ALTON, Va. – Nine more SCCA champions were crowned during the second day of racing at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs Saturday at Virginia Int’l Raceway.
Headlining the list of winners Saturday was Flinn Lazier, the son of Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier. The younger Lazier survived a heated last-lap battle with teammate Dario Cangialosi to earn his second-straight National crown in Formula Atlantic.
With two laps left Cangialosi moved into second when Keith Grant ran off course. On the final lap, Lazier and Cangialosi ran side-by-side down the back straight into the Roller Coaster corner.
Braking deep on the outside of Lazier, Cangialosi overshot the Hog Pen turn, giving Lazier the lead at the exit of the turn. Lazier raced off to victory, with Cangialosi recovering to finish second.
In Formula Continental, 59-year-old Tim Minor captured his first National Championship with a 12.3-second victory. He inherited the lead when early leader Robert Allaer’s car suffered a mechanical failure, allowing Minor to claim the victory.
Peter Shadowen led the final nine laps of the GT-Lite feature after starting from the pole to collect a National championship of his own. He fell in behind Bill Ball on the opening lap, but worked his way back to the front on lap six when Ball ran wide at turn 10. Shadowen led the rest of the way.
Andrew Aquilante started from the pole for the 15-lap GT-2 feature and raced to a National Championship. He took the lead in the second turn on the opening lap, then marched to a 10-second victory in the class. It was his fourth GT-2 National title.
Todd Buras overcame 57 other competitors in the Spec Miata class to earn his first SCCA National Championship. Competing in the largest field of the weekend, Buras led every lap around the 3.27-mile, 18-turn circuit.
Andrew Whitston survived a topsy-turvy final lap to come out on top of the Formula Vee feature. Whitston started the final lap in the lead, only to fall to third behind his brother Zachary Whitston and Hunter Phelps-Barron. On the front straight coming to the checkered Andrew Whitston drafted past both of his rivals to take the win.
Vesa Silegren claimed the National title in H Production. Silegren started second, but took the lead on the opening lap and never looked back en route to the victory and championship.
Kevin Boehm defended his championship in the Super Touring Under class, starting from the pole and racing to a 25-second victory to earn his second-straight National championship.
Finally, in Touring 3, Broderick Bauguess came out on top of a race-long duel with defending National champion Marshall Mast to win the 15-lap feature. The pair swapped the lead six times, with Bauguess taking the lead for the final time on the 13th trip around the track.