Rain Changes the Game for Day Two of the 2006 SCCA National Championship Runoffs

TOPEKA, Kan. (Oct. 10, 2006) - Rain is the story of the day for the second round of the SCCA National Championship Runoffs(r) at Heartland Park Topeka. Many of Monday's times still stand and numerous drivers opted to forgo Tuesday qualifying, but with a handful of classes lucky enough to receive a dry track in the morning, several lead changes did occur.

John Saurino of Tulsa, Okla., stayed on top and managed to push his MG Midget a bit harder in F Production and improved his time to a 1:51.419. Also maintaining pole while improving his time was Don Knowles, of Phoenixville, Penn., clocking a 2:02.014 in his Showroom Stock B Pontiac Solstice.

Rick Gilhart of Cincinnati, Ohio is your new Touring 3 leader, driving his Mazda RX8 to a time of 1:58.043, and John Black, of Olympic Valley, Calif., now finds himself at the top of Spec Racer Ford with a 1:55.867. A new leader was also established in Formula Vee, when Stephen Oseth, of Leesburg, Va., set a 1:55.452 behind the wheel of his Vortech.

Mark Mercer, of Aurora, Colo., found a good chunk of time in Sports 2000 to take the lead with a 1:41.417 in his Lola 91/90, while Maryland Heights, Mo., resident Peter Zekert dropped a whopping seven seconds in his Nissan 200SX to take the lead in Grand Touring Lite with a time of 1:53.094.

Qualifying for the 2006 SCCA National Championship Runoffs will continue tomorrow, October 11, beginning at 8:00 a.m. Although the rain is expected to end for day three of Runoffs qualifying, temperatures are expected to be below 60F with strong winds for the next two days. You can watch the drama unfold from home with live timing and scoring at www.scca.com <http://www.scca.com/> .

This, the 43rd running of the SCCA National Championship Runoffs(r) is the first to be held at Heartland Park Topeka. The Runoffs are commonly referred to as the "Olympics" of grassroots motorsports, where this year 755 entrants in 25 classes are slated to compete for the honor to call themselves the best amateur racers in the country.

2006 SCCA National Championship Runoffs qualifying leaders after day two:

American Sedan - Ed Hosni, Novi, Mich., Ford Mustang - 1:54.017

C Sports Racer - Wade Carter, Woodinville, Wash., Swift .008 Viking -
1:32.218

D Sports Racer - Mark Jaremko, Spokane, Wash., Stohr WFR1-BPS - 1:33.377

Formula 500 - Jason Knuteson, Danville, Ind., Scorpion S1 - 1:45.388

Formula Atlantic - Keith Grant, Germantown, Tenn., Swift .014a -
1:30.475

Formula Continental - Niki Coello, East Troy, Wis., Van Diemen RF01 -
1:38.764

Formula Ford - Thomas Schwietz, Winchester, Va., Piper - 1:44.755

Formula Mazda - James Goughary, Jupiter, Fla., Formula Mazda - 1:40.032

Formula Vee - Stephen Oseth, Leesburg, Va., Vortech - 1:55.452

E Production - Thomas Thrash, Houston, Texas, Mazda RX-7 - 1:50.935

H Production - Craig Chima, Akron, Ohio, MG Midget - 1:56.559

F Production - John Saurino, Tulsa, Okla., MG Midget - 1:51.419

G Production - Ken Bouquillon, New Milford, Conn., Nissan 510 - 1:56.213

Grand Touring 1 - Philip Simms, Orlando, Fla., Jaguar XKR - 1:38.794

Grand Touring 2 - Jim Goughary, Houston, Texas, Nissan 350Z - 1:46.404

Grand Touring 3 - Collin Jackson, Nissan 240SX - 1:46.211

Grand Touring Lite - Peter Zekert, Nissan 200SX - 1:53.094

Showroom Stock B - Don Knowles, Phoenixville, Calif., Pontiac Solstice -
2:02.014

Showroom Stock C - Joseph McClughan, New Braunfels, Texas, Mazda 3 -
2:05.072

Spec Miata - Andrew Caddell, Graham, Wash., Mazda Miata - 2:01.059

Spec Racer Ford - John Black, Olympic Valley, Calif., Spec Racer Ford -
1:55.867

Sports 2000 - Mark Mercer, Aurora, Colo., Lola 91/90 - 1:41.417  

Touring 1 - Scotty B White, Puyallup, Wash., Dodge SRT Viper - 1:47.034

Touring 2 - Robert Schader, Boulder, Colo., Nissan 350Z - 1:55.098

Touring 3 - Rick Gilhart, Cincinnati, Ohio, Mazda RX8 - 1:58.043