2005 Road Racing
 

Complete 2005 Runoffs Results

Cool Colasacco Takes Spec Racer Ford at 2005 SCCA National Championship Runoffs
 
By Curtis Kitchen
Joe Colasacco grins big after getting his first SCCA National Championship Runoffs title. (Steflik/SCCA Image)

Lexington, Ohio (Sept. 25, 2005) – Joe Colasacco, of Greenwich, Conn., earned his first-ever SCCA National Championship Runoffs Presented by Kohler title in Spec Racer Ford Sunday afternoon, taking the checkered flag by 1.282 seconds over John Black, of Olympic Valley, Calif., and Richard Spicer, of Laurel, Md., who finished second and third, respectively.

Starting second on the grid, Colasacco trailed polesitter Black for the first two laps. As the field entered the Esses, Colasacco executed a perfect inside pass on Black, taking over the lead. Though he was never completely in the clear for the rest of the 20-lap race, Colasacco never relinquished his advantage and took the checkered flag.

Spicer, in his Hagerman RacEngineering/Spicer SRF, also made his move on the third lap, passing Jeff Beck, of Ingleside, Ill., who was looking for a SCCA Chicago Region Triple Crown. It wasn’t to be for Beck, however, as Spicer went on to set a new SRF race lap record with a 1:38.642 (83.211 mph), putting third, let alone first, out of reach.

Colasacco said that even after he gained the top spot, he never felt like he had complete control.

“Once I got the lead, I just tried to focus ahead,” Colasacco said. “It was so difficult because [Black] was all over me. I tried not to make mistakes, and when I saw Richard [Spicer] make a pass on Black late in the race, I had a feeling that I had it at that point, so I just concentrated on running laps with no mistakes since I didn’t have to run qualifying-speed laps at that point.”

For Colasacco, it was a relief to finally top the podium as he had participated in more than a decade’s worth of Runoffs, but had only been able to finish second, that coming in 2004.

“Last year, I had the pole and went off with two laps to go,” Colasacco said. “I’ve been trying to win this race, for, seriously, like the last three years and have been coming to the Runoffs for the past ten years plus. Finally, it’s a good way to go out with the Runoffs going to another location next year, to finally win one, it’s important to me.”

After battling for much of the 20-lap race, Beck finished fourth, and Lee Fleming, of Lake Forest, Calif., completed the top five.

Ron Lentz, of Shawnee, Kan., won the Sunoco Hard Charger Award for advancing 12 positions to finish 14th after starting 26th.

Now in its 42nd year, the SCCA National Championship Runoffs annually crown the best amateur road racers in North America as Champions. More than 750 competitors have gathered this year to battle for 23 class titles this year, with eight races being run Friday and Saturday and seven on Sunday.

Celebrating its 61st anniversary, Sports Car Club of America is a 60,000 member motorsports organization that sanctions and promotes grassroots and professional motorsports events of a variety of disciplines, including road racing, autocrossing, road rally and rallycross.
 

 

Kristian Skavnes was runner-up in T-2 and was awarded the Mark Donohue Award

Lexington, Ohio (Sept. 24) --  Northern New Jersey Region’s Kristian Skavnes finished in second place in the Touring 2 race on Saturday morning in a hard-fought race.  Starting his Subaru Impreza WRX STi from sixth on the grid, Kris moved to third early in the race. 

Race fans watching from an area of the track called “Madness,” had the best view of the race, although every vantage point around the track offered exciting viewing.  Kristian and Don Knowles (Pontiac Firebird) put on the show of the race as they ran bumper-to-bumper  -- and many times doorhandle-to-doorhandle -- fighting for the second spot, sometimes with Knowles in front, but more often with Kristian holding the preferred position. 

A full course caution on lap #9 of the 20 lap race was brought on by an oiled track at turn #1.  This caused a number of competitors to slide off into the gravel trap on drivers’ right.  The caution lasted three laps and bunched all the cars up again. 

At the finish it was Chuck Hemmingson (Subaru WRX STi) in first (center), Kristian in second place (left), and Knowles taking the third spot (right).

