With the virus mess, entries were low but the excitement was high as Mid-Ohio is known for dramatic races and this weekend did not disappoint. It all started with qualifying. Three of the top drivers in the country took the top 3 positions – Calvin Stewart, James Weida and Eric McRee. The excitement happened when Calvin Stewart finally went out to qualify with only 5 minutes left in the Friday session. In only 3 laps to get it done, Calvin clinched the pole as the chequered flag flew with a 1:31.763.
Saturday’s race had its excitement as James Weida went off on the first lap in the keyhole returning to the race way behind the whole race group. Eric McRee held the lead for most of the race and cruising along with no radio to tell him that James Weida was catching him at 2 seconds per lap. The second from last lap, Eric saw James in his mirrors and immediately picked up his pace. For two laps, James was all over Eric everywhere on the track while both were running laps at their qualifying times. Again and again, James would get oh so close to passing Eric but could not make it stick. At the chequered flag, Eric won by a slim margin of .1 second over James.
But wait, the excitement is not over as the Sunday race had its share. At the start, the order was Calvin, James and Eric, all nose to tail. But, on lap 4, Eric was surprised by how early Calvin and James got on the brakes into turn 4 at the end of the long straight, Eric locked up all 4 wheels, stalled the motor which caused an immediate snap sideways and ended up hitting the wall on the driver’s left of Turn 4. The hit destroyed the nose of Eric’s car but he was okay. With emergency vehicles attending to Eric’s car so close to the track, the resulting waving yellow caused Calvin and James to slow way down as they went through Turn 4 for several laps. And this is when James struck – as Calvin and James cleared the yellow flag, James jumped on the gas, got up to the right side of Calvin by the top of the hill at Turn 5 which placed him in perfect position to lead Calvin into the right hand Turn 6 at the bottom of the hill. Calvin dogged James for the rest of the race but was not able to make any passing attempts stick.
After the second round, the Series points standings are as follows:
- Eric McRee 46
- Calvin Stewart 38
- Aaron Ellis 22
- George Bugg 20
- Jason Martin 18
- Sven DeVries 0
Round #3 will be at Barber Motorports Park, August 28-30.
We are very thankful for our valued sponsors who have made this series possible:
Hoosier Racing Tire ( www.hoosiertire.com )
Solo Performance Specialties (SPS) (www.soloperformance.com)
Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies (www.PegasusAutoRacing.com)
Hawk Performance ( www.hawkperformance.com )
Winding Road Racing (www.WindingRoadRacing.com )
MPT Industries ( www.mptindustries.com )
Design Engineering, Inc. (http://www.designengineering.com/)
The Formula 600 Challenge series was developed to help promote an affordable open wheel formula car series to showcase talent without large financial race budgets. 100% of the sponsorship money and products go to the drivers. The Formula 600 open wheel cars use a 600cc motorcycle engine and a 6 speed sequential transmission revving up to 15,000 rpm with speeds in excess of 140 mph. The sound of this drive train is likened to an F1 car.
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For more information contact:
Jim Murphy
770-861-2337
jdmurphy47@aol.com
Fred Edwards
260-438-4295
f.edwards@metalloidcorp.com
Carl Maier
972-897-9763
cmaier@amsoil.com
