(An I.T. Tour report is at the bottom of this page)
his was supposed to be the halfway mark of the
2003 Mid-Am Championship, but the Ark Valley Race Group has added
a double-regional at Hallett in August (what used to be the traditional
Lake Afton Grand Prix weekend) and so we are now 10 races into a
22-race season.
Every one of the 14 MiDiv Regions has drivers
signed up this year from 36 in Kansas City Region and 25 from St.
Louis, down to two representatives from Mississippi and one from
Salina -- the two smallest Regions from the two farthest reaches
of the Division.
Des Moines Valley, Nebraska and Ozark Mountain
each have a dozen drivers on the list. Mid-South, which will be
host for the Bonus Race in November, has 11. Ten represent NeOkla
Region. Oklahoma and Wichita each have seven and Southern Illinois
has three. Total 146 so far, but with 12 races to go the registration
is still open and not a single class can yet be said to be wrapped
up.
PRODUCTION
SP ~ Harlan Moore (KC) has the
only finish so far and so is the class leader.
EP ~ Dale Smith is dueling fellow
Kansas Region member Ronald Davis and has four wins from
seven starts, some in a 240Z, some in an RX7. Davis only has four
starts but won all four of them. Last race at Heartland Park, both
DNFd! Cliff Koehler (KC) and Forrest Tindall (OzMt),
each with three starts and one win, are tied for third place.
FP ~ Bob Eichelberger (StL) has
two wins to one for Larry Graham (KC) and that is the class
at the moment. Tough year for Graham, who’s had three DNFs.
GP ~ Duane Rost (DMV) is running
the table in Chris Albin’s Golf, six wins already from seven starts
and standing third on the Driver of the Year list. His lone loss
is to ‘02 champ Chuck Leighton (OzMt), who has won twice.
In third, Rocky Entriken (Sal) won the only race in which
he saw the green flag with two DNS outings already.
HP ~ Tim McGinley (StL) has a
pair of wins.
GRAND TOURING
GT1 ~ Dan Guterman (NeOk) has
run up four victories in his silver Panoz GTS, double the tally
of Mary Daly (StL). Emery Emond (Neb) is only three
points behind Daly after winning at Heartland.
GT2 ~ Two wins for Rick Carr
(OzMt) and one for Ward Herst (StL) account for all the points
so far.
GT5 ~ Denny Hayes (Neb) collected
12 points from his only start to date.
SPORTS RACING
CSR ~ Be like Mike. Mike McGinley
(KC) and Michael Stephens (OzMt) have each won twice. Sometime
they’ve gotta race each other.
S2000 ~ Al Essig (KC) and Ed
Smith (StL) have each posted one finish so far and are tied
at 12 each.
SRF ~ With a dozen drivers registered,
seven have been very active. Frank Stone (KC) hasn’t won
any yet, but finished second five times to lead the class. Six points
back is Ken Tripkos (Kan), who has won a pair. Three further
down is Ron Lentz (KC), three times a winner.
FORMULA
FA ~ Phil Gumpert (StL) and Willard
King (KC) are tied, each having scored one victory.
FC ~ More activity here. Shane Bennoch
(OzMt) has three wins, Willard King (KC) has two, and Greg
Scharnberg (DMV) has one.
FF ~ Ten drivers registered, but not
much activity yet. Only eight finishes total. Mark Blythe
(StL), the only two-time winner, has a three-point edge on Fernando
Licopoli (KC), who’s won one.
CF ~ Patrick Donnelly (Kan) has
eight finishes all by himself and won them all. He’s second on the
Driver of the Year list.
FV ~ Neil Cox has won twice,
apparently once each in two different cars.
STREET TIRES
AS ~ Surprisingly little activity. Just
two finishes from the five drivers so Sam Henry (OzMt) and
Mark Kutina (KC) are tied at 12 each.
SSC ~ After Jan Gerber (Neb)
and Paul Sherman (Wich) each won one they met at Heartland
Park where Gerber took a 3-point edge.
SM ~ Mid-Am’s biggest class with 22
drivers registered. Dick Faxon (OzMt) has won four to take
a healthy 22-point lead. Two DMV drivers, Tom Kraft and Jarrod
Igou, are tied for second -- Kraft with two wins and Igou with
three seconds -- with a lot of activity going on in the dozen or
so places behind them.