Kris’ father, 25-year NNJR member Kjell Skavnes, watched the race from “Madness.” Kjell was able to get to the winner’s circle in time to see Kristian receive his awards.  It was a very emotional moment for Kjell, who raced in Showroom Stock class for many years.  In 1981 Knowles had been one of Kjell’s instructors when he went to driver’s school.  Kjell had frequently raced against Knowles. 

When Kris left the winner’s circle podium, father and son hugged each other in a joyful and tearful embrace.  Although much of the champagne had been sprayed on the podium, Kris saved enough for his Dad to also enjoy a healthy swig, after which Kjell poured the remainder over Kris’ head.

Touring 2 runner-up Kristian Skavnes, of Sparta, N.J., was awarded the Mark Donohue Award, which is given to the driver who shows outstanding performance, sportsmanship and competitiveness in SCCA Club Racing.

Image by: (Steflik/SCCA Image)

NNJR at the Runoffs!

Race Group #

Class

NNJR

Position

Fri

 

 

 

1.

HP

none

 

2.

CSR

none

 

3.

SSB

none

 

4.

S2000

Alexander Smith #92

DNF

5.

GT-Lite

Bob Dowie #99

P13

6.

T-1

Jason Berkeley #57

P15

7.

GP

none

 

8.

FA

none

 

Sat

 

 

 

9.

F-500

none

 

10.

T-2

Kristian Skavnes #69

P2

11.

FM

none

 

12.

AS

Jerry Post #3

P5

13.

FC

none

 

14.

DSR

Chris Mosley #14

P23

15.

EP

none

 

16.

GT-1

none

 

Sun

 

 

 

17.

SSC

none

 

18.

FV

Dave Scaler #9

P29

 

 

Eugene Grimes #18

P21

 

 

Roger Siebenaler #72

DNF

19.

FP

Tom Burdge #52

P24

20.

GT-3

none

 

21.

FF

none

 

22.

SRF

Sergio Musacchio #14

P19

 

 

Joe Colasacco #30

P1

23.

GT-2

Jerry Lustig #24

P14

 

The Pole Position Finale

August 5 & 6 at Lime Rock

Results

Photos

 

 

The Joe DeLuca Memorial Double Regional Races

May 14 & 15, 2005 at Pocono

Results

Photos

Entry/Schedule/Supplemental

Joe DeLuca joined our club in January, 1980. Joe at various times over the years had been a Trustee, Assistant Regional Executive, Regional Executive, and newsletter editor. Initially a rallyist, Joe later was also an active participant in Solo II and road racing. He enjoyed driving his Morgan and was the current president of the local Morgan club in New Jersey. Joe was the creator of "The Adventures of Raymond the Cat," a monthly cartoon feature in the Northern New Jersey Region's newsletter, "Pole Position." The cartoon is syndicated in many regional publications across the nation. Joe's cartooning was a spotlighted article in the July 2001 issue of SCCA's national publication, "SportsCar."

Joe and our flag marshal Linda Gronlund were on Flight 93 on September 11th. The passengers of that flight sacrificed themselves to stop the forth act of terrorism, the passengers are credited with saving countless lives that fateful day. We miss Joe and Linda beyond words. Look for Linda's race in the near future.

 

2005 Photos

Once-A-Year Tech at Reinersten Motors, Denville, New Jersey (to be added)

Once-A-Year Tech at G&S Autoworks, Oxford, New Jersey

The Joe DeLuca Memorial Double Regional Races

The Pole Position Finale Regional Races

 

2005 NNJRRC Point Standing

 

Place

Last Name

First Name

Pocono 5/14

Pocono 5/15

Lime Rock 8/6

Total

1

Phillips

Ben

35

36

44

115

2

Corke

Sam

36

36

42

114

3

Welling

Tristan

44

31

31

106

4

Cioppettini*

Frank

31

31

32

94

5

Volpe

Joe

31

31

31

93

6

Anthony

Darrell

32

31

27

90

7

Papparella

Paul

34

25

30

89

8

Haines

Jeff

30

30

28

88

9

Maza

Louis

26

28

22

76

 
Archive

2005

 

 

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Last updated: Tuesday January 24, 2006 22:43:48