Racing blooms in desert at Round 4 of SCCA Western Conf. Majors

ABOVE: Tom Wickersham (bhite Mustang #01) leads the pack to a Touring 3 win. Wickersham won four races and broke two SCCA track records during the weekend's SCCA Majors Tour at Willow Springs International Raceway. Photo Credit: Dennis Baer

A blazingly bright sun clawed its way free of the Mojave Desert early Sunday morning and climbed above snow-capped mountains southeast of Rosamond, California, to begin day two, Round Four, of the SCCA Western Conference U.S. Majors Tour taking place at the 9-turn, 2.5-mile Willow Springs International Raceway.

Other than the sun, something else hot all weekend was driver Tom Wickersham, of Piedmont, California. The Touring 3 and Touring 4 driver earned victories in both classes on Saturday during Round Three and Sunday during Round Four of the SCCA Western Conference U.S. Majors Tour. And if that wasn't enough, Wickersham set  track records for Touring 3 in his Ford Mustang and Touring 4 in a Mazda RX-8 on Saturday, and then bested his own track record Sunday in Touring 3. The secret to his success? A little bit of tape."Right there on the dashboard, I have a blue piece of tape with the current track record," Wickersham pointed out. "I put that there so I keep pushing myself to be better. I like challenging myself."

Someone else that had a "better" Sunday was GT-2 driver Robert Kahn, of Las Vegas. During Saturday's Round Three SCCA Western Conference Group 6 event -- which includes cars in the GT-1, GT-2, GT-3, Super Touring Under (STU) and American Sedan (AS) Classes -- Kahn set a track record in his Chevrolet Corvette.However, he ended up off in the dirt in Turn 9 during that race. On Sunday, dominant Group 6 driver Michael Lewis in his GT-1 Jaguar XKR leapt to an early lead. But he ran into mechanical problems and GT-1 pilot Kenneth Davis inherited the top spot in his Corvette. Then Davis experienced issues, which handed the lead to Kahn. With only a handful of laps remaining, Kahn also began having troubles with his chariot. But he was able to nurse the racecar home for the Group 6 overall win and GT-2 Class victory.The open-wheel racers also had some close competition during Sunday's Round Four. Formula Vee racers Aaron Meyer, Skip Streets and Timothy Harris careened around Willow Springs nose to tail and side by side. Near the race's conclusion, Harris encountered car troubles and departed the fight. Streets and Meyer battled on, but it was Streets that crossed the finish line first."Tim was strong and gave me a run the whole day. Aaron was there the whole time as well," Streets said after a Mazza Sparkling Wine victory circle shower. "It was just a fantastic run. A lot of fun. A great day."On Saturday during Round Three racing, the overriding theme was broken track records with 12 classes setting new SCCA high marks for Willow Springs. That theme carried into Sunday where track records where again lowered in Formula 1000 (Gary Hickman), Prototype 2 (Jeff Shafer), Super Touring Lite (Andrie Hartanto), Formula F (Chuck Horn), Touring 3 (Tom Wickersham) and GT-2 (Robert Kahn).Rounds Three and Four at Willow Springs were the final 2016 SCCA U.S. Majors Tour visit to Southern California. Next, the Western Conference series heads north for an April 8-April 10 event at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, Calif.; followed by racing April 29-May 1 at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in Buttonwillow, Calif. More information can be found at SCCA.com/majors.Provisional race winners from Sunday's Round Four of the SCCA Western Conference U.S. Majors Tour at Willow Springs International Raceway, with Class, Name, Hometown and Car are as follows:American Sedan: Christopher Qualls, West Los Angeles, Calif., Ford MustangB-Spec: Jeffrey Barrow, Acton, Calif., Honda FitE Production: Bernardo Martine, Redondo Beach, Calif., Honda PreludeF Production: Brian Linn, Hermosa Beach, Calif., MG MidgetH Production: Jason Isley, Cota de Caza, Calif., Toyota YarisFormula 1000: Gary Hickman, Santee, Calif., Phoenix F1000Formula Atlantic: Ed Lever, Bakersfield, Calif., Swift 014aFormula Continental: Timothy de Silva, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Van Diemen FCFormula Enterprises: Jeff Read, Vacaville, Calif., Van Diemen FSCCAFormula F: Chuck Horn, Los Gatos, Calif., Swift DB6/HondaFormula Mazda: Austen Charles, Newhall, Calif., Formula MazdaFormula Vee: Skip Streets, San Clemente, Calif., Mysterian FV M3GT-1: Kenneth Davis, Escondido, Calif., Chevrolet CorvetteGT-2: Robert Kahn, Las Vegas, Nev., Chevrolet CorvetteGT-3: Wolfgang Maike, Santa Barbara, Calif., Toyota PaseoGT-Lite: Troy Ermish, Tracy, Calif., Datsun 510Prototype 1: Tim Day Jr., Scottsdale, Ariz., STOHR WF1Prototype 2: Jeff Shafer, Las Vegas, Nev., Radical SR3Spec Miata: Dakota Dickerson, San Diego, Calif., Mazda MiataSpec Racer Ford Gen 3: Mike Miserendino, Bakersfield, Calif., Spec Racer FordSpec Racer Ford: Jake Pipal, Oakdale, Calif., Spec Racer FordSuper Touring Lite: Andrie Hartanto, Concord, Calif., Acura IntegraSuper Touring Under: Oscar Jackson, Chino, Calif., Scion FR-STouring 1: Ross Murray, Marina Del Ray, Calif., Dodge ViperTouring 2: Christopher Qualls, West Los Angeles, Calif., Ford MustangTouring 3: Tom Wickersham, Piedmont, Calif., Ford MustangTouring 4: Tom Wickersham, Piedmont, Calif., Mazda RX-8