SCCA’s Hoosier Super Tour visits Portland International Raceway as it closes out its West Coast swing
The Pacific Northwest is known for its lush green trees, the Columbia River, and as the point where the historic Lewis and Clark Expedition reached the Pacific Ocean. Equally as famous to racers is Portland International Raceway, which has played host to club and professional racing since the gates opened in 1960. Today, the 1.967-mile, 12-turn track continues to challenge drivers and produce fierce racing – a fact that remained true during the May 20-21 SCCA Hoosier Super Tour.
Fresh off of a pair of Hoosier Super Tour wins at Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Tristan Littlehale made the trek with his No. 08 TC Design/Red Line Oil/G-LOC Brakes Mazda Spec Miata and was rewarded handsomely. On Saturday, Littlehale ran the first part of the race in third as Steven Powers and Daniel Langon fought it out for the lead. Powers held the prime position early, but the pack simply wouldn’t let him rest. “I was hoping we’d hit some lapped traffic so I could get a little bit of space on the pack, but it didn’t work,” Powers said after Saturday’s race. “I got loose and got crossed up, then the field just freight-trained me.”
Langon moved to the front of the field for a bit, and stayed in the fight for a time, but he succumbed to Littlehale and Marco Gallaher for a third-place finish. “It was a pretty crazy race, but great competition,” Langon said Saturday. “I knew nobody was going to run away and that it would be close to the very end. There was passing every lap and it was a lot to handle.”
Littlehale earned the win Saturday and went on to prove a point Sunday with a dominant, flag-to-flag victory featuring a 15-second margin of victory. “On Saturday, I was riding things out to see how things would go,” Littlehale said. “The top three or four guys all had it in them for the win. There were some weak spots of mine and stronger spots for other people, but I just wanted to see how it shuffled out at the end of the race. But everyone brought their ‘A’ game this weekend.
“It’s all about putting down fast, consistent laps,” Littlehale continued. “We just worked hard to set this car up to work well throughout an entire race. We’ve found a tire strategy that works for us, so that allows us to have a good car throughout an entire race.”
Also backing up a pair of Buttonwillow Super Tour victories was Marc Hoover, who piloted his No. 198 Hooverspeed/NRA/Necksgen/Redline Oil Mazda Miata to a pair of Touring 1 wins, and the Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour point standings lead.
Kale Swifts made the trip south of the border from British Columbia with the No. 96 West Coast Hot Rods Mazda RX-7 and claimed the E Production class wins both days.
Following an excellent weekend at Portland International Raceway, The SCCA Hoosier Super Tour now moves back east for the June 2-4 event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
May 20, 2017 provisional winners
Class: Name, Hometown and Car
Formula Mazda: Bill Weaver; Fresno, CA; Formula Mazda
Formula Enterprise: Thomas Burt; Woodway, WA; Formula Enterprises Mazda
E Production: Kale Swifts; Surrey, BC; Mazda RX-7
Spec Miata: Tristan Littlehale; Saratoga, CA; Mazda Miata
Touring 1: Marc Hoover; Shingle Springs, CA; Mazda Miata
May 21, 2017 provisional winners
Class: Name, Hometown and Car
Formula Mazda: Bill Weaver; Fresno, CA; Formula Mazda
Formula Enterprise: Thomas Burt; Woodway, WA; Formula Enterprises Mazda
E Production: Kale Swifts; Surrey, BC; Mazda RX-7
Spec Miata: Tristan Littlehale; Saratoga, CA; Mazda Miata
Touring 1: Marc Hoover; Shingle Springs, CA; Mazda Miata