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This October, we returned to the “World Center of Racing” for the 2nd annual PCA Club Race at Daytona.
In Friday’s qualifying runs for the Blue Run Group, Rick Brownyard was 4th overall and 2nd in E Class. Jimmy Martin ran 6th overall and was 3rd in E Class, and Derek Richesin qualified 8th overall and 4th in E Class. Rich Bundschuh qualified 6th in F Class and was 17th overall in the group. The first sprint race saw a lot of position changes up front. Brownyard lead overall for a few laps, and though he could not hold on to the overall win, he still won his class with Jimmy was right on his bumper. Crossing the finish line less than 1 second later was Derek, sweeping the E class podium. Rich moved up to 4th in F Class and was 13th overall in his first race at Daytona.
In the first Sprint Race for the Red Group, Chuck Grantham drove from 7th in class up to 3rd. He was running well in that position until another car bumped into him on the banking, forcing Grantham to come in. Chuck finished the race at 6th in class.
Forrest Bowen and Rick Stafford spent most of the Sprint running nose to tail. They finished the race in 4th and 5th in C3, respectively. Our biggest mover in this group was Craig Finley who picked up 7 positions during the race to finish in 11th in class. He also exceeded his personal lap time goals for the weekend. Derek Skea qualified 5th in GTA, but showed constant improvement through the weekend and finished the first sprint 4th overall and on the class podium. Cory Friedman took the C3 pole with what is likely a qualifying lap record.
On Saturday, the schedule was much like Friday with another qualifying and sprint race. In Blue Group’s second qualifying run, it was Jimmy Martin on the overall pole. Derek Richesin was 3rd overall, 2nd in class, and Rick was close behind in 5th. Rich Bundschuh started the second race in 4th, where he finished the first race. After an exciting Sprint Race, Derek was 2nd in E Class and 4th overall, and an incident dropped Jimmy from his top spot. With fading brakes, Rich held on to 7th in F Class and 15th overall.
During the Red Group qualifying, Derek Skea was 4th overall and 3rd in class. Cory Friedman qualified 5th overall and 1st in GTC3 class. Rick Stafford, Forrest Bowen, Chuck Grantham qualified 5th, 6th and 7th in GTC3. After the Sprint Race, Derek maintained his 4th overall position and a class podium. Cory also was never challenged for position. Rick and Forrest had a great race swapping spots to finish 6th and 5th.
On Sunday, we completed two Enduros and finished up a productive and fun weekend. In the Stock Enduro, Jimmy Martin finished 1st in E class. Brownyard and Friedman ran in Brownyard’s I class 944. Derek Richesin was running at the top of E Class when he spun a rod bearing which brought an early end to his race.
During the GT Enduro, it looked like the race was going to end under a Caution, but the Green Flag was raised with one lap to go. Cory Friedman took advantage of this and passed 5 cars in the final lap. This took Friedman and his co-driver Forrest Bowen to a 1st place finish in class and 2nd overall. Chuck Grantham teamed up with Rick Stafford in Stafford’s GT3 Cup car. They were running a good race until a broken axle took them out of the race.
Overall, it was a fun weekend in Daytona with Autometrics’s Motorsports drivers taking home 9 podium finishes with 3 poles and 4 wins, and Derek Richesin and Derek Skea both took home Worker’s Choice Awards. We’re looking forward to our next trip to Daytona International Speedway at the Rennsport Reunion III in just a few weeks.
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