Newer Road Race Reports

Road Race Report
By Bill Perry

Road Atlanta, ARRC/Sunoco 400 -- November 20-22, 1998

(Photos from this event)

The Chattanooga Region sent five cars down to the most important race in the country for Regional cars. Rivergate Racing Pod took the ITC Honda CRXs of Jamie Blair, Carl Blevins and Will Perry and Brian Stubblefields ITD MG Midget. Bad Monkey Racing took the Brian Flanagan ITS BMW.

In ARRC qualifying Friday Jamie qualified 9th of 18 ITC cars, Carl 12th, and Will qualified First, to start on the front row beside the IT Truck of Fletcher Williams. Brian Stubblefield qualified fourth of five in ITD. In ITS ARRC qualifying, Brian Flanagan was 19th of 37.

In a wet Sunoco 400K qualifying Will and Carl qualified Carls CRX third in ITC, 11th overall. Brian Stubblefield and Bill qualified 32nd overall, the only ITD car attempting the three hour enduro. As a result of someone forgetting to put out the "Slippery When Wet" sign on the paint outside turn five, Bill spun the Midget into the tire wall during qualifying.

In his ARRC race, Will lost the lead for part of lap one, but officially lead ITC all 18 laps. He led overall laps 4 thru 16. The fierce banging battle behind him allowed him to pull out a nice lead and the big Win.

Carl got hit in the rear in the first corner and fell to last place overall. This gave him the opportunity to pass lots of cars. He finished 9th in ITC. Jamie eventually was passed by Carl to finish tenth in ITC.

Brian Stubblefield had a veryughinteresting race in ITD. After starting fourth in ITD, he led the class by half way through the first lap. He had felt sick the night before; and while braking for corner 10 it caught up with him (his balaclava will forever be known as barfclava). He lost several positions between there and the front straight, but recovered and raced on, battling with another Midget. He finished a very close third. The winner in ITD was a Mazda from Canada.

On the ITC podium, Will hosed down the second place driver with champagne. Tech inspection "hosed" him (Michael Fine) again when his carburetor was found illegal.

In the ITS ARRC, Brian drove the BMW smoothly to a twenty first place of 38 ITS starters.

In Saturdays ITB, ITT, ITC, ITD Sunoco 400K (three hour) enduro, Carl started the CRX and Brian Stubblefield the Midget. Will and Bill drove the middle segment. Will got hit in the rear corner by Walt Pucket, putting the CRX into the wall at turn 8 but drove on. Carl and Brian got back in for the finish. The CRX finished a fine third in ITC and sixth overall. The Midget was unopposed in class and a surprisingly good 15th of 33 starters overall.

The Bad Monkey BMW started the ITS/ITA enduro with Brian aboard and a plan for Jamie to take the middle stint. It never happened. Only 20 laps in, the BMW had a mechanical failure causing a locked wheel. Brian parked the car for the duration at turn seven.

Note that both Bill and Will hit the walls during the weekend - a first time for each of them. But they both had the good judgement to do it in someone else’s car! We estimate there are at least seven miles of concrete walls at Road Atlanta now - many of them easy to get to - too easy.

All told, the Pod had a great weekend - the best ever! Two first place and two third place trophies, four bottles of champagne, a truck load of contingency awards, and some national attention for Rivergate. How will we be able to wait until Spring?

Thanks to the crews that got us through this busy weekend. The Chattanooga Region crew members included David Stubblefield, Scott Dobler and Art Thompson - crew chiefs, Jamie Hamilton, Gail Perry, Ken Hurt, Scott McAllister, Amanda and Emma Flanagan, Billy Miller, Mark Vickery and George Lewis. Others, not in our region, helped/visited.

Harvey B. Templeton Award - Road Racer of the Year Points:

                            Best 6 plus
                     Total  Championship

Will Perry            270       146
Andy Felker           157       129
Brian Stubblefield    191       106
Carl Blevins          214       102
Bill Perry            107        97
Jamie Blair           121        91
Brian Flanagan         89        75
Paul Hayes             14        14

Only points for ECR Championship in ITC remain to be posted.

Road Atlanta, SARRC/SARRC/Pro IT -- September 5-7, 1998

The Rivergate Racing Pod took the three ITC CRX Hondas to this big Labor Day Weekend event. The drivers were Jamie Blair, Carl Blevins and Will Perry. Crew included Marty and Roy Blair (Mom & Dad), Gail & Bill Perry, and Kenneth Hurt.

