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GT Racing
NASA: National Championship At Mid-Ohio Wraps Up
NASA closed out its seventh annual Championships presented by Toyo Tires run at Mid-Ohio by awarding trophies in 21 classes today...
Champions in the remaining NASA categories were crowned Sunday at Mid-Ohio. (Photo: NASA)
The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) closed out its seventh annual NASA Championships presented by Toyo Tires run at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend by awarding trophies in 21 classes today.
Group C (CMC, FFR, Spec Z)
From the drop of the green flag in the Factory Five Racing Class, Paul Arnold (Franklin, Tenn.) in the No. 5 Factory Five Racing (FFR) took the lead. Paul Kaiser (Roanoke, Va.) in the No. 8 FFR and defending FFR winner, spun on lap one. He had to make his way back to third by lap five, but was some 12-seconds behind Arnold.
On lap seven Arnold spun of the track in his own oil handing the lead to No. 48 John George (Nashua, N.H.). Kaiser was taking almost a second-and-a-half out of George's lead as he recovered from his first lap spin heading to the front of the field. On lap 11 the field witnessed a full course caution, bunching the field together and putting Kaiser back in the hunt. On the restart George remained in the lead. As cars were going off the track Kaiser kept moving up the field, but could not catch George at the finish.
"Every time I would get a lead, the yellows would come out," George said. "The first restart Paul Kaiser got around me, and then I was able to get back bye. I was able to hold a gap until the next yellow and had to do it again. The car ran excellent, and I am really happy to win it."
In the inaugural NASA Championship running for the Nissan Spec Z Class, David Dirks (Loveland, Colo.) in the No. 76 Nissan 350Z and Jeremy Croiset (Techachapi, Calif.), No. 25 Nissan 350Z, were in a battle for the lead starting with the first lap. Croiset suffered a transmission issue in the qualifying race and was forced to start from the back of the Spec Z grid. On lap four Peter McIntosh (Howell, N.J.) joined the fight in his No. 3 Nissan 350Z.
On the next lap, Dirks went wide in Turn Five handing the lead to Croiset. The full course yellow on lap 11 would bring the Spec Z field back together. At the restart Croiset used clean track to extend his lead by some 12-seconds to Dirks. On lap 16 No. 28 Richard Baldwin (Madison, La) got off track hitting the wall and went upside down in his 350Z, bringing out the second yellow. At the restart Croiset used the gap to cruise to a second NASA Championship win of the weekend, the first in Honda Challenge 2 yesterday.
"I started from the back of the grid," Croiset said. "At the start I was able to move up through the field and started to work on Dirks. It took me a good four or five laps to get him and then I lost the power steering. That made it tough to get the car to the end. It was a battle at the end to overcome some mechanical gremlins to get the car to the checker. I would have gone for the overall win in the Group, buy my mechanical issues toward the end had me playing it really cool. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt an FFR guys chance at a NASA Championship."
In CMC (Camaro, Mustang Challenge) Chris Ferraro (Huger, S.C.) and his No. 14 Ford Mustang was in a battle with the No. 67 Pontiac Firebird of Bob Denton (Eureka, ILL), with Derek Wright (Hampshire, ILL) running in third ready to take advantage of any misstep in his No. 913 Chevrolet Camaro. Anders Sjoblom (Clinton Township, Mich.) who started from the rear in his No. 65 Ford Mustang was shown in second place under the second full-course caution period. Ferraro was able to hold off Sjoblom for the CMC Class win.
"It was tough," Ferraro said. "We started from the second row and anticipated the start and was able to jump out front. We got a nice little lead and I began to pace myself. The first yellow was a good thing. It allowed me to cool the tires down. On the restart the guys behind me got a great restart. I got slowed by an FFR car. The second restart I got bounced around, got hit in the front and rear. I drove hard and took it home. It was nice that Anders Sjoblom came back to give me a rematch."
