Second West Coast SCCA Super Tour closes Western swing
The second of two West Coast Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tours took place at Portland International Raceway (PIR) during a race weekend hosted by SCCA’s Oregon Region. Throughout the weekend, there was plenty of tight competition on the 1.977-mile, 12-turn circuit situated along the Columbia River.
On Saturday, the E Production (EP) race featured nail-biting excitement. In that event, John Mueller and Darren Dilley, both driving first-generation RX-7s, fought hard for the EP lead early in the action-packed event. “In the opening half of the race, I was doing what my car would let me,” Mueller said. “My adversary made a clean pass going into Turn 1. I took him deep into the corner, but let him have the lead knowing there was lots of racing ahead.”
Later, as the duo managed race traffic, Mueller got his chance to retake the top position. With a little dust and a lot of guts, Mueller moved to the front and built a gap no one could close. And with that, he brought his No. 92 Muellerized Mazda RX-7 home to victory at PIR, a track his family has been racing at for 50 years and at which his father took an IMSA GTU win in 1981, also driving a first-generation RX-7.
Ken Sutherland scored a rare double Spec Miata victory at PIR in his No. 94 Wyatt Fire Protection/Miatacage.com/Pittman and Brooks CPA Mazda Miata. Neither victory was easy, however. On Saturday, Sutherland had a race-long duel with SM ace Tyler Kicera and emerged the victor. On Sunday, the same battle was shaping up again; but after a couple of laps, Kicera fell away, which left Sutherland with a very healthy gap on the rest of the field.
To race fans trackside it looked like Sutherland had another win locked up, but somehow Eric Jones started turning blazing laps and hunted down Sutherland and took the lead on lap 16. For the next seven laps, Jones and Sutherland were hooked together as they played a game of cat-and-mouse to see who would walk away the winner. In the end it was Sutherland who reached the checkered flag first.
“I don’t know how Jones closed the gap,” Sutherland admitted. “All I saw was his yellow car getting bigger in my rearview mirror. Honestly, I don’t know how I won the race. He was definitely faster because he tracked me down from a long way back. But it was a great race – great racing with Tyler, great racing with Eric. I couldn’t ask for more.”
Other racers to score double victories included Thomas Burt in Formula Enterprises 2, Marc Hoover in Touring 1 (Miata) and Ross Murray in Touring 4 (RX-8).
With its trip to the West Coast complete, SCCA’s Super Tour series moves back east for the last three events of the 2018 season. Next up is a June 1-3 visit to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Follow all the action live at www.scca.com/live.
SCCA Hoosier Racing Tire Super Tour
Portland International Raceway, Portland, Ore., May 19-20, 2018
May 19 Provisional Mazda Winners
E Production: John Mueller; Santa Ana, CA; Cal Club; Mazda RX-7
Formula Atlantic: Jay Horak; Mesa, AZ; Arizona Region; Star Pro Mazda
Formula Enterprises 2: Thomas Burt; Woodway, WA; Northwest Region; SCCA FE2
Mazda
Formula Mazda: Brad Drew; Trabuco Canyon, CA; Cal Club; Formula Mazda
Prototype 1: Todd Slusher; Las Vegas, NV; Las Vegas Region; Elan DP02
Spec Miata: Ken Sutherland; Sherwood, OR; Oregon Region; Mazda Miata
Touring 1: Marc Hoover; Shingle Springs, CA; Arizona Region; Mazda MX-5 Miata
Touring 4: Ross Murray; Marina del Rey, CA; Cal Club; Mazda RX-8
May 20 Provisional Mazda Winners
E Production: Kale Swifts; Surrey, BC; Northwest Region; Mazda RX-7
Formula Atlantic: John Purcell; Vancouver, BC; Northwest Region; Star Pro Mazda
Formula Enterprises 2: Thomas Burt; Woodway, WA; Northwest Region; SCCA FE2
Mazda
Formula Mazda: Bill Weaver; Fresno, CA; San Francisco Region; Star Formula Mazda
Spec Miata: Ken Sutherland; Sherwood, OR; Oregon Region; Mazda Miata
Super Touring Lite: Wilson Powell; Danville, CA; San Francisco Region; Mazda Miata
Touring 1: Marc Hoover; Shingle Springs, CA; Arizona Region; Mazda MX-5 Miata
Touring 4: Ross Murray; Marina del Rey, CA; Cal Club; Mazda RX-8