Packed schedule, big crowd for Saturday action at HSR The Mitty

The 48th annual HSR The Mitty presented by Hagerty roared to life Saturday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, with a packed schedule of sprint and feature races.

A few scattered sprinkles didn’t dampen the spirits of competitors or the many fans spectating or camping at the scenic Georgia road course. Meanwhile, a livestream of Saturday afternoon’s action announced just 24 hours previously attracted 50,000 unique live views, a measure of the growing popularity of Historic SportsCar Racing.

The legendary event surged into high gear as roaring engines, iconic machinery and fierce on-track battles set the tone for a marquee day of competition. A light rain swept in to open the day’s on-track action with the Mazda Spec Miata/MX-5 Feature Race, immediately throwing teams into a strategic dilemma. With changing conditions looming over the eight-lap sprint, tire choice became a critical gamble prior to the drop of the green flag.

From the drop of the green flag, the battle for podium positions in both the Spec MX (SMX) and Spec Miata (SM) classes was intense. Camden Gruber, driving the No. 24 Planet Miata 2007 Mazda MX-5, and Wes Duchak in the No. 40 Final Turn Motorsports 2006 Mazda MX-5 Miata surged into the top two positions on the opening lap. Meanwhile, Michelle Squirek, in the No. 75 2011 Mazda MX-5, slipped back to third in the fight for the overall and SMX lead.

Squirek quickly recovered, reclaiming second place on lap 2, where the top three remained unchanged until the white flag in the SMX class.

In the closing moments, slippery track conditions factored into the outcome. Duchak and Mitchell Lowry, piloting the No. 21 MLR Racing 2006 Mazda MX-5 Miata, both overtook Squirek on the final lap to secure podium finishes.

Up front, Gruber led flag-to-flag to claim the overall and SMX victory. Duchak capitalized on the challenging conditions to finish second, while Lowry completed the podium in third.

In the SM class, late-race battles dramatically reshuffled the order on the final lap. Skyler Cottrell, driving the No. 91 AutoTechnic Racing 2003 Mazda Miata, regained the lead as Todd Buras, in the No. 561 East Street Racing 1999 Mazda Miata, dropped to third. Cottrell secured the class win, while active Mazda MX-5 Cup driver Chuck Mactutus charged from the back of the grid to finish second in the No. 661 2003 Mazda Miata.

“Despite what it may have looked like from the outside, it definitely wasn't easy,” said Gruber. “I was driving real hard and had a couple of hairy moments in Turn 5. Huge thanks to everybody for the phenomenal set up in this car. I couldn't be a whole lot happier with how the car drove.

“I was here a couple of weeks ago and we had another like race like this where it was like, ‘Is it wet, is it dry?’ So, I was a lot more comfortable making the call to dry tires. This was a whole lot of fun to race in front of this many fans; I've never raced in front of this many people before, so it's just great to be out here.”

The weekend's first Grand Prix Classics race for Groups 4A and 4B featured a pair of dominant flag-to-flag drives. Making his return to HSR competition, Tom Fraehlic was the overall winner in the No. 10 Wayne Brown Racing 1979 March Super Vee from Class 4B, a car he has raced for 28 years. He finished 6.53s ahead of the Class 4A winner – Bruce Hamilton in the No. 76 Wulver Racing 1970 Brabham BT36, imported from Australia and presented in its period 1971 Australian Grand Prix livery.

The runners-up were Marc Giroux in the No. 59 GMT Racing 1969 Brabham BT29 in 4A, and Dalton Sizemore in the No. 91 Streamline Motorsports 1990 Reynard 90 SF FC in 4B.

Group 4C’s first Grand Prix Classics race was a much closer affair on the track. Nolan Allaer in the No. 70 RM Motorsports 2007 Panoz DP01/09 hounded Giano Taurino in the No. 01 Taurino Racing 2008 Ferrari A1/GP, closing within 0.2s after six of the nine scheduled laps. Taurino pulled away and crossed the line first with about a two-second cushion but was assessed 30-second penalty for jumping the rolling start, which relegated him to second place behind Allaer. Alex Berg completed the podium in the No. 21 GMT Racing 1997 Lola T97/20.

“Giano was faster than me the entire race and those are beautiful cars,” Allaer said. “It was such an amazing experience. The beauty of historic racing is having two cars going full push like that and someone like that to race with."

"I’m sure it was awesome for everyone to watch what these cars can do, and I had a great time out here,” added Taurino. “You can’t have a bad time here at Road Atlanta!”

In the final race of the day – the B.R.M Legacy Endurance Challenge – Todd Treffert delivered a remarkable drive, overcoming mechanical issues both before and during the race, as well as a pit stop penalty. Undeterred, Treffert set the pace overall and in the Vintage class, stretching his lead to as much as 40 seconds to secure victory in the 1972 No. 14 901 Shop Porsche 911 S/T.

“That was a challenge just to make the race," Treffert said. "We had to change the alternator, but the 901 Shop guys killed it, just knocked it out of the park. We had starter issues in the pit stop, so they had to push-start me. We had a penalty, but I was aware of it so it was just keep pushing and see if we could make it. We kept pushing to the end. Anytime we’re driving these cars, we’re always having fun. That’s what it’s all about. It’s nice to get a medal here at the end, but it’s all about the fun.”

Ricky Park finished second overall and claimed top honors in the Historic class aboard the 1973 No. 44 1973 Porsche 911 RSR, holding off the challenge from Dean DeSantis and David Hinton in the 1974 No. 82 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR fielded by AJR Heritage Motorsports. The duo ultimately finished third overall and second in class. Alan Benjamin and Barry Waddell rounded out the Historic podium in third, sharing the 1992 No. 21 Porsche 964 Carrera Cup car prepared by Boulder Classics.

The Vintage class podium was completed by a 901 Shop sweep. David Agretelis brought home second place in the 1972 No. 66 Porsche 911 S/T, followed by Craig Watkins in third with the 1968 No. 46 Porsche 911 S/T.

The full weekend race schedule continues through Sunday afternoon at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta before the curtain comes down on the 48th running of the HSR The Mitty.