Bob Schader, of Lafayette, Colo., drove his No. 8 Hoosier Tire/Boulder Nissan Nissan 350Z to a Touring 3 win to open the final day of racing on Sunday of the SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Daytona International Speedway. Tom Wickersham, of San Ramon, Calif., and Jason Ott, of Littleton, Colo., joined Schader on the podium.
It was the second Runoffs win for Schader, following a National Championship all the way back in 1985. The Touring 3 class is not designated as a National Championship in 2015, with fewer than 10 participants at the Runoffs.
Schader broke away from the small but stout field early in the race, with the biggest drama coming on Lap five when he made contact with a slower Touring 2 car in the combined race. Schader’s final margin of victory was by more than a lap after the faster Touring 2 class winner Kurt Rezzetano lapped second-place Wickersham at the stripe, leaving Schader without a challenger for his final circuit.
Schader averaged 97.375 mph on his way to the full lap victory, aided by the timing of the overall leader.
“I got a good jump on the start,” Schader said. “Scotty and I hit the gas at the same time, but I guess I got a little bit of a leap and managed to pull a couple of car lengths into Turn One, and then I just started pedaling as hard as I could to get away from those guys before they were going to eat me.
“The only incident I had on the track was with that T2 guy coming through the [International Horseshoe]. I guess he was not aware that I was there, but I was going around the inside of the corner and he turned sharply and collected me on the left side, but I didn’t have time to stop and talk to him. We kept going because Tom was coming right up on top of me. It was kind of busy.”
Wickersham finished second in the No. 01 BFGoodrich/Maine Straight Racing Ford Mustang, shaking free of a battle with Ott and Tire Rack polesitter Scotty White’s No. 0 BFG/Knight Transport LLC Ford Mustang in the closing laps to hold onto second place. Wickersham’s fast lap of 2:08.363 (99.842 mph) was the fastest of the race.
“It started out good,” Wickersham said. “Bob got a jump and was never to be seen again. Trying to hold of Scotty and Jason was a little hectic at times, and they got me on a lap and shuffled me back. I put my head down and got back up, and those guys raced a lot behind me and fell back racing each other.”
Ott’s No. 09 Hoosier Race Tires/BimmerHaus/Alpine BMW Z4 took the third spot, ahead of White.
“It was a lot of fun,” Ott said. “The track was really slick on the infield today, I hadn’t experienced that all week. It was a fun race, and we raced really hard from the beginning but I thought it would be embarrassing with five cars if we all piled it into each other in [Turn] One. So I took it a little easy through there, and tried to get my rhythm in. I was hanging on to the lead couple of cars for a little bit and then made a mistake going through the bus stop. I fell back, and put my head down, and caught back up to Tom. He had a great race and was able to pull away from me, and Bob drove an absolute great race and I watched him set sail at the front. “
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.
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.
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.
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