2018 champ makes jump to fc
Doug Stewart 2018 Southern F1600 Champ Makes Bold Move for 2019
From Pawleys Island, SC . Jan 7th,2019- The Southern Formula car Championship presented by American Racers Tires and Primus Racing Parts.com is very proud to announce yet another driver to its impressive line up of drivers for 2019 Championship. The Formula Continental division of the organization is a year long points battle comprised of the very popular Formula continental class which are pure breed racing machines that runs in SCCA competition and the class has produced the whos who of racing champions over the last 25 years including 5 Indy 500 winners and all kinds of other high level
racing drivers. The Southern Continental racing series is a regional championship supported by the primary sponsors American Racer Tires and Primus racing parts. The series focus is on keeping cost low as possible by reducing travel expenses, low entry fees and minimal tire expense. The series has grown each year since its start in 2017 and now it really looks like this could be the best season so far as we have adopted the F2000 championship series rules which allows different engine and gearbox packages and also balancing the competition through weight management so the older car and engine configurations are given a real chance to win as the last 2 champions were driving the older pinto power plant cars.
We are extremely thrilled to announce that the 2018 winner of the F1600 series( Doug Stewart) which are non winged cars has recently purchased a brand new Van Diemen f2000 car and is going to do his best to win back to back titles in different categories. Doug pulled off in 2018 what you would surely call the Cinderella Story . Against all odds made up a large deficit by skilled driving and a little racing luck to win the F1600 championship in the final race of the year. He was so impressive in his quest to win the championship that I believe everyone had pretty much written him off to have any chance of taking the title but he was like the energizer bunny and he just wouldn't stop. He missed the first event of the year due to illness so he immediately had to use his 2 drops so his first race of the year was one of the most highly competitive events at Roebling Road in Savannah ,Georgia sponsored by Quartermaster Clutches and we named the event the Quartermaster Classic. He walked away with a pair of 3rd place finishes and also a brand new $500 racing clutch supplied by the Quartermaster Corporation.
Consistency and determination became a trait that Doug was soon to gain as he had another pair of top 3 finishes at the next event at Daytona International Speedway. Doug is a big guy and the Swift is a very small car but he managed to shoe horn himself in the car each weekend which at times looked very painful as he would usually finish the weekends all bruised up from the way he was jammed in the car. This really became a problem at the next event at Road Atlanta because of the rolling hills and high g-force turns. When he walked away from that event it looked like he had fought a prize fight and not racing a car because he was so beat up afterwards. He was constantly in the series trailer after each race bugging me to do the calculations on where he needed to finish to catch the 2 guys ahead of him John Schmenti and Hartley Macdonald. I was thinking to myself man this guy is a real dreamer if he thinks he is going to pull this off but each time out he did exactly what he needed to do to close in on the drivers ahead of him and he came into the final event at Roebling Road raceway which was double points because of the single race with a mathematical chance of winning the title. Hartley Macdonald had a mild heart attach a week before the event so sadly he was not able to make the race( but he is fine now and back racing) so it was John Schmenti in his sights for the final race of the year. Sure enough each morning Doug was at the trailer with his calculator and chalk board having me figure exactly where he need to finish to win the championship, I was thinking to myself this guy has more determination then I have ever seen. To compound his points deficit he was also battling a problem with suspension failure. Most drivers come in the pits to check air pressure or a sway bar adjustment where Doug was coming in to see if the wishbone was still attached. I believe any normal person would have parked the car and given up but not this guy and there wasn't anyone that was going to stop him from racing even if he only had 3 wheels at the end. The race started and Doug Stewart started picking off people moving to the front but he still needed Schmenti To finish 2 or 3 spots behind him. Well the racing luck finally went Dougs way and John Schmenti had a mechanical problem and did not finish half way through the race. Doug still needed to finish in 2nd place to win the championship and he had the thoughts of the suspension failure going through his mind but he survived and won the title by 2 points. Schmenti was devastated but he was very gracious after the race giving Doug a big handshake for a well deserved title. Schimenti took 2nd place in points and the very consistent driver Roelof Blok took the final championship trophy in 3rd place. It was a great year with a total of 27 different drivers racing through out the year.
[ We will be announcing both the f2000 and F1600 schedules very soon but both classes with start at the Quartermaster Classic at Roebling road Raceway at the end of April. we decided to start later this year in order to give all the new drivers a chance to get ready for the season. Since American Racer Tires has announced the end of the year championship prize fund it has really created lots of interest for the Formula Continental Class and we have already picked up five or six new drivers. Chris Fahan and Ian Macpherson and joined together to buy a new F2000 car and the father son duo of Stuart and Adam Jackson both have new cars and will be running the whole season. 2018 champ Marc Stern has purchased 2001 Zetec powered car so look for him to be a force. Bill Herscher has also picked up a newer 2000 Van Diemen so he will be someone to watch as he ran several races in his 91 car along with his 2017 champ brother John Herscher who is very fast winning several races over the past few years. Nelson Calle from Miami in his Classic Cars Van Diemen has also pledged to do some races as he use to be very competitive in the Hooters Series days. Scott Gesford will run with the relocated Rsports team and possibly add a team mate before the start of the season. Jim Belay will return to try and win that elusive title that he has come so close each year along with David Klutsenbaker from Tennessee. Fletcher Wulff is rumored to be taking on a team mate in the Wulff Motorsports entry and they are always quick as he won 2 races in 2018. Chris Dunlap And Stan hallock will be back as Chris Dunlap won an award for most laps completed in 2018 and he has been such a great supporter of the series. Jim Johnson will also be running his beautifully prepared car and fast car as won a couple races in 2018. We also heard the rumor that Keith Roberts and former pro Mazda champ has purchased a zetec Van diemen and will also be joining in the competition, look for him to be very fast. We also hope to see Skip weld back running some events although he has mentioned he would prefer to take car owner role and put a driver in his Van Diemen. We also cant forget another great driver Chris Scharnow in his Zetec Van Diemen who will attend most of the races in 2019 after a limited schedule in 2018. We also have heard that LTD motorsports will possibly run one two of his drivers in the series.
The series is growing in leap and bounds so we have commissioned the Primus racing team to handle tech inspection at the events. Jon Baytos, Derich Cutshaw and Nick Denny will bring there immense skills and experience to help drivers with set up and also maintain tech inspection as the competition becomes much more intense. We are also going to announce extra prize fund for the highest finishing car that is year model 97 or older for the year end points . We will also add a substantial bonus to the highest finishing pinto powered car of any year although we will still make weight changes as needed to keep the older engine and chassis competitive. look for the final schedule to be published very soon as we make the last few tweeks , but it will be posted on http://www.southernformulacar.com/ please do not hesitate to call or email with any concerns or questions as we strive to grow the series to it best potential with great sponsors like American racer tires, primus Racing parts, Speedcom Radios, Quartermaster clutches, OZ racing wheels, Taylor race engineering ,Quicksilver, Gridsport.net and Driven race oil. We will update the website soon with contingency awards and prize fund structures soon as possible.
Regards, Brad Baytos- President
Primus Racing Parts
8171 Ocean Hwy Unit D
Pawleys Island, SC. 29585
Website: Primusracingparts.com
Email: Sales@primusracingparts.com
Cell & Text 727-804-7417
Office Phone 843-314-3893
race series website : gpfourinfo.com
southernformulacar.com
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