Runoffs: Swanson keeps SCCA Formula Vee National Championship at home

Terran Swanson, of Petaluma, Calif., had prepared all season for the return of the SCCA National Championship Runoffs to the West Coast. On Sunday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the preparation paid off for the 22-year-old with a gold medal in Formula Vee. Roger Siebenaler, of North Hero, Vermont, cracked the podium for the fifth consecutive year, with Andrew Whitston, of Neenah, Wis., running third.

Swanson had to survive some opening lap carnage amongst the leaders, two restarts, and attacks from experienced, veteran Formula Vee racers to pilot his No. 86 Toad Hall Ent/Swan Tech Graphic Co. Mysterian M4/Volkswagen to his first National Championship in three attempts, averaging 65.789 mph for 20 laps to win by 5.775 seconds.

“It’s still unreal for me right now, knowing my competition with Mike Varacins and Roger [Siebenaler], and a lot of the guys that have been running really well at the pointy end of the grid,” Swanson said. “I knew when they came out here, they were not going to be off pace at all. I knew I was going to have a heck of a time making sure I kept on pace with them, even with the home track advantage. Thankfully, that’s what we did. I raced them as clean as I possibly could, and I enjoyed racing with them the entire race. It was just a good race.”

On the opening lap, Whitston’s No. 19 Rocket Motors/Subway/Hoosier Protoform P2/Volkswagen just tapped the No. 65 Speed Sport/Veetech/Hoosier Speed Sport AM-5 of Tire Rack Pole winner Michael Varacins, spinning Varacins into the gravel after collecting second-starting Dennis Andrade’s No. 87 D&D Racing Vortech 05 as well.

The ensuing restart caught out Swanson, who had taken the lead from his fifth starting position through the melee, as he locked his tires going into Turn Two and fell to second behind Whitston. Swanson got back in front on lap five, but could only watch as James Weisheit came from the five-car battle to swing into the lead through Turn Five in his No. 61 JK Technologies/LLC JK Technologies LLC XP1/Volkswagen. That lead lasted just three corners, however, and Weisheit ran wide exiting the Corkscrew to hand the point back to Swanson.

Swanson was more prepared for the lap nine restart after yet another car in the gravel. He lost the lead temporarily to Rick Shields’ No. 77 ARS Inc./Veesport Racing/Autowerks VDF-2 Vee into the Corkscrew on lap 15, but swept through Turn Five and back to the lead for good on lap 16.

The Western Conference Majors Champion had enough of a gap to get to the finish, ahead of the battles in his mirrors.

“I knew the full course cautions were going to come out, and there were going to be restarts,” Swanson said. “I actually wasn’t expecting to be where I was on the restarts, I thought I was going to be a few spots back. When I found myself up front, I just tried to do it as cleanly as possible. The first one, I almost screwed up really badly. But we kept racing clean after that. The second one, I was a little more prepared.”

Those battles at the end included a pair of veterans racing for the second spot. Siebenaler, who ran in that lead group throughout the race in the No. 72 Autowerks/Hoosier Mysterian M2, included a big pass on lap 13 going into the Corkscrew that leapt him from fourth to second and earned the GoPro Hero Move of the Race. Siebenaler chased Shields through the final corners in the battle for second, but looked destined for third -- until Shields spun in the final corner and allowed Siebenaler to pass. Shields recovered to finish fourth.

The podium was the fifth consecutive for Siebenaler, and the eighth of his career, in a car he started racing in 1986 – six years before Swanson was born.

“I didn’t know if it was going to work or not,” Siebenaler said of his pass through the Corkscrew. “But with Rick, I just wanted to stay clean, and I think we were all doing the same thing. If you had a run, you’d go for it. I had a run on Rick one time, but I didn’t feel comfortable with it because unfortunately I had contact with another Northeast guy the other day, totally unintentional, and it didn’t turn out very well. So I was being kind of careful that way, and on the last lap I came around and came up on a backmarker car in Turn Six. I had to go to the inside of him, I had to shift down to third gear, and I had to watch Rick drive away on the last lap.

“Then Rick spun. It was good for me, bad for him, but at least he finished fourth.”

Whitston kept going after the early incident and ran in the lead group until near the end, officially leading lap four and earning his first career podium after Shields’ late spin.

