FORMULA 600 CHALLENGE: 2021 ROUND #2 AT VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
The weather was mild with intermittent rain, mostly in the afternoon. For this race, Clint and Dan McMahan continue to develop Craig Laprade’s F600 (formerly owned by Eric McRee) so, in addition to the larger oil cooler, metal ductwork from the nose to the sidepods has been added, the Gurney lip removed from the tail for more top end (which it needs) and another corner weighing to get the car just right. As you read on, all this apparently helped in just its second outing with Clint onboard. For Friday/Saturday morning qualifying, Calvin Stewart won the pole with a 1:59.649 followed closely by Clint McMahan with a 2:00.210 and Ryan Mayfield, in his first time on this track, with a 2:03.708. Fourth was Jay Beckley, in the white Aaron Ellis F600 that he had just bought (the Ellis’ were there in support), 5th Cory McLeod, 6th Jeff DeLong, 7th Jack Walbran, 8th Russell Strate, 9th George Fox and last was newcomer Aaron Fitzsimmons driving a car bought from Carl Maier; Aaron retired with mechanical problems.
For the Saturday race with Calvin Stewart observing the Sabbath, Clint McMahan started from the pole and left everyone for the win while improving his lap time to a 1:59.873. Ryan Mayfield, still learning this track, came in second while also bettering his lap time to a 2:00.858, 3rd Jeff DeLong, 4th Jack Walbran, 5th Russell Strate, 6th George Fox, 7th Cory McLeod (the late rain hurt Corey as he spun at Oak Tree, damaging his rear axle hub key) and last was Jay Beckley (left front spindle broke). Russell Strate was the Hyper Racing Hard Charger.
The final grid for the Sunday race was as follows – Calvin Stewart, Clint McMahan, Ryan Mayfield, Jay Beckley, Cory McLeod, Jeff DeLong, Russell Strate, Jack Walbran and George Fox. Right at the start, Clint and Calvin went side-by-side into the right hand Turn #1 with Calvin on the inside and Clint really tight on Calvin’s outside; with Clint not in the marbles and having some resulting momentum, he was able to pull out a lead after the exit. Ryan immediately started hounding Calvin all the way around the track and this continued until later in the race when Ryan bobbled and let Calvin slip away. But, by then, Clint had pulled out a 17 second lead which he kept to the finish, however, this did not appear to be a certainty as Clint’s car started sputtering in right hand turns and showed some push in the corners as well. In spite of this, Clint bettered his lap time to a 1:59.275, the fastest of the weekend. Calvin finished 2nd, Ryan 3rd, Cory 4th, Jay 5th (in spite of a FF running over his left rear corner in the roller coaster just before the last lap), Jeff 6th (motor quit when the ground wire came off), George 7th (shifter broke), Russell 8th (engine failed) and Jack 9th (throttle cable broke). George Fox was the Hyper Racing Hard Charger.
Race points are as follows:
- Clint McMahan 24
- Ryan Mayfield 22
- Jeff DeLong 20
- Cory McLeod 18
- Jack Walbran 16
- Jay Beckley 14
- Russell Strate 12
- George Fox 11
- Calvin Stewart 10
- Aaron Fitzsimmons 0
Series points standings are now as follows:
- Clint McMahan 48
- Cory McLeod 38
- Jeff DeLong 36
- Jack Walbran 34
- Ryan Mayfield 30
- George Fox 23
- George Bugg 22 Tie breaker – faster lap
- Russell Strate 22
- Calvin Stewart 21
- Jay Beckley 14 Tie breaker – faster lap
- Austin Morvik 14
- Carl Maier 9
- Aaron Fitzsimmons 0
We are very thankful for our valued sponsors who have made this series possible:
Hoosier Racing Tire ( www.hoosiertire.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/ )
Hyper Racing ( www.hyperracing.com )
The Formula 600 Challenge Series was developed to help promote an affordable open wheel formula car class to showcase talent without large financial race budgets. There are no paid staffers and one hundred percent of all sponsorship monies and product goes directly to the drivers in our series mostly as a tow fund payment for each race. The Formula 600 open wheel cars use a 600cc motorcycle engine and a six-speed sequential transmission revving up to 15,000 rpm with speeds in excess of 140 mph. The sound of these cars is likened to F1 cars.
Share and like us on our Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/Formula600Challenge/
For more information, please contact:
Jim Murphy
Fred Edwards
Carl Maier
