Introne Racing Finishes 19th at SCCA Runoffs

After 10 days of testing and tuning, qualifying, and then an exciting race on Sunday afternoon, the Introne Racing #12 SRF3 car driven by Steve Introne finished in the 19th position at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, OH last week.

The event started with two days of testing on Saturday and Sunday, September 17-18. The weather was fairly uncooperative with heavy rains sporadic through the day. Official qualifying kicked off on Monday morning for the 28 SCCA National classes, and at that point, we were blessed with clear, sunny days for the remainder of the week.

Over the course of the 4 Qualifying sessions, Steve continually improved his times; earning his fastest lap time, on the last lap of the last session on Thursday afternoon. His time of 1:36.201 secured him the 22nd spot on the grid for the Championship race. This time was a full second faster than his previous fastest time at this track back in July. But 17 other drivers all secured times within a second of that one. The field was as tight as it could possibly be.

When race day came along on Sunday afternoon, 41 drivers – including 6 previous national champions and ten other podium finishers – had a rough start. Two wave-offs on the pace lap meant the pack was driving on Lap 3 before the Green flag even flew. Once they were off, the rough race continued. Multiple spins and wrecks on the first turn took out five of the lead pack cars. Steve had a fabulous start, and after the first Green flag lap, he was running in the 14th position overall.

A major wreck on Lap 9 shut the race down, and a Full Course Caution was required to clean up the multiple cars that were in the wall at Turn 9.

Unfortunately, this wreck happened to the 3 cars immediately in front of Steve, causing him to lose control and spin himself. A tough break that lost him 8 positions before the race was suspended under the Caution Flag.

Once Green again, Steve battled back, retaking two of the lost positions. The race ended on Lap 20, due to the time limit, and Steve crossed the finish line, ultimately taking home the 19th finishing position.

As many cars faced mechanical issues, spins, and crashes, Steve completed the entire race and the Introne Racing car came home in one piece. Ultimately, given the high level of competition in this class and the difficulty of the race, we are extremely proud of his top-half finish.

Introne Racing would like to thank all of its sponsors this season, Black Hog Brewing, NightOwl Auto, and Introne Communications. We were proud to represent each of them, and are already looking forward to next year.