Luo Leads Every Lap to Win Formula Continental National Championship at the SCCA Runoffs - Speedway Digest

Yufeng Luo, of Arcadia, California, started from the Tire Rack Pole and led every lap in the No. 13 Pabst Racing/China Van Diemen DP08 to win the Formula Continental National Championship at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday. Robert Allaer, of Lithia, Florida, recovered from a first lap spin to finish second and Joshua Saurino, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, finished third.

Luo won his first National Championship in his second attempt and, at 17-years-old, was the youngest Champion crowned this weekend in the 52nd running of the SCCA Runoffs. Graham Rahal, who won the 2005 Formula Atlantic title, is the youngest SCCA Runoffs National Champion in history at 16-years and 242-days old.

“I think what made the difference from last year to this year is definitely the switch over to Pabst Racing,” Luo said. “They are such a great team, I just didn’t have the pace last year, so a lot of credit goes to my crew at Pabst Racing. The car was on rails all weekend, it was quite easy for me, to be honest, and from the first lap I was able to make a gap. From there it went very well.”

Allaer spun in his No. 52 LTD Motorsports/Martini/Coors Light Van Diemen RF02 in Turn 1 on the race start but quickly rejoined the race. He worked his way back through the field and battled Saurino for the second position for several laps.

“I went into Turn 1 in a different way than I have ever gone and I just didn’t brake right,” said Allaer, who later passed Saurino for second on lap 12 going into the Bus Stop chicane. “I knew as soon as I spun that it was going to be a task to show up here on the podium. I needed some help and just worked hard to get back as many spots as I could.”

Saurino, 19, earned his first SCCA National Championships podium appearance in the No. 9 Quantum Racing Services/Hoosier Van Diemen in his second Runoffs appearance.

“I was trying to keep up with Yufeng for the first few laps,” Saurino said. “I tried my hardest, wasn’t able to keep up with him and drove the tires off the car trying to keep up. I saw Rob behind me and by that time my tires were pretty much done. It was difficult to keep him behind me.”

The 52nd SCCA National Championship Runoffs®, The Pinnacle of American Motorsports, crowned Sports Car Club of America’s Club Racing National Champions at Daytona International Speedway, Friday, September 25 through Sunday, September 27.

While the live broadcast of all 27 National Championship were available live at SCCA.com, each race will be on demand in the coming weeks.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.