LEXINGTON, OHIO (August 11, 2002) –Ross Fonferko, of Wheaton, Ill., won Round Ten of the 2002 Formula Ford 2000 Zetec Championship at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Completing the top-three was J.W. Urlin, of London, Ont., Can., and Matthew McDonough, of West Newbury, Mass. Ron Thomas, of Galena, Ohio, won the American Continental Championship class.
Race two of the doubleheader at Mid-Ohio, run in conjunction with the CART FedEx Championship, began in hot and humid conditions. At the start, the polesitter, Sean McIntosh, maintained the lead ahead of Urlin and Bryan Sellers. McIntosh and Urlin quickly built up a sizeable lead, while a battle ensued for second place. On lap 2, Sellers and Lawson Aschenbach made contact while fighting for the position, ending Aschenbach’s day. On the following lap, a full-course caution was displayed for Tom Dyer going off-course in the Keyhole. On the restart, the top-five cars went nose-to-tail into turn one. McIntosh held the lead, while Fonferko passed Sellers, in a damaged car, for third place. For the next three laps, the top-three remained unchanged, with Fonferko steadily closing the gap on Urlin, in the No. 19 Budget Rent a Car/Mygale Cars OTM Motorsports Mygale Ford. On lap 11, Fonferko got a good run on Urlin, making the pass for position. Immediately following the change in the top-three, a second full-course caution was displayed for James Gue, who had become stuck in the turn 11 gravel trap. On the lap 15 restart, Fonferko got a good draft on McIntosh, and passed for the lead in the famed Keyhole turn. Upon losing the lead, McIntosh was immediately under pressure from Urlin, who took the position later in the lap. Within a lap of taking the lead, Fonferko, in the No. 4 J&R Associates/Ross Racing Inc. Cape Motorsports Van Diemen Ford, built up a four second gap. With the first two positions looking to be secure, all eyes focused on the battle for the final podium position. McDonough in the No. 6 TASC Technical Services/GTP Engineering Van Diemen Ford looked to be the quickest car, having moved up from his eighth place starting position to fourth place. On lap 17, McDonough passed McIntosh to move into third place and began to close on Urlin. As the 22-lap race approached its conclusion, McDonough repeatedly challenged Urlin for position, but was unable to make a pass. At the checkered flag, Fonferko had captured his first career Zetec Championship win, by 1.004 seconds.
“I’m elated with the results this weekend,” said Fonferko, who ran two Zetec Championship races in 2001, after winning the Jim Russell Triple Crown Championship. “After starting fifth, I honestly didn’t think I had any chance to win. All the thanks has to go to the Cape’s, who gave me a fantastic car all weekend long.”
“It was good to see a lot of passing out there,” said Urlin, who remains fourth in the championship. “The Zetec Championship is a learning series, and we keep learning every race. I think our day will come.”
“My engineer Glenn [Philips] gave me a phenomenal car,” said McDonough, who captured his first career podium finish. “I got a couple runs on J.W. [Urlin] late in the race, but a yellow flag ruined my best chance. The team is getting stronger every race and I’m very much looking forward to the next few races.”
“I really wanted the win today,” said Thomas. “Yesterday we were running up front and battling some of the Zetec cars for position when we got a flat tire. Maybe next time I’ll have a Zetec car, they look like a lot fun to drive.”
Completing the top-five was McIntosh, of Coquitlam, B.C., Can., in the No. 24 Kirmac Carstar/PPG/Lordco Auto Parts/Sign Way Design/NKG Spark Plugs PR1 Motorsports Van Diemen Ford, and Edouard Aube, of Montreal, Que., Can., in the No. 22 PATTISON Richard Morgan Racing Van Diemen Ford. Sellers maintains the Zetec Championship point standings lead, by 17 points over Jeffrey Jones, after finishing 22nd.