Group D (Spec 986, 944 Spec, Spec E30)
In Spec 986 Thomas Jones (Frisco, Tx) in the No. 40 Porsche Boxster jumped out to an eight-second lead from the drop of the green flag. By lap 12 Jones had raced out to a 13-second lead over Paul Alexandre (Potomac Falls, Va) in the No. 615 Boxster. Alexandre was engaged in a battle for second and third with Bernard Nussbaumer (Dallas, Tx) in his No. 333 Boxster.
"Fantastic race," Jones said. "The car performed flawlessly and very smooth today. There is four of us here from Texas, we race and push each other really hard. This track suits my driving style, very technical. Going through the traffic staying away from the other class competitors was a little taxing, but everyone was gentlemanly today. It was a great day."
In 944 Spec the No. 80 of Eric Kuhns (Sterling, ILL) and the No. 4 of Tyler Palmer (Oceanside, Calif.) were locked in a battle in the opening laps of the race. The two combatants ran nose to tail for the first third of the race. Palmer took the lead and put four seconds on Kuhns. Kuhns had some 16 seconds on the third-place car of Dan Pina (Streamwood, ILL) in his No. 149 Porsche 944.
"In the beginning I was stuck behind Erik Kuhns," Palmer said. "His car started to fade away. My car was better towards the end. I passed him and left everybody else. The start was a little anxious, but I felt pretty comfortable in taking it to the win."
Jeremy Lucas (Delaware, OH) started his No. 53 BMW 325 from the Spec E30 pole, but gave up the lead to the BMW of No. 7 Anthony Magagnoli (Florence, Ky) on lap two. Magagnoli began to gap the field as Lucas was battling with the No. 116 of Simon Hunter (Fishers, Ind.). On lap six Hunter took over the lead into Turn One and began to gap the field by nine seconds. The No. 22 of Charlie Hayes (Walnut Creek, Calif.) joined the fight battling with Lucas for second place. On lap 12 Hayes took over second from Lucas. In the last third of the race Ryan Ciechanski (Chelsea, Mich.) in the No. 56 BMW, who started back in the eighth position, joined the fight for a podium finish.
"It was a long race," Magagnoli said. "I was focused on putting fast laps together the whole time. This was not just one race. We had two races before this that put me in a position to start upfront when it really counted. The track was a little slippery today. I adjusted to it and was able to finish out front."
Group C (CMC, FFR, Spec Z)
From the drop of the green flag in the Factory Five Racing Class, Paul Arnold (Franklin, Tenn.) in the No. 5 Factory Five Racing (FFR) took the lead. Paul Kaiser (Roanoke, Va.) in the No. 8 FFR and defending FFR winner, spun on lap one. He had to make his way back to third by lap five, but was some 12-seconds behind Arnold.
On lap seven Arnold spun of the track in his own oil handing the lead to No. 48 John George (Nashua, N.H.). Kaiser was taking almost a second-and-a-half out of George's lead as he recovered from his first lap spin heading to the front of the field. On lap 11 the field witnessed a full course caution, bunching the field together and putting Kaiser back in the hunt. On the restart George remained in the lead. As cars were going off the track Kaiser kept moving up the field, but could not catch George at the finish.
"Every time I would get a lead, the yellows would come out," George said. "The first restart Paul Kaiser got around me, and then I was able to get back bye. I was able to hold a gap until the next yellow and had to do it again. The car ran excellent, and I am really happy to win it."
In the inaugural NASA Championship running for the Nissan Spec Z Class, David Dirks (Loveland, Colo.) in the No. 76 Nissan 350Z and Jeremy Croiset (Techachapi, Calif.), No. 25 Nissan 350Z, were in a battle for the lead starting with the first lap. Croiset suffered a transmission issue in the qualifying race and was forced to start from the back of the Spec Z grid. On lap four Peter McIntosh (Howell, N.J.) joined the fight in his No. 3 Nissan 350Z.
On the next lap, Dirks went wide in Turn Five handing the lead to Croiset. The full course yellow on lap 11 would bring the Spec Z field back together. At the restart Croiset used clean track to extend his lead by some 12-seconds to Dirks. On lap 16 No. 28 Richard Baldwin (Madison, La) got off track hitting the wall and went upside down in his 350Z, bringing out the second yellow. At the restart Croiset used the gap to cruise to a second NASA Championship win of the weekend, the first in Honda Challenge 2 yesterday.