“I got a good start,” Whitston said. “I had a run to the inside and thought better of it. I tucked into Mike [Varacins] and was just going to follow him through and get going to see if we could make just a bit of a break on the rest of the pack. He slowed a little bit more than I expected in Five, and at that point I was committed. I was full on the brakes, and unfortunately gave him just a little tap in the rear. It was enough to spin him around. I feel horrible about it. It was obviously not something intentional.

“The middle of the race, we were right there following Terran around and just biding our time. These guys had an extra gear, and I just couldn’t quite keep up with them.”

Quinn Posner’s No. 9 Posner Law Office Protoform P3 crossed the finish line in fifth. Whitson’s father, Ron Whitston, earned the Sunoco Hard Charger in his No. 5 Subway/Hoosier Protoform P2 after improving 15 positions from his 30th starting spot.

The 51st SCCA National Championship Runoffs®, The Pinnacle of American Motorsports, will crown Sports Car Club of America’s Club Racing National Champions at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Friday, October 10 through Sunday, October 12.

The live broadcast of all 27 National Championship races is available live at SCCA.com, along with live timing and notes. Each race will be on demand at a later date on SpeedcastTV.com.

MONTEREY, Calif. -- Provisional results for Sunday’s SCCA Formula Vee National Championship at the 51st SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car and laps complete.

1, (5), Terran Swanson, Petaluma, CA, Mysterian M4, 20.
2, (7), Roger Siebenaler, North Hero, VT, Mysterian M2, 20.
3, (3), Andrew Whitston, Neenah, WI, Protoform P2, 20.
4, (6), Rick Shields, Bridgeville, PA, VDF-2 Vee, 20.
5, (10), Quinn Posner, Camas, WA, Protoform P3, 20.
6, (18), Gavin Sweeney, New York, NY, Crusader FV, 20.
7, (4), Jonathan Weisheit, Baltimore, MD, J.K Technologies LLC XP1, 20.
8, (20), Marjorie Lundberg, Glendale, CA, Caracal C, 20.
9, (13), Blake Tatum, Stockton, CA, Crusader FV, 20.
10, (19), Aaron Meyer, Rocklin, CA, Protoform P3, 20.
11, (25), Larry McKenzie, San Leandro, CA, Mysterian M3, 20.
12, (26), Russell Fredericks, Northport, NY, Caracal D, 20.
13, (15), Skip Streets, San Clemente, CA, Mysterian M3, 20.
14, (22), Paul Higgins, Abbotsford, BC, Protoform FV-P2, 20.
15, (30), Ron Whitston, Neenah, WI, Protoform P2, 20.
16, (31), Ron Bonham, Halsey, OR, Protoform P2, 20.
17, (29), Charlie Turner, Mission Viejo, CA, Vortech FV, 20.
18, (21), Kim Madrid, Rancho Cucamonga, CA, Lazer MK 2.5, 20.
19, (27), Don Manthe, Santa Rosa, CA, Volkswagen FV, 20.
20, (32), Harry Schneider, Cape Coral, FL, Adams Aero, 19.
21, (23), Lisa Noble, Manhattan, KS, Vortech FV, 18.
22, (9), Don Pepperdene, Monterey, CA, Slick Mk1, 14.
23, (17), Robert Neumeister, Pueblo, CO, Vortech FV, 14.
24, (11), Brian McCarthy, Sacramento, CA, Anduril FV, 11.
25, (12), Ron Wake, Lafayette, CA, Mysterian M4, 6.
26, (8), Jake Pipal, Oakdale, CA, Caracal C, 5.
27, (24), Kevin Gordon, Santa Clarita, CA, Crusader FV, 3.
28, (2), Dennis Andrade, Brush Prairie, WA, Vortech 5, 0.
29, (1), Michael Varacins, Burlington, WI, Speed Sport AM-5, 0.
30, (14), Brian Swanson, Petaluma, CA, Mysterian M3, 0.
31, (16), Gary Kittell, Tully, NY, Caracal D/SB, 0.
32, (28), Richard Gordon, Walnut Grove, CA, Crusader FV, 0.

Overall Time of Race: 40:49.273 (65.789 mph)
Margin of Victory: 5.775 seconds
Fastest Race Lap: 1:43.961 (77.498 mph)
Sunoco Hard Charger: #5 Ron Whitston
Lap Leaders: #86 Terran Swanson, laps 1-3, 5-14, 16-20; #19 Andew Whitston, lap 4; #77 Rick Shields, lap 15.