Crane Cams V8 StockCar Sebring race report
02-21-2013, 07:51 AM
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Crane Cams V8 StockCar Sebring race report
The Crane Cams V8 StockCar Road Racing Series kicked of the 2013 season with forty plus cars at Sebring International Raceway February 9 & 10 racing with the Central Florida Region SCCA at their Cabin Fever Cure event. Near perfect racing weather greeted the group with clear skies and temps in the mid 70's.
The group took to the track saturday morning for practice and some quickly noted a lack of grip on the historic circuit. Some surmised that the dissimilar rubber layed down the last few days during American Lemans Series practice was the culprit. Most were struggling a bit with lap times several seconds off their norm. A couple of exceptions were GT-1 driver Dillon Machavern (Falcon) and GT-2 Mazda RX-8 racer Keith Goldin. Machavern seemed to be just taking up where he left off last month at Sebring, where he won one of the two SCCA Majors. Goldin had recently corrected a few ills with his Goldin Bros. Grand Am Rolex GT spec Mazda and was already cutting his best laps ever at Sebring.
Qualifying went of Saturday afternoon and young Machavern quickly served notice that he would be the man to beat for the Porterfield Enterprises GT-1 class and overall win this weekend. Dillon, the seventeen year old Charlotte, Vermont racer was driving the Heritage Motorsports Ford Falcon owned by his dad, four time Crane Cams V8 Series champ Dave Machavern. This car and driver combination is gaining a reputation as one to beat at any event. The Falcon, a Riggins Engineering creation, with its' nostalgic look and Trans Am type underpinnings has garnered a lot of attention both at the track and in periodicals such as "GrassRoots Motorsports " magazine and others. Machavern layed down a 2:06.095 to grab the class and overall pole. Ron Stanley grabbed the next spot in his ex Scott Riggs Nascar Dodge Charger fitted with GT-1 wheels and tires. Jon Leavy was next in his Murray's Speed Products Riley Camaro, followed by Babe Branscombe in his ex Spirit of Daytona Grand Am Corvette. Keith Goldin led the LG Motorsports V8 GT-2 contingent in his RX-8, a car that has competed in a number of Rolex 24 races.
Lee Arnold grabbed the top spot in the PitBoxes.com V8 SPO class in his late model stock car, while Randy Walker (Howe Camaro) nipped Bobby Kennedy in the Bemco Fabrication Ford Taurus for the Howe Racing V8 GTA pole with Chad Jorgensen, the racing fire chief, grabbing the third spot in his Olds Cutlass.
Mike Kern brought out his beautiful ex Camel GT Camaro and was busy getting reacquainted with the famous 12 hour circuit that he had not driven for more than four years. Larry Corwin was getting to know his new GTA Monte Carlo after competing for years in the vintage group with a 1969 Camaro. Gene Paul of Tarpon Springs, Florida also had a new GTA stock car ride. Also,
West Palm Beach's James Brown was looking pretty racey in his C5 LG Motorsports V8 GT-2 Corvette powered by a fresh LS3 mill.
Race one of the 2013 season kicked off at 10:40 Sunday morning with Dillon Machavern leading the way in the Falcon. Veteran Grand Am and Trans Am racer Jon Leavy valiantly gave chase but Machavern had too much car and talent to go with it to leave any doubt who was going to arrive at the checker first. Just a ways back in the order, Lee Arnold, Bobby Kennedy and Randy Walker were really going at it. Kennedy was all over Arnold, who was fighting a fast but ill handling racer, while Walker was close behind waiting for something to happen. Goldin was having a great race in the Mazda with Phil Lasco (Panoz), Richard Smith (RX-7) and a fast closing Cameron Lawrence (Impala stock car GT-2) not far behind. Lawrence had missed qualifying and had to start in the back, but was now flying through the field on a mission to get to the front.
Ray Webb and Mike Kern were having a great battle in their GT-1 cars, swapping positions several times.
At the checker, Machavern crossed the line with more than fourteen seconds to spare over Leavy and third place V8 GT-1 Ron Stanley. Bobby Kennedy got the V8 GTA win and the sixth overall spot in the Ford Taurus with Arnold garnering the top spot in V8 SPO. Randy Walker was next in his V8 GTA Camaro with Keith Goldin taking the V8 GT-2 honors, just ahead of the rapidly approaching Lawrence. Lasco and Richard Smith were next in their GT-2 entrys. Chad Jorgensen picked up a podium in GTA in the Cutlass.
