Sports Car - November 2011

of a racing season. That is why it’s tough to write this article since I was not able to attend for the first time in seven years. Two things are for sure though – I will come back as hungry as ever next year, and the “F5” button on my keyboard at work was getting a workout on the competition days from refreshing the live timing page! By my unofficial count, CENDiv sent 136 entrants to Nationals this year, and more than 30 percent of them came back carrying extra weight in their tow vehicle or trunk! The division managed seven class winners. Drivers Bartek Borowski (ES),

Jeff Ellbery (third, EM, Iowa Region).

Eighteen other drivers earned trophies: J. Ma (fourth, DS, Milwaukee Region), Christy Vehe (fourth, STUL, Chicago Region), Greg Meier (fourth, DP, Chicago Region), John Engstrom (fourth, CM, Chicago Region), Mark Sawatsky (fourth, DM, Badlands Region), Keith Beumer (fourth, FM, Land O’ Lakes Region),

JERRY DOCTOR

Andew Canak (STS), Anne Robinson

(DPL) and Tom Reggaine (FJB) made it back-to-back wins. Some new winners (both overall and in classes) included

Hubert Borowski (fifth, ES, Chicago Region), Stephen Jones (fifth, DSP, Land O’ Lakes Region), Sean Ford (fifth, EM, Land O’ Lakes Region), Chris Mosley (fifth, FM, Land O’ Lakes Region), Michael Waich (sixth, STX, Milwaukee Region), Brian Slack (sixth, XP, Land O’ Lakes Region),

The August “Come
Hell or High Water”
Jocelyn Huang in BSL, Katie Lacey in
XPL and Bridget Sawatsky in BML.

Chicago was king of the division with four champions (Borowski, Robinson, Reggaine and Huang) while

Double National at Motorsports Park Hastings was a winning weekend for everyone involved: the Nebraska Region that organized it, the

Milwaukee had two (Canak and Lacey) and Badlands had one with Sawatsky.

Brian Packingham (sixth, DM, Iowa Region), Colin Fiedler (seventh, STR, Milwaukee Region), Pat Washburn (eighth, ST, Milwaukee Region), Harry Aro (eighth, CSP, Milwaukee Region), Wes Jenrich (ninth, ES, Chicago Region) and Anthony Montelo (10th, F125, Chicago Region).

Although Milwaukee may have
come short on wins, they had a lot of
near misses. Ten Milwaukee Region
drivers ended up with second- or
third-place finishes. Chris Shay was
the day one leader in SS but the
slalom-heavy course on Wednesday
slipped him back to third. Jason Frank
had a strong ProSolo weekend and
parlayed that into a second-place
finish in ST. Neal Tovsen was expecting
to finish strong in X Prepared after the
impressive finish he had at the
Although the bitter rivalry between
Milwaukee and Chicago Regions does
see Milwaukee pip Chicago with five
more trophy winners ( 17 vs. 12),
Chicago did have the most drivers on
the top of the podium and also took
home some specialty awards.

Midwest Division’s
workers who made
it happen and the
racers who got to
race that weekend.

Borowski was the lone Solo Triad winner from the division as he won Nationals, the Divisional and the Northern States Championships (he won the Southern States, too).

CENDiv Divisional Solo. He made good taking third in a tough XP class.

Other Milwaukee near misses were

Chris Fenter (second, CS), Mary Bahr

Reggaine would have accomplished the same feat, but Formula Junior classes are supplemental. However, the youngest Reggaine did receive the McClintock-Berry Cup, which recognizes the same accomplishments.

(second, CSL), Gretchen Austin

(second, STXL), Jeff Cashmore (second, DM), Denise Cashmore (third, DM),

Craig Mankiewicz (third, STX) and

Zach Moore (third, FJA).

The other regions also had a lot of other podium finishers. Winnipegger

Jeff Janzen took second in B Stock.

The Winnipeg crowd has shrunk a bit from years past, but the Badlands Region members drive strong. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the drive of Chicago Regions Robert Gosda taking second in F Stock. Robert has been a quiet and consistent driver locally, but this is his first spotlight National finish.

Other drivers in the top three from the division include: Brandon Ranvek

Last but not least was Borowski being one of the two winners of the Gumout All-Star Shootout. This is a new program that was run after last runs of the event on Wednesday and Friday. The highest index driver from each heat each got two runs in a Street Touring-prepared Volkwagen Golf. On Wednesday’s competition, Borowski was drawn as the final driver, and many thought that was at a disadvantage as the car was on Toyo tires, which typically like cooler tire temperatures. But that theory went out the window when Borrowski managed to beat out Tim Aro to take home the win and the $500 prize. The sernik is on him next time!

(third, STU, Land O’ Lakes Region),

Bob Anderson (third, ESP, Chicago Region), Dede Padberg (third, CPL, Blackhawk Valley Region) and

GATEWAY TO MIDIV

MIDWEST DIVISION
B Y EILEEN WATERS

CONTACT SAM KARP (414) 975-0846 karpsam@hotmail.com

DON’T YOU JUST
LOVE IT WHEN
A PLAN COMES
TOGETHER?

The Nebraska Region was planning a Club race for Aug. 20-21. The region’s plan was to have its August Double National race at the Mid-America Motorplex followed by a triple points Regional at Motorsport Park Hastings in October. However, the previous season’s massive snows up north and the Corps of Engineers had other ideas. When the dams north of Nebraska were opened, allowing the water from all the melted snow to flow at a higher rate than usual toward them via the Missouri River, the region had no idea what was going to happen to all the race plans.

Candy Gerber, Race Chair for the Double National, had put together the race plan and supps for the Mid-America race, and the Chief Steward Ken Patterson had approved them. The SCCA National Office had even assigned a sanction number when the terrible news arrived – Mid-America was under water. The track’s manager Jim Howe made the dreaded announcement that he was going to have to close for the remainder of the season.

Now what would everyone do? The question became: Could Nebraska Region put on a Double National at Motorsport Park Hastings? The track hadn’t been approved to hold a National, let alone the additional stresses that come with a double race weekend.