Sportsracer Challenge - Gauntlet down at HPR

The second double race event for the Sportsracer Challenge series will be held this weekend at High Plains. It should be a great event.

Just as rounds 1 & 2 were run, rounds 3 & 4 will be run within the "Wings and Things" race group but will utilize a separate split start and trophies.

Contingency will be available from Mazda ($500 to win) and Hoosier (2 tires to the winner) in addition to some serious brow beating/ridiculing Saturday evening at the KC Racing Hospitality trailer provided by Chris Funk and Kelly Toombs - owners of KC Racing.

There has been a lot of talk about the need for a class of real sports racers where the driver makes the difference and the car has low operating costs, high resale value, and simple maintainance. This is the place!

In addition to the race we hope to use this event as an organizational meeting of interested parties. The primary topic - how many events for 2013 and what tracks (If you are not local to the Midwest, have no fear, we are very open to taking our core group on the road in return for a good race and some new faces).

While the Sportsracer Challenge series for the SCCA Enterprise Sports Racer is my concept, it is designed in a manner that can be duplicated anywhere within the SCCA system. We are following the SCCA rulebook, participating in SCCA events, and utilizing SCCA event personel. I am simply the organizer/cheerleader/abuse taker/spokesman for the group.

If you are interested feel free to contact me, your local CSR for SCCA Enterprises or any of the drivers/teams listed below. If you are in the area, please come by at High Plains and try one of the cars on for size (used car salesman smile inserted here). I think you will like what you see!

Early entries (prep shop/driver):
KC Racing - Chris Funk
KC Racing - Kelly Toombs
Surface Exploration/Chris Doyle
Messenger Racing/Thinkfastbook.com - Jay Messenger


See you at High Plains.

Jay Messenger
Sportsracer Challenge
Muleshoe, Texas USA
806-946-7252
muleshoeracer [at] yahoo dot com

Rounds 3 and 4 of the Sportsracer Challenge for SCCA Enterprises Sports Racers are now history.

For this event the race was held on the High Plains West course instead of the full course used for rounds 1 and 2 in July. This layout was definitely harder on the tires. The teams saw a significant performance drop off as the tires gave up from the abuse.

Joining us for the first time this season were Kelly Toombs of KC Racing and Chris Doyle of Surface Exploration. Both brought beautiful cars to the event. It was Kelly's first race at the track but after the test day on Friday he was quick enough to take the pole on Saturday - not bad - unless your the guy behind him...... Chris Doyle did a great job while knocking off the rust after a couple of seasons prepping other driver's cars....faster every session and by the end of the weekend all cars were within 1.7 seconds of each other on a 2 mile course!

The results - KC racing drivers Toombs and Funk were the class of the field both days. Chris Funk left with two wins. That includes $500 from Mazda each day and 2 tires from Hoosier for each win in addition to special Sportsracer Challenge trophies and the great Colorado Region trophies for C Sports Racer.

Sat Qual:
Kelly Toombs
Chris Funk
Jay Messenger
Chris Doyle

Sat Race:
Funk
Toombs
Messenger
Doyle

Sun Qual:
Funk
Toombs
Messenger
Doyle

Sun Race:
Funk
Toombs
Messenger
Doyle

As in Rounds 1 & 2, we all ran one set of sticker tires for the weekend. Tire wear was an issue on left fronts for this configuration. We had not see that issue in July on the long course version - Kelly and I learned a lot about tire management and brake bias issues on these cars. I finished the Sunday race with cords showing all the way around the left front - Kelly finished the Sunday race with cords showing and an air hole showing in a spot or two - it went down during the last lap and he was able to do an amazing job holding on to get to the checker. Totally flat in impound.


We talked to some interested parties who left the track shopping for a car. A lot of determined looks on the faces of the teams as each of us keep raising our game. These races are incredibly intense. Watch the forums or drop me a note and I will keep you posted on our 2013 plans.

Thanks to all our supporters for helping us chase this dream:

Mazda
Hoosier
KC Racing
Messenger Racing
Surface Exploration
Thinkfastbook.com
Colorado Region SCCA


Jay Messenger
Sporsracer Challenge
806-946-7252
muleshoeracer at yahoo dot com

Here is my first attempt at in-car video with my new Action Cam system. I love the simplicity of the system. The wavy video was worsened by the use of Velcro instead of the recommended solid mount.

For this event we are running the High Plains West course which does not include all of the full course as used in July.

When I get some time I will post some great race footage showing the battles during the two races.

Enjoy.

Jay