The green dropped on race two of the weekend at 4:44 in the afternoon with the sun sinking in the sky. At the start Machavern again led while Leavy reportedly got shouldered off track to drivers left and impacted the armco, putting him out of the race. Ron Stanley quickly moved up to the second overall spot with Lee Arnold, Bobby Kennedy, Cameron Lawrence, Phil Lasco, and Keith Goldin racing hard for class and overall top spots. Lawrence and Kennedy were having quite a battle with Lawrence driving down the inside of Kennedy in turn 16 only to have Kennedy pull the crossover and pull back around. Their battle was over on lap six of the scheduled nine lapper when Kennedy broke a driveshaft in his Ford Taurus.
Machavern was on cruise control with no serious challenge when on the last lap he broke an axle, yet still managed to limp home with the overall and class win. Stanley was second in GT-1 and overall in the Charger. Lawrence got by Arnold for third overall and the GT-2 win with Arnold still picking up the V8 SPO top spot. Phil Lasco was next in his GT-2 Panoz, with Randy Walker (GTA) in sixth overall. Keith Goldin completed a fine weekend with another podium in GT-2 in the RX-8.
James Brown had a fine debut in the series in his C5 Vette coming home eighth overall and fourth in GT-2. "Bosco" Logsdon grabbed the ninth overall spot with Ray Webb rounding out the top ten in is Nascar Cup car.
Chad Jorgensen picked up a second place in GTA in his best finish ever. Jorgensen was followed by Ernie Francis Jr, just fifteen years old, driving a terrific race in his new SCCA World Challenge GTS, Breathless Performance Camaro prepped by his Dad Ernie Sr.
It was a great start to a new year with many returning regulars and a good group of new faces.
For more information on the series check out http://www.v8stockcar.com/
The V8 series thanks it partners, and they are: Crane Cams, SCCA, Porterfield Enterprises, LG Motorsports, Howe Racing, PitBoxes.com, GoPro, RaceTalkRadio.com, Sunoco, Hoosier, Goodyear, FiveStar, RaceCar Engineering, RacingJunk.com, Roehrig-Enders, GrassRoots Motorsports Magazine, SafeRacer
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The group took to the track saturday morning for practice and some quickly noted a lack of grip on the historic circuit. Some surmised that the dissimilar rubber layed down the last few days during American Lemans Series practice was the culprit. Most were struggling a bit with lap times several seconds off their norm. A couple of exceptions were GT-1 driver Dillon Machavern (Falcon) and GT-2 Mazda RX-8 racer Keith Goldin. Machavern seemed to be just taking up where he left off last month at Sebring, where he won one of the two SCCA Majors. Goldin had recently corrected a few ills with his Goldin Bros. Grand Am Rolex GT spec Mazda and was already cutting his best laps ever at Sebring.
Qualifying went of Saturday afternoon and young Machavern quickly served notice that he would be the man to beat for the Porterfield Enterprises GT-1 class and overall win this weekend. Dillon, the seventeen year old Charlotte, Vermont racer was driving the Heritage Motorsports Ford Falcon owned by his dad, four time Crane Cams V8 Series champ Dave Machavern. This car and driver combination is gaining a reputation as one to beat at any event. The Falcon, a Riggins Engineering creation, with its' nostalgic look and Trans Am type underpinnings has garnered a lot of attention both at the track and in periodicals such as "GrassRoots Motorsports " magazine and others. Machavern layed down a 2:06.095 to grab the class and overall pole. Ron Stanley grabbed the next spot in his ex Scott Riggs Nascar Dodge Charger fitted with GT-1 wheels and tires. Jon Leavy was next in his Murray's Speed Products Riley Camaro, followed by Babe Branscombe in his ex Spirit of Daytona Grand Am Corvette. Keith Goldin led the LG Motorsports V8 GT-2 contingent in his RX-8, a car that has competed in a number of Rolex 24 races.
Lee Arnold grabbed the top spot in the PitBoxes.com V8 SPO class in his late model stock car, while Randy Walker (Howe Camaro) nipped Bobby Kennedy in the Bemco Fabrication Ford Taurus for the Howe Racing V8 GTA pole with Chad Jorgensen, the racing fire chief, grabbing the third spot in his Olds Cutlass.
