SCCA Club Racers Still Trying To Qualify For Runoffs on Season's Final Weekend

TOPEKA, Kan. (Aug. 19, 2005) - It didn't seem all that long ago that
SCCA Club Racers at GingerMan Raceway were digging their way out of snow
banks last April in one of the 2005 season's first Club Racing National
events.

 

However, since then, nearly five months and a ton of race weekends have
passed.  And now, only two National events this weekend remain before
next month's SCCA National Championship Runoffs(r) Presented by Kohler
at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.  

 

While both of those events, the 18th Annual Buckeye Sprints National at
Mid-Ohio and the MVRG "More Fun in the Sun" Regional/National at
Mid-America Motorplex, will serve as nothing more than final tune-ups
for many competitors who have already punched their ticket to the
Runoffs, for others, this weekend is their Championship.  

 

Have a good show, and the season extends itself into September.  Flub
something Saturday or Sunday, and racing suddenly becomes a spectator
sport.

 

Invariably, there are those guys and girls who face this battle every
season.  But this year, some rather familiar names are among those who
will crank their cars' engines, scrambling to reserve their spot in the
Runoffs paddock.  

 

Young gun Steve Ott, of Brighton, Colo., is making a trip east this
weekend to compete in the Mid-Ohio National.  The 2004 D Sports Racing
runner-up turned heads last year first by qualifying second and leading
briefly in the DSR race before finishing second.  The 24 year old may
not be sweating all that much, though, as he only needs a start in his
Speads DSR machine to solidify his 2005 Runoffs standing.

 

Only needing the start, Ott will more than likely take advantage of
making his trip east by mentally taking notes on Mid-Ohio's 2.4-mile
layout, which is slightly longer than the 2.258-mile chicane-less layout
used for the Runoffs.   It's a strategy used by many racers, including
all of those among the Mid-Ohio National's 239 current entrants who plan
to be back in a few weeks.

 

It's not a start but a finish that two-time defending American Sedan
champion John Heinricy, of Holly, Mich., needs in his Pontiac Firebird
to earn a shot at adding a third-consecutive title to his resume.  Even
if he falls short, seven-time Runoffs Champion Heinricy has already
qualified for in Touring 1, where he has won the past four titles dating
back to 2001.