During practice Will gave Jamie lessons in drafting. This was to pay off later.

Carl was starting his first race in the CRX and babying the new engine. He qualified thirteenth in ITC for the Sunday SARRC race. Jamie qualified fifth. Timing and Scoring missed Wills time, and despite protest started him eleventh in ITC and thirty-sixth overall. Forty four cars started the race, 17 of them ITC. At the start Will began a brisk run thru the field. He ended up classified eleventh overall and second in ITC and broke the ITC lap record. Jamie moved up to fourth at the finish. Carl, despite taking it easy on the new car, finished sixth.

In Mondays tough ProIT race, Will qualified third, Jamie fourth and Carl seventh in ITC. Seventy three cars started the race! Carl had fouled a spark plug in traffic in the paddock on the way to grid. It didn’t clear when the race started, so he stopped after three laps. Will and Jamie hooked up in a draft and moved up. With the help of Jamie drafting his racer down the straight Will took the ITC lead. Soon thereafter Jamie took second - but the excitement of his first very competitive pass was too much. He went into the dirt at six but made a fine recovery in the dust to get back on in fourth.

Four laps from the end an accident at turn one caused a full course yellow, and after three yellow laps, it became clear the track couldn’t be safely cleared so the race was checkered. When the second place ITC driver saw the checker, he passed Will as they crossed the finish line. Timing & Scoring proved again to be no friend of Wills, and provisionally listed him as first and Will second. The driver quickly went and picked up the first place trophy and left the track! He apparently thought his pass under full course yellow would stick. It didn’t. Will was finally shown first, Jamie fourth. Will broke the lap record he set the day before with a 1:54.166 (80.093 MPH average). Jamie’s contact drafting likely helped. He had a fine 1:54.585 lap.

This win gave Will the 1998 ProIT points championship for ITC, with one second and four firsts in the five race series - and a nice cash payoff.

Jamie was our only racer in the Monday SARRC. Early in the race his window net dropped (weak spring). With this distraction and without Will’s draft and inspiration, he finished fifth, with a best time of 1:57.220.

The three CRXs came through the busy weekend of very competitive racing without a scratch - no fender rubbing. Great job Will, Jamie & Carl.

We expect to have five Chattanooga region cars in the American Road Race of Champions, Nov. 20-22 at Road Atlanta. Expected to compete is the Flanagan BMW; the Blair, Blevins & Perry CRXs; and the Stubblefield MG. We should have three cars in the 3 hour endurance races. Applications are being accepted for work crew positions. I understand Cheryl Tompkins has already volunteered to work ARRC Registration. If you don’t come to work, you certainly should come to spectate. Racing will be some of the most competitive you have ever seen. Fenders will be rubbed!

Harvey B. Templeton Award - Road Racer of the Year Points:

                     TOTAL   BEST 6

Will Perry            179     129
Andy Felker           129     117
Carl Blevins          157     102
Brian Stubblefield    126      94
Jamie Blair           101      91
Bill Perry             80      80
Brian Flanagan         65      65
Paul Hayes             14      14

September 18, 1998

by Bill Perry with David Stubblefield

Roebling Road Raceway, SARRC/ECR -- August 15 & 16, 1998

Andy Felker, who do-drives with Rob Ebersol in Andys SSC Miata and Robs ITA Miata had a rough weekend in both races. Rob started the ITA Enduro on Saturday but he made only a few laps before the Miata overheated and locked up the engine. Andy never made it into this race. Andy started his own Miata in the small car Enduro on Sunday, after qualifying sixth overall. He got a good start and was third by the first corner. But he got knocked off into the grass (at 120 MPH) in that corner, accompanied by four others. (In the Midgets in-car camera it looked like a big, dusty cloud with cars, car parts and brake-point signs flying out of it.) Andy came back into the race but completed only four laps. The #1 brake-point sign had penetrated his radiator.

Bill Perry started the Enduro in the Midget and avoided trouble in the big first corner mess. Brian Stubblefield took the wheel after the pit stop. They finished unopposed in ITD and a respectable fourteenth overall (against ITB, ITC, SSB & SSC cars) in the very reliable MG.

In the SARRC Brian qualified the Midget second to a Mazda GLC in ITD. The Mazda arrived at the track from Miami in an 18 wheeler painted to match the race car, riding in a semi-trailer with lifts for several cars and living quarters. Its a long way from Miami to Soddy-Daisy. Brian was able to pass for the lead but was unable to hold it. He finished second to the very experienced Mazda driver.

