MITTY - Classic Motorsports MITTY Notes And Quotes

Road Atlanta, May 2, 2011: Day three of the Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) Speedfest at the Classic Motorsports Mitty featured 12 tremendous races including eight sprint races, two enduros and two motorcycles sprints. Trophy, medallions and champagne spray were prevalent as champions were crowned throughout the day.

Classic Motorsports Mitty Draws Record Entry List Ken Fengler, Historic Sportscar Racing vice president of race operations, said this year’s Classic Motorsports Mitty attracted its largest entry list in 10 years with 302 entries, plus 32 vintage motorcyclists. “We are delighted by the numbers. It shows that these guys and gals want to race and the Mitty is the place to do it. With perfect weather, we’ve had a great weekend.” The Classic Motorsports Mitty is the oldest and largest historic car race on the East Coast after more than three decades.

Pertie Collects Historic Indy Car Victory Ken Pertie cruised to a six-second win in the Historic Indy Car feature race over Paul Morgan with Harold Quantie third. Joel Quadracci won the Indy Lights class ahead of Richard Duffey. “I had a clear track the whole time, which was good. This was the most track time I’ve had all weekend. What a wonderful track and my first time here. Maybe I can learn how to drive it next time.”

Robinson Wins Again! George Robinson again powered his Lola B07 to a dominating, two-lap victory in the Louis Chevrolet Historic Enduro despite some car troubles. Robert Garcia was second with Paul Reisman third. “The car was pulling left on me, which had me a little worried. This is our first time out with this car. It wasn’t perfect and that will raise your blood pressure a little. I just tried to troubleshoot when I could to try and find the problem.” This was his fifth enduro win in a row at the Mitty, this time in a 2007 Lola B07.

Walzer Collects Fourth Podium in Louis Chevrolet Enduro Roy Walzer collected his second win and fourth podium finish by taking the Louis Chevrolet Classic GT Enduro Sunday morning. He finished ahead of Richard Duffey and David Porter in the historic class. “The car ran perfect. It’s been a good weekend. After the early yellow, it took me about six laps to work to the front when the tires warmed up.”

Frank Beck won the GT class ahead of Jack Lewis and Kevin Wheeler. Beck had trouble with his pit stop and lost his clutch with five laps to go in the one-hour race. “I just had it in fourth all the way around. I don’t know what happened. We made a rookie mistake in the pits using the wrong stop watch. But it worked out.” Runner-up Lewis, celebrated his 61st birthday this weekend and 40th year of competition at Road Atlanta.

Women Rule Stacey Schepens became the first female driver of the weekend to earn a podium finish with a third place finish in the Group 2 race. “This is my first podium. I’m so happy!” She was one of four women drivers in the Mitty, along with Brenda Johnson, Debbie Cloud and Debra Graves.

Mission Food GT3 Cup Crowns Another Winner Michael Mills captured the Mission Foods GT3 Cup Group 1 race Sunday morning, beating Brad Reffening while Brad Blum took the Group 2 class trophy. Finishing behind Blum in Group 2 were Jeff Lewis and Carlos Dominguez.

Furcini Charges to Victory Mark Furcini drove his 2005 Dodge Charger to victory in the Group 8 Historic Stock Car win Sunday, edging Larry Hoopaugh’s 2004 Monte Carlo. Finishing third was Brian Norman in a 2006 Charger. Furcini credited his crew for the win. “We had some troubles earlier in the week in qualifying but they worked tirelessly to get us ready for today. We’re from Phoenix and the racing here is second to none anywhere in the country. We love the people here and the racing. There are real racers here.” Furcini got emotional when talking about people in the South who suffered storm damage earlier in the week. “Here we are having run and racing and those folks need to be remembered.”

Burning Midnight Oil Pays Off Edward Sevadjian’s crew worked until 2 a.m. for two nights to get his black 1969 Corvette together just in time for Sunday’s Group 5 Classic GT win. “Once we got the car back to neutral, it was perfect. I got off course Thursday and knocked the front end out of line. But the crew did a wonderful job.” Finishing second was Larry Ligas in his 1961 Jaguar with Frank Beck third in a 1972 Porsche 914.

Vintage Motorcycles Rumble at Road Atlanta In addition to more than 300 historic cars, there were 32 vintage motorcycle competitors at the Mitty. Yamaha R1 rider Billy Hauser won the heavyweight class ahead of Billy Meyers’ Yamaha and Mike Kuntz on a Ducati. In the middleweight class, Jerome Craig gave Honda a win over the Yamaha’s of Jay Letts and Paul Laymooor. Art Kowitz won the air-cooled division aboard a Kawasaki Z1, besting Mike Hodson on a Honda CB750 and Jim Hinshaw aboard a Kawasaki H1R. Ray Smith was the merit award winner on his Yamaha RZ350, followed by Rodney Sautner’s Yamaha F26 and Craig Croft’s Harley-Davidson VR1000.

For more information, go to www.themitty.com or www.hsrrace.com.