AVONDALE, Louisiana (March 4, 2018) – Sunday brought to a close two glorious days of weather and racing at NOLA Motorsports Park for the 2018 Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour season during an event hosted by the SCCA’s Southwest Division. While nearly all in attendance crowed about the weekend, some drivers had a little more to boast about as they walked away with multiple trophies and bottles of Mazza sparkling wine.
While the Formula Vee field this weekend might have been a little light, that didn’t stop the excitement as Charles Hearn, in his No. 37 Noble Racing/Hearn Contractors Volkswagen Vortech, and Mitchell Ferguson, in his Vorscha GB4 racecar, displayed incredible, wheel-to-wheel skill both Saturday and Sunday. The two drivers swapped the top spot lap after lap and corner to corner too many times to count, sliding their slender cars around the 2.75-mile, 16-turn circuit like raucous teenagers. Hearn earned slight wins both days, but each man climbed from his open-cockpit car with a grin easily visible beneath his helmet.
“Mitch is a tough competitor and a clean racer,” Hearn noted. “He absolutely put his car in places I didn’t think were possible, and he made it stick. I hold the track record here at NOLA Motorsports Park, but Mitch still taught me some things today. We had a lot of fun.”
Sherman Chao was another driver who claimed back-to-back wins during the weekend, earning dual victories in the Prototype 2 class. But he had to work hard for the win Sunday chasing fellow P2 competitor Lucian Pancea in his Stohr P2 machine. Spectators around the circuit witnessed Chao pushing as hard as he could, sliding his No. 3 Lee Racing/GDRE/Hoosier/Hawk Stohr WF-1 to the very brink. At one point, Chao had the car almost completely sideways coming out of the last turn and on to the main straight. The P2 race might have been a nail biter right to the end, but Pancea experienced troubles and pulled into the pits.
“I had to drive the wheels off my car. There’s no other way to keep up with Lucian,” Chao admitted after the race. “It was a lot of fun. NOLA Motorsports Park is now a destination track for me. I’ll be coming back for many, many years.”
While a handful of other drivers across 26 different car classes also managed to gather two wins during the weekend, two fellas are on longer winning streaks. B-Spec racer John Phillips has claimed six straight Hoosier Super Tour victories in his class driving the No. 43 Phillips Race Prep Honda Fit. Equaling that feat is Robeson Clay Russell who has now claimed six straight wins in his No. 31 Comprent Motorsports SRF3 car, sweeping the 2018 season to date.
“This feels great. It’s pretty awesome,” Russell said Sunday evening. “I used to check my mirrors a lot. But now, I’m pretty focused forward.”
With the party now over at NOLA, the Hoosier Super Tour looks ahead to a very busy April with events on the calendar for April 7-8 at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit in Jennings, Oklahoma; April 13-15 at VIRginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia; and the April 27-29 event out west at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in Buttonwillow, California. Follow all the action live at www.scca.com/live.
Below are provisional race results from Sunday’s Hoosier SCCA Super Tour event from NOLA Motorsports Park with Class: Name, Hometown, Winner’s SCCA Region and Car.
-American Sedan®: Brian Himes; Slidell, LA; Delta Region; Ford Mustang
-B-Spec: John Phillips III; Sealy, TX; Houston Region; Honda Fit
-E Production: Rick Kosdrosky; Cresson, TX; Texas Region; Lotus Super 7
-F Production: Mark Weber; St. Louis, MO; St. Louis Region; Mazda Miata
-H Production: Nick Engels; Bedford, TX; Texas Region; Toyota MR2
-Formula 500: Russell Strate Jr.; Alden, NY; Western New York Region; Scorpion S-1
-Formula Atlantic®: Larry Howard; Kansas City, MO; Kansas City Region; Pro Formula Mazda
-Formula Continental®: Chuck Moran; Oakton, VA; Old Dominion Region; Van Dieman RF99
-Formula Enterprise: Liam Snyder; Southlake, TX; Texas Region; Formula Enterprises Mazda
-Formula F: David Livingston Jr.; Nashville, TN; Tennessee Region; Spectrum 14H
-Formula Mazda: Bryce Cornet; Norman, OK; Oklahoma Region; Formula Mazda
-Formula Vee®: Charles Hearn; Houston, TX; Houston Region; Volkswagen Vortech
-GT-1: Zachary Monette; Milton, GA; Atlanta Region; Ford Mustang
-GT-2: Don McMillon; Texarkana, TX; Texas Region; Chevrolet Corvette
-GT-3: Jeff Dernehl; Roswell, GA; Atlanta Region; Mazda RX-7
-GT-Lite: Larry Svaton; Alvin, TX; Houston Region; Mazda MX-5 Miata
-Prototype 1: Jacek Mucha; Highland Beach, FL; Florida Region; JMS016CP Mazda
-Prototype 2: Sherman Chao; Palm Beach, FL; Florida Region; Stohr WF-1
-Spec Miata: Michael Carter; Savannah, GA; Buccaneer Region; Mazda Miata
-Spec Racer Ford 3: Robeson Clay Russell; Spartanburg, SC; Central Carolina Region; SCCA Enterprises SRF3
-Super Touring® Lite: Danny Steyn; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Atlanta Region; Mazda MX-5
-Super Touring® Under: Kevin Koelemeyer; Fort Myers, FL; Central Florida Region; Honda Civic
-Touring 1: Brad McCall; Boca Raton, FL; Florida Region; Porsche Cayman
-Touring 2: Bill Collins; Saint Paul, MN; Land O’ Lakes Region; Chevrolet Corvette
-Touring 3: Paul McNamara; Windermere, FL; Central Florida Region; Nissan 350Z
-Touring 4: Chi Ho; Orlando, FL; Florida Region; Scion FR-S
Photo: Charles Hearn (right) and Mitchell Ferguson (left) fighting for Formula Vee supremacy during the Hoosier Super Tour at NOLA Motorsports Park
Photo Credit: Mark Weber