Memphis Motorsports Park, Regional/National -- July 25 & 26, 1998

The folks in Memphis touted this event as "Sunshine and Barbecue" and they were right. There was plenty of sunshine Friday and plenty of barbecue Saturday. They did fail to mention rain and there was plenty of that too. The Chattanooga Region and the Rivergate Racing pod were represented by Carl Blevins driving the Rivergate Racing MR2 in ITA and Brian Stubblefield driving the Rivergate Racing/Three Rivers Trucking MG Midget in ITC.

Carl has been a mentor to Brian offering valuable advice and many tips. Carl warned Brian that the straight between the concrete walls (aka "drag strip") down to the flag stand was especially treacherous in the rain. The standing water causes hydroplaning and if the car spins there is an excellent chance of banging the concrete. Carl demonstrated this for Brian in Saturday mornings rain soaked practice/qualifying session. Coming out of the concrete canyon onto the front straight the MR2 hydroplaned. Carl hit the wall five times (not five wrecks, just one that got all four corners of the MR2 -left front twice). Carl was thankfully unhurt, but the MR2 was not so fortunate. The fender had to be pried off the tire to finish the session..

Brian learns quickly and thanks to Carls lesson kept the Midget off the concrete. The afternoons race went well with Carl taking first place in ITA and Brian taking third in ITC.

Sunday dawned with a beautiful clear sky and the morning practice/qualifying went very well. However by lunch the skies clouded up and rained again. By the time the ITs took the track the rains had stopped and for the most part the track was dry. Brian literally drove the tires off the Midget doing battle with the Datsun 510 of Patrick Findley of Bartlett. After about 5 laps holding off the challenger Brian’s overheated tires would no longer hold and he gave up his second place position to the Datsun. Brian regained second place in impound when the winning Honda Civic of Ron Stephens was disqualified for being underweight. If you cant be fast it never hurts to be lucky. The Midget sat in impound with cords showing on the left front tire. Carl finished a solid third behind a pair of RX7s. This may be Carl’s last race in his trusty MR2 as the new CRX is nearing completion.

Points championship standings are: Brian Stubblefield & Bill Perry lead the ECR series in ITD. Andy Felker leads in SSC in the ECR series. Three races remain in the ECR championship. Will Perry leads ITC in the Pro IT championship with one race to go.

Harvey B. Templeton Award - Road Racer of the Year Points:

                    Total Points    Best Six

Andy Felker             129           117
Will Perry              129           114
Carl Blevins            136            99
Brian Stubblefield      126            94
Bill Perry               80            80
Brian Flanagan           65            65
Jamie Blair              51            51
Paul Hayes               14            14	

August 24, 1998

Road Atlanta Parts Pro Trucks, Baby Grands & Pro IT -- June 28, 1998

This weekend was run on the new 1.84 mile Club course. We enjoyed watching the antics of the Parts Pro Trucks on the road course. They surely would have been more comfortable on a quarter mile oval.

Our region sent four drivers into the Pro IT battle; Will Perry and Jamie Blair in their CRXs, Carl Blevins in the MR2 and Brian Flanagan in the BMW.

Will reported that his race was a bit boring, as he qualified first in ITC and pulled away at 2 seconds a lap for an easy win. Jamie raced hard and clean to finish third in the field of 6 ITC cars. Carl took the MR2 to sixth of 13 in ITA. Brian had problems finding the line during practice and qualifying (the correct line does not go thru the red dirt), but drove very cleanly during the race. Despite losing all but fourth gear, he drove to fifth in a field of 12 ITS cars.

I got a chance to drive the Club course in the CRX during a test day. I found the short course to be interesting, with a long, sweeping, mostly blind right hand corner at station 5 where we usually turn left. The CRX was easy to drive and an absolute ball at speed.

Championship Standings: In the Endurance Championship series, Andy Felker (with Rob Ebersol) leads SSC; Brian Stubblefield (with Bill Perry) leads ITD and Will Perry (with Carl Blevins) is second in ITC. Will leads the Pro IT series by 30 points, with one race to go.

Harvey B. Templeton Award - Road Racer of the Year Points:

                   TOTAL      BEST
                   POINTS     SIX

Andy Felker          123      117
Will Perry           129      114
Carl Blevins         110       97
Brian Stubblefield    99       89
Brian Flanagan        65       65
Bill Perry            65       65
Jamie Blair           51       51
Paul Hayes            14       14

July 15, 1998

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Updated December 5, 1998