Mike Kern brought out his beautiful ex Camel GT Camaro and was busy getting reacquainted with the famous 12 hour circuit that he had not driven for more than four years. Larry Corwin was getting to know his new GTA Monte Carlo after competing for years in the vintage group with a 1969 Camaro. Gene Paul of Tarpon Springs, Florida also had a new GTA stock car ride. Also,
West Palm Beach's James Brown was looking pretty racey in his C5 LG Motorsports V8 GT-2 Corvette powered by a fresh LS3 mill.
Race one of the 2013 season kicked off at 10:40 Sunday morning with Dillon Machavern leading the way in the Falcon. Veteran Grand Am and Trans Am racer Jon Leavy valiantly gave chase but Machavern had too much car and talent to go with it to leave any doubt who was going to arrive at the checker first. Just a ways back in the order, Lee Arnold, Bobby Kennedy and Randy Walker were really going at it. Kennedy was all over Arnold, who was fighting a fast but ill handling racer, while Walker was close behind waiting for something to happen. Goldin was having a great race in the Mazda with Phil Lasco (Panoz), Richard Smith (RX-7) and a fast closing Cameron Lawrence (Impala stock car GT-2) not far behind. Lawrence had missed qualifying and had to start in the back, but was now flying through the field on a mission to get to the front.
Ray Webb and Mike Kern were having a great battle in their GT-1 cars, swapping positions several times.
At the checker, Machavern crossed the line with more than fourteen seconds to spare over Leavy and third place V8 GT-1 Ron Stanley. Bobby Kennedy got the V8 GTA win and the sixth overall spot in the Ford Taurus with Arnold garnering the top spot in V8 SPO. Randy Walker was next in his V8 GTA Camaro with Keith Goldin taking the V8 GT-2 honors, just ahead of the rapidly approaching Lawrence. Lasco and Richard Smith were next in their GT-2 entrys. Chad Jorgensen picked up a podium in GTA in the Cutlass.
The green dropped on race two of the weekend at 4:44 in the afternoon with the sun sinking in the sky. At the start Machavern again led while Leavy reportedly got shouldered off track to drivers left and impacted the armco, putting him out of the race. Ron Stanley quickly moved up to the second overall spot with Lee Arnold, Bobby Kennedy, Cameron Lawrence, Phil Lasco, and Keith Goldin racing hard for class and overall top spots. Lawrence and Kennedy were having quite a battle with Lawrence driving down the inside of Kennedy in turn 16 only to have Kennedy pull the crossover and pull back around. Their battle was over on lap six of the scheduled nine lapper when Kennedy broke a driveshaft in his Ford Taurus.
Machavern was on cruise control with no serious challenge when on the last lap he broke an axle, yet still managed to limp home with the overall and class win. Stanley was second in GT-1 and overall in the Charger. Lawrence got by Arnold for third overall and the GT-2 win with Arnold still picking up the V8 SPO top spot. Phil Lasco was next in his GT-2 Panoz, with Randy Walker (GTA) in sixth overall. Keith Goldin completed a fine weekend with another podium in GT-2 in the RX-8.
James Brown had a fine debut in the series in his C5 Vette coming home eighth overall and fourth in GT-2. "Bosco" Logsdon grabbed the ninth overall spot with Ray Webb rounding out the top ten in is Nascar Cup car.
Chad Jorgensen picked up a second place in GTA in his best finish ever. Jorgensen was followed by Ernie Francis Jr, just fifteen years old, driving a terrific race in his new SCCA World Challenge GTS, Breathless Performance Camaro prepped by his Dad Ernie Sr.
It was a great start to a new year with many returning regulars and a good group of new faces.
For more information on the series check out http://www.v8stockcar.com/
The V8 series thanks it partners, and they are: Crane Cams, SCCA, Porterfield Enterprises, LG Motorsports, Howe Racing, PitBoxes.com, GoPro, RaceTalkRadio.com, Sunoco, Hoosier, Goodyear, FiveStar, RaceCar Engineering, RacingJunk.com, Roehrig-Enders, GrassRoots Motorsports Magazine, SafeRacer
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