IMPROVED TOURING
ITS ~ The top three are close -- Skip
Brunson (Miss) with 39, Bob Gill (KC) with 36 and Monica
Rollins (KC) with 33. Gill has three wins, Brunson and Rollins
two each.
ITA ~ Scott Peterson (KC) tops
the chart, four ahead of Jim Eubanks (StL) and Mark Jeffery
(Ark). Just one more point back are Lynn Lamb (Okla) and
Greg Mathews (KC), and then one more point to Timothy
Finley (StL) who is the only one in that whole group with as
many as two wins.
ITB ~ Perennial DotY leader Chris
Albin (SIll) has won all 10 races. The Brothers Briggen
-- Robert (StL) and Bill (SIll) -- and Tony Torres
(StL) fight for the leftovers within a one-point spread.
ITC ~ Nick Chinopulos (MidS)
is the only driver to win three times, but he’s only five points
up on two-time winner Jeffrey Jenkins (KC). Tied for third
one point behind Jenkins are Charles Guenther (KC) and Larry
Orr (MidS).
ITE ~ John Waldbaum (Neb) has
been busiest, winning two of five starts to go 18-up on Buddy
Cisar (Neb), who might have been closer but for a DNF his last
race. Three behind Cisar are three drivers -- two-time winners Jeff
Demetri (Neb) and Mike McGinley (KC), plus Steve Sulatycki
(KC) who won the first of his three starts.
ith six events completed, four to go, in the 2003
Midwest Division I.T. Tour, it is still a wide-open contest for
five of the six championships. Memphis has completed its National/Tour
season but one race remains at each of MiDiv’s other four tracks
-- Mid-America, Hallett, Gateway and Heartland Park.
ITS ~ Jim Bishop (Miss) has a
good lead with 34 points after winning both of the Memphis races
in his Datsun 280Z. Closest on the chart are the Porsche 944s of
Don Adams (MidS) and Doug Ford (MidS), but perhaps
the greater potential challengers would be the three drivers who
won the only races they’ve run so far -- Aaron Kelly (NeOk),
Nissan; Monica Rollins (KC) and Warren Lutz (Kan)
in Mazdas.
ITA ~ Paul Brown (KC) won a pair
at Hallett and Mid-America in his Honda CRX and that gives him the
class lead at the moment over Mark Jeffery (Ark), Mazda RX7,
by a score of 31-22. Nathan Wozniak (OzMt) lurks in third
in a Toyota MR2, but again the other four race winners present possible
challengers. Only Jim Eubanks (StL), RX7, has a second finish
so he stands fourth. With just the one start are Christopher
Wiggins (MidS), RX7, Timothy Finley (StL), and David
Volante (DMV), both driving a Honda CRX Si. ITB ~
This one is done. Chris Albin (SIll) has won all six in his
Volkswagen Golf and has a perfect 72 points, and with just four
races left the rest are racing for second place. Patrick Findley
(MidS) leads that chase just ahead of the brother act of Bob
Briggen (StL) and Bill Briggen (SIll) -- all three in
VW GTIs.
ITC ~ Lawrence Orr (MidS), Fiat
124, won the Memorial Day Weekend at Memphis to take a 6-point lead
over Nick Chinopulos (MidS), Fiat 124, who was DNF there,
and Jeffrey Jenkins (KC), Ford Fiesta. Chinopulos and Jenkins
have each won two and John Schultz (Kan), Fiesta, has a pair
of seconds, so all four are still contenders.
ITE ~ John Waldbaum (Neb), Porsche
944, with four starts and a victory at Hallett, leads the class
with 35 points. All of his closest challengers have just two starts
and so have ample opportunity to catch up. Paul Greaser (KC),
Dodge Viper, the most recent winner at Heartland Park, is closest
at 21. Bud Brazelton (MidS), Nissan 300ZX, has 19 after winning
the first Memphis but a DNF at the second one set him back. Jeff
Demetri (Neb), Mustang, and Scott Orr (StL), Porsche
944, also both have wins.
SM ~ Two second-places added to his
victory at Hallett have David Harber (MidS) atop Spec Miata,
but only six points clear of a pair of two-time winners -- Dick
Faxon (OzMt) and Don Wiseman (Neb). Jarrod Igou (DMV)
won the most recent round at Heartland Park to jump into contention
just another three points back. Igou is tied with Jeff Reasons,
(MidS), who has a trio of third-place finishes on the board. But
a class that has 25 drivers scoring points is still a free-for-all.
--Rocky Entriken
