Champions in Every Category

No matter the style of car, Mazda racers won titles in the Western Conference U.S. Majors Tour – 12 in all

SCCA’s Western Conference has wrapped up its U.S. Majors Tour with a June 30-July 1 finale at Sonoma Raceway, and 13 Mazda drivers have walked away with a conference title to their name. And while it is a given that Mazdas are going to win certain classes – Spec Miata, Formula Enterprises, FE2, and Formula Mazda – other classes can come down to the wire. That said, in the Western Conference, Mazda drivers impressively took the points win in every category of SCCA racing – from GT to Production to formula cars, prototype, Touring and B-Spec, Mazda claimed victories in all.

The B-Spec conference championship went to Cherie Storms, edging out fellow Mazda2 racer Jake Pipal, who won every race he entered. Storms, who hails from British Columbia, is looking forward to a West Coast Runoffs this year as the event heads to Sonoma Raceway in October.

Taz Harvey began the season moving back and forth between his GT-Lite Miata and his GT-3 RX-7. The GTL car didn’t see the end of the season, but his early-race dominance still allowed Harvey to add the GTL title to his GT-3 title. Harvey had five wins in six races in GTL, and one win plus six other podium finishes in GT-3. 

In E-Production, Glen McCready has been rather dominant in the California races in his NC MX-5, winning at least one at each venue and finishing first or second at all but one. This performance allowed McCready to take the conference points title over RX-7 pilot Kale Swifts, who competed at every Majors race on the West Coast.

Formula Atlantic on the West Coast has seen more nontraditional entries than proper Formula Atlantic cars such as Swift 014s, 016s and Ralts. Instead, it is a mix of Star Pro Formula Mazdas and Mazda-powered Formula Speed 2.0 cars at the top of the point standings, taking the top six spots. At the very top is Jay Horak, who drove his Pro Mazda to three wins to top John Purcell, also in a Pro Mazda, by four points. 

In Formula Enterprises, Brandon Aleckson was so dominant in the first three conference races of the year, winning every one, that he didn’t need to contest any more to claim the title over John Yeatman. Meanwhile, two drivers showed up with the updated FE2 cars on the West Coast for the second half of the season, with Thomas W. Burt running three weekends to claim the points title. 

Bill Weaver ran all but one Majors weekend to take the Formula Mazda title from Mike Anderson, who won all six of the Southern California races at Auto Club Speedway, Willow Springs and Buttonwillow. David Ferguson took the Prototype 2 points in his Mazda-powered Van Diemen. 

It was no surprise that Mark Drennan dominated Spec Miata as he began to concentrate on club racing once again, looking toward the Runoffs at his home track. He had some great battles with Tristan Littlehale in several of the California races, but he came out on top of each one. The only time he didn’t win in Majors races was at Thunderhill, where Ken Sutherland took the victory and Justin Casey finished second ahead of Drennan. 

It wasn’t too shocking that Marc Hoover and his absurdly fast Miata came out on top of the Touring 1 points, either. And despite some stiff competition later in the season, Ross Murray had little trouble taking the Touring 4 title with 10 wins and two seconds in 12 starts.

With their Majors season concluded, Western Conference racers now turn their attention to the SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Sonoma Raceway in October. 

SCCA US Majors Tour
Western Conference Points Leaders
BS: Cherie Storms; Langley, B.C. Canada; Mazda2
EP: Glen McCready; Redwood City, Calif.; MX-5
FA: Jay Horak; Star Pro Formula Mazda
FE: Brandon Aleckson; Van Diemen FE Mazda
FE2: Thomas W. Burt; Woodway, Wash.; Van Diemen FE2 Mazda
FM: Bill Weaver; Fresno, Calif.; Star Formula Mazda
GT-3: Taz Harvey; Danville, Calif.; RX-7
GTL: Taz Harvey; Danville, Calif.; 1994 Miata
P2: David Ferguson; Van Diemen RFS-03 Mazda
SM: Mark Drennan; San Jose, Calif.; Miata
T1: Marc Hoover; Miata
T4: Ross Murray; Marina Del Rey, Calif.; RX-8