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Rain Doesn’t Stop Challenge Series Finale 2008 Challenge Series Championship Recap |
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The Factory Five Challenge Series visited Mid-Ohio for the Third Annual NASA National Championships this past weekend. This marked the seventh time a National Champion has been crowned in the series since it began. All three podium finishers from last year returned along with a ramped up level of competition throughout the field. This was immediately apparent after Thursday’s practice sessions which saw the quickest lap times dropping with each successive session. Missing from the field on Thursday was the defending champion, David Standridge, who did not make it to the track until Saturday’s first practice session. |
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Friday morning meant getting more serious as the qualifying race counts toward the starting grid for Sunday’s finale. Friday also brought rain which would stay throughout the day and halfway through Saturday. John George led the way in qualifying on Thursday putting the number 48 on the pole for the first race of the weekend. Following closely behind were Paul Kaiser, Scott McKay, and Karen Salvaggio. |
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A steady rain made the race track very wet for the start of the race, making things tricky for all the drivers right from the drop of the flag. John George spun his rear tires coming up to the green and the car veered off track grazing the inside wall with Paul Kaiser inheriting the lead followed closely by Scott McKay. The entire field of Challenge Cars was having a hard time finding grip on the wet track. Scott was able to work his way around Paul and hold on for the win with Kaiser in second and Gary McDaniel working his way up to third. |
| Saturday morning brought more rain but that didn’t stop the driver’s from improving their times. A quickened pace from Paul Kaiser allowed him to drop four seconds from the day before and put his number 8 car on the pole. Scott McKay qualified second and John George coming back to the top to grab third. Saturday’s race also brought the first break in the rain since Thursday night and by the time all the cars rolled onto the grid, the track was dry and rain tires were back in the trailers. Taking advantage of the dry track, McKay was able to work his way around Kaiser and hold on for the win with George holding on for third. In the closest finish of the weekend, Carl Thompson, barely ahead of David Standridge stole fourth in a finish that was too close to call. Ultimately, it had to be determined by the tower. | |
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With the qualifying races over the grid was set for Sunday’s race with McKay on the Pole followed by Kaiser and McDaniel. As the flag fell there was a clean start with McKay leading Kaiser into the first turn, followed by McNett, McDaniel, and Thompson. At the back of the pack things were also heating up. Standridge and George were both making a hard charge through the pack after starting in the final two spots and by the end of lap one, they had worked up into the top ten. The third lap saw racing start to tighten up throughout the field. Kaiser worked his way around McKay for the lead and the battle for third was just getting started with McNett, Eves, and George swapping the position over the next few laps. Kaiser settled into the lead with McKay right behind and George chasing them in third. |
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Just when it looked like the race would come down to a shootout between Kaiser and McKay, Kaiser suddenly pulled off with a blown fuse in his engine control system and McKay found himself with a large lead and only traffic from the other classes to contend with. George inherited second place but found himself under attack from Standridge in the closing laps. Standridge made his move with one lap to go taking over second place, but it was too late to for anyone to chase down McKay who had a sizeable lead and cruised in for the win. Standridge came across in second with George third and McNett a strong fourth. The top ten was rounded out by McDaniel, Larose, Walter, Salvaggio, Eves, and Norgrove. |
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The final prize of the day was a scooter donated by Bill Pierce and TGB which went to the driver who was closest to predicting what their fastest race lap would be. Richard Norgrove backed up his solid top ten finish by running closest to his estimated lap time and took home the scooter. |
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All in all it was a very successful Championship. The entire weekend was filled with clean, close racing right up to the very last lap. Next year the race moves to Utah and Miller Motorsports Park which should bring a whole new challenge and the first chance for many Factory Five Challenge Series racers to run at one of the countries premiere new tracks. |
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