|
One Way or Another – Fighting Your Way Into The
Runoffs Field
TOPEKA
,
Kan.
(Sept. 2, 2008) – Kent Prather has been to the last 24 SCCA National
Championship Runoffs, winning six titles and never starting the race
outside of the top 10. But heading into the final weekend of 2008 SCCA
“regular” season competition, Prather found himself in unfamiliar
territory and on the outside of the top 10 in his division, looking in.
Luckily, or perhaps a karma product of years of goodwill toward other
racers, it all worked out, but it was in a most unconventional fashion.
Entering the weekend,
Kent
sat 12th out of 12 drivers in F Production Midwest Division
point standings. It’s been a rough season for the six-time G Production
winner. Moving to F Production after the demise of GP following 2007,
Prather Racing’s venerable MGA, which has traditionally been
bulletproof, has been hit by what could only be described as bad luck.
Kent needed solid finishes in the final weekend of the season to secure an
invite to his 25th-straight Runoffs.
The weekend started off well enough, with the MGA
running quick times in practice and qualifying before a freak crankshaft
failure sidelined the car for both races of the Double National at
Heartland
Park
.
Not to be deterred, Kent accepted an offer from
fellow F Production racer Brian Linn to drive his newly-acquired Mazda
Miata in Sunday’s race, in which he ran from the back of the field to
finish third. A similar offer from Prather stablemate Bob Bramlage for
Monday’s race resulted in a similar result, putting
Kent
into 10th place in the division, one point ahead of 11th
place and into Runoffs eligibility.
The amazing sportsmanship from Linn and Bramlage
allow an SCCA tradition to continue on in 2008.
Kent
wasn’t the only one needing to score points to be secure in his Runoffs
qualification. In F Production,
Ron Davis
(MGB) and
John Steflik
(Mazda Miata) both needed strong runs to solidify their eligibility, which
they produced.
Prather Racing cars swept the race wins in both E and
F Production. Jesse continued his E Production Miata motor development and
won both days, beating former EP National Champion Jon Brakke in the
process. Rick Harris (Miata) clinched the FP Division title with a win on
Sunday, and
Eric Prill
(Lotus S7) took Monday’s race and set the track record in the process.
Prather Racing is now in full Runoffs prep mode on
the SCCA side, while still attending to the Vintage program with Andy
Hauck’s Lola and Bramlage’s Chevron (at Watkins Glen Sept. 5-7). The
2008 SCCA Runoffs take place at Heartland Park Topeka Oct. 6-12, with the
E Production race on Friday, Oct. 10 and the F Production race Sunday
afternoon, Oct. 12.
-30-
|
