Mazda racers have a chance to wrap up conference titles this weekend in Georgia
SCCA’s Southeast Conference U.S. Majors Tour wraps up its season this weekend at Roebling Road Raceway near Savannah, Ga. The 2.02-mile, nine-turn road course is expecting a large field for the final Majors of 2017 in that SCCA Conference.
Spec Miata makes up a significant portion of the entries at Roebling, and all the major players in the class in the Southeast are expected to race. Selin Rollan (158) and Michael Carter (156) sit at the top of the points going into the finale, with Alex Bolanos at 138. The gap between Bolanos and the top two looks large on paper, but Rollan and Carter both have 10 races and are dropping all but their best eight finishes. Bolanos, on the other hand, has only started six races, and been first or second in every one of them. Barring something unforeseen, Bolanos should end up with the championship.
Quinten Nelson (164), Paul Schneider (159) and Justin Gordon (148) are locked in a tight battle for Formula Enterprises honors. Only Gordon and Schneider are pre-registered for Roebling Road, and all three are already or will be dropping races. Whoever comes out of Savannah with a great weekend could end up the champ.
Formula Mazda will be Carson Weeder’s title if he races at Roebling, but will likely go to Shane Doles if Weeder doesn’t. Weeder, who has won all four Southeast Conference races he has entered, leads Doles 75 points to 65 points.
Miata racer Ken Kannard is in the hunt for the F Production title, but it will require some bad luck for his competition to close the gap – he’s 30 points behind the class leader. Two Mazda GT drivers have a lock on their respective classes. Bill McGavic (RX-7) has an unassailable lead in GT-3, and Michael Kamalian (Miata) has a virtual lock on GT-Lite.
Jacek Mucha has won Prototype 1 in his JMS 016 CP Mazda in every race he’s entered, so he’s already a lock for the P1 championships.
Nick Leverone has wrapped up the Super Touring Lite title, having already had eight starts in the Southeast where he’s finished first six times. Don Knowles has locked up the Touring 4 title in his RX-8, having gone six for six in the Southeast so far.
Look for a full report on the Southeast Conference champions after the event, and remember that Mazda pays $650 in contingency for a Majors win, and pays down to fourth place if there are sufficient entries. Points champions can earn $1,250. Those numbers go up for Hoosier Super Tour wins and championships. For complete contingency information, see here.