"I started from the back of the grid," Croiset said. "At the start I was able to move up through the field and started to work on Dirks. It took me a good four or five laps to get him and then I lost the power steering. That made it tough to get the car to the end. It was a battle at the end to overcome some mechanical gremlins to get the car to the checker. I would have gone for the overall win in the Group, buy my mechanical issues toward the end had me playing it really cool. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt an FFR guys chance at a NASA Championship."
In CMC (Camaro, Mustang Challenge) Chris Ferraro (Huger, S.C.) and his No. 14 Ford Mustang was in a battle with the No. 67 Pontiac Firebird of Bob Denton (Eureka, ILL), with Derek Wright (Hampshire, ILL) running in third ready to take advantage of any misstep in his No. 913 Chevrolet Camaro. Anders Sjoblom (Clinton Township, Mich.) who started from the rear in his No. 65 Ford Mustang was shown in second place under the second full-course caution period. Ferraro was able to hold off Sjoblom for the CMC Class win.
"It was tough," Ferraro said. "We started from the second row and anticipated the start and was able to jump out front. We got a nice little lead and I began to pace myself. The first yellow was a good thing. It allowed me to cool the tires down. On the restart the guys behind me got a great restart. I got slowed by an FFR car. The second restart I got bounced around, got hit in the front and rear. I drove hard and took it home. It was nice that Anders Sjoblom came back to give me a rematch."
Group D (Spec 986, 944 Spec, Spec E30)
In Spec 986 Thomas Jones (Frisco, Tx) in the No. 40 Porsche Boxster jumped out to an eight-second lead from the drop of the green flag. By lap 12 Jones had raced out to a 13-second lead over Paul Alexandre (Potomac Falls, Va) in the No. 615 Boxster. Alexandre was engaged in a battle for second and third with Bernard Nussbaumer (Dallas, Tx) in his No. 333 Boxster.
"Fantastic race," Jones said. "The car performed flawlessly and very smooth today. There is four of us here from Texas, we race and push each other really hard. This track suits my driving style, very technical. Going through the traffic staying away from the other class competitors was a little taxing, but everyone was gentlemanly today. It was a great day."
In 944 Spec the No. 80 of Eric Kuhns (Sterling, ILL) and the No. 4 of Tyler Palmer (Oceanside, Calif.) were locked in a battle in the opening laps of the race. The two combatants ran nose to tail for the first third of the race. Palmer took the lead and put four seconds on Kuhns. Kuhns had some 16 seconds on the third-place car of Dan Pina (Streamwood, ILL) in his No. 149 Porsche 944.
"In the beginning I was stuck behind Erik Kuhns," Palmer said. "His car started to fade away. My car was better towards the end. I passed him and left everybody else. The start was a little anxious, but I felt pretty comfortable in taking it to the win."
Jeremy Lucas (Delaware, OH) started his No. 53 BMW 325 from the Spec E30 pole, but gave up the lead to the BMW of No. 7 Anthony Magagnoli (Florence, Ky) on lap two. Magagnoli began to gap the field as Lucas was battling with the No. 116 of Simon Hunter (Fishers, Ind.). On lap six Hunter took over the lead into Turn One and began to gap the field by nine seconds. The No. 22 of Charlie Hayes (Walnut Creek, Calif.) joined the fight battling with Lucas for second place. On lap 12 Hayes took over second from Lucas. In the last third of the race Ryan Ciechanski (Chelsea, Mich.) in the No. 56 BMW, who started back in the eighth position, joined the fight for a podium finish.
"It was a long race," Magagnoli said. "I was focused on putting fast laps together the whole time. This was not just one race. We had two races before this that put me in a position to start upfront when it really counted. The track was a little slippery today. I adjusted to it and was able to finish out front."
FIA GT Nogaro
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