Tim Paul Takes Win in Dramatic Fashion!
From Pawleys Island, SC. April 28th, 2019 The final round of the Quartermaster Classic was won by Tim Paul but he accomplished this amazing feat in dramatic fashion on Sunday. Tim Paul again showed his great speed on Sunday qualifying and was on provisional pole but the car was just a bit light so he had to start from the back. I have seen Tim race in F2000 championship series over the last 10 years and I have always been impressed by his speed but he really had to use all his skills in Sundays race. Scott Vreeland in the Weld Motorsports entry took over the pole starting position after Tim was moved to the back. Scott did an amazing job this weekend for the first time running at Roebling Road and first time in Skip welds car. The green flag waved and the second round of the Quartermaster Classic was under way. All of the cars were tightly packed and Dan Guenther and Scott Vreeland tangled on the back side of the track and retired Guenther from competition. Dan had made noticeable improvements in the morning qualifying and started from 5th spot in today's race. Scott came around into the pits and cleaned out the rads and continued on as the field was still under caution.
The incident allowed Keith Roberts to pull into the lead and Fletcher Wulff into 2nd with Marc Stern running 3rd. The top 10 positions were battling wildly and it allowed Keith to pull out a sizable lead. Meanwhile Tim Paul was using his sprint car skills to pick his way through the field making passes in places I have never really seen passing, but he did it cleanly without incident in his charge to the front. The thing about this championship is that every driver in the field is a great story, so it really makes the racing quite exciting to watch. The day before Stan Hallock came up to me after the race and was telling me how his heart monitor was beating lower which he explained shows his driving improvement and improved fitness. Stan is absolutely amazing to me, most people have a tachometer or a temperature gauge on the dash but Stan has his digital heart monitor pinned in the middle. It sort of like a rev limiter for the body as per doctors orders if he wants to continue racing.The guy is just incredible to be racing in those conditions, but he really loves it and he has seen great improvements since running with this group of drivers.
Another great story in today's race was that of Doug Stewart. He had been finishing his car all week long and himself and his crew had gone without sleep finishing the last few details . Doug had tried each day to make it out on the track and it was always something stopping him from getting a lap in. Finally in Sunday qualifying he was able to make it out but one of the oil lines was cut and oil poured over the engine. They were able to put out fire quickly before any damage and then he came over after qualifying and picked up another line and sure enough he was at the back of the grid for the race. He did 3 laps cautiously at the start since he had never driven a wing car before but then it started to feel good and he peeled off the fastest lap of the race and managed a brilliant 4th place finish. He should have received some kind of award for overcoming incredible challenges and staying positive. The same could go for Chris Forrer, he had problems all weekend but they finally figured out what was causing the misfire late Saturday and officials allowed him 1 hardship lap and the car was running great. He manged a respectable 7th place finish in Sundays race.
Finally there was Jim Belay and John Herscher. They were in a internal battle in Sundays race to win the free set of American racer tires for highest finishing Pinto powered car and also the 3rd clutch assembly given out by Quartermaster. Jim had driven brilliantly Saturday and finished ahead of Herscher but today there was no stopping John Herscher from grabbing the final podium spot after Fletcher Wulff had a very unusual retirement with a hand full of laps remaining. Belay, Marc Stern and Herscher were all jockying for position and John Herscher ended up on top. Meanwhile Tim Paul was making his way through this intense battle. He made it through untouched and set his sights on Keith Roberts who had about a 3 second lead. Tim reeled in Roberts quite methodically and with 2 laps remaining made the pass for the lead. Keith tucked in behind and settled for 2nd place which is a remarkable achievement after a very long departure from the sport. He recently purchased the car and is also looking for a second car that his young son will soon be driving in the series.
Hats off to Tim Paul in his RSports machine, he has worked so well with Paul Reiffle at R-sports and I believe he would match up with just about anyone at his current performance level. Tim may join us for some races later in the season as he is taking a break from f2000 racing, but what a great way to end things for now.
We also had another very important addition to the championship starting this weekend. My brother Jon and his partners Derick and Nick will now be part of the technical side of the series and all the administration to improve operations. They helped several people with set up problems during the weekend and they also assist SCCA officials with tech inspection. I believe everyone was very happy the three of them are involved with the series as the growth seems to be exploding with all the new faces at each event. I certainly believe we will see 20 car fields when we come to Road Atlanta in November and these guys will be vital in the growth process with all of their professional racing knowledge. We now look forward to the next event May 18-19th at Palm beach speedway in West Palm Beach , Florida. The track has made many improvements and it is supposed to be a first class venue. any questions about the series do not hesitate to contact myself or you can go to southernformulacar.com - Grand Prix Championship Road Racing Again I would like to give a big thank you to all of the sponsors and especially all of the drivers that attended this event. I would also like to thank Scott Conway for coming down from Atlanta to announce our race and a great job with the trophy presentations. We look forward to seeing him again when we are back at Road Atlanta and he will most likely be announcing our race from the brand new Michelin tower that is currently under construction at the track. look for current points positions to be updated shortly.
See You soon,
Regards Brad Baytos- President -southernformulacar.com
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