up fifth overall behind DSR #17 Jim Lamb. #14 Melissa Fergus from Chicago finished sixth overall and second in CFC.
#38 Ralph won the Sunday class race with #17 Jim in tow for second overall and in DSR. #18 Paul was third overall and first in FC, #42 Steve Myers was second in FC. #14 Melissa finished fourth overall and first in CFC, with #63 Dave Keep second in CFC. #6 Bruce had engine trouble that kept him out of the Sunday races.
With a smaller field for the feature race. #14 Melissa scored a second overall to #38 Ralph and won CFC. #17 Jim again finished second in DSR and third overall. #65 Vaughan Scott beat two other DSR to finish third in class. #18 Paul won FC after only completing five laps in the single car field of FC.
Southern Motors Hard Charger Award for the weekend went to hard-luck group #1 STU driver #74 Marc Augustine
POINTS
It is early in the season but note there are three ‘perfect’ drivers for the season. They have won each of the six races through the first two race weekends.
STL driver #4 Randy Shaw
DSR driver #38 Ralph Provitz
ITS driver #98 Alex Pagani
The next race weekend is June 25th and 26th. The US Hoosier Tire Formula First Series will be visiting Waterford Hills and competing in their third and fourth races of their season series. There are already nine entries with more than two weeks before race time. They will be the focus of the Showcase races for the weekend.
See you there!