Corvette highlights from the SCCA Runoffs at Road America Oct 9-11, 2020
Andrew Aquilante won GT2 again and two others made the top 3 in a smaller overall field of Corvettes this year. Photos courtesy of Thomas J King and Kevin Bowman, www.kevinmbowman.com
In GT1, it was Dave Ruehlow, # 31 C7 Corvette GT1 of Hartland, Wisconsin, coming in 2nd but off the pace set by builder Tony Ave who was caught out short on Corvettes and switched to a Mustang this year.
Ruehlow, battling his local rival Cliff Ebben lost his position halfway through the 13- lap race but quickly regained it and held on.
The spirit of the runoffs summed up by Tony Ave is: “I used SCCA to reach professional racing but to be honest, there’s very few places you can build the car you want and the way you want. There are no tire wars and all that fun stuff, so for me you have to come back here to do that.”
David Fershtand 6th
Joseph Freda 7th
Bob Monette 9th
Paige Monette Alexander 10th
Tire problems forced out Multi-generational racer Rick Dittman on lap 8.
Richard Grant DNF
Defending GT2 champ Andrew Aquilante of Chester Springs PA stormed off to a 4-second lead before a really long yellow flag resulted in his winning a two-lap shootout. Andrew learned how to build and drive race cars from a young age under the tutelage of his dad, Joe Aquilante, founder and boss of Phoenix Performance, one of the most successful tuners for over 2 decades.
Jorge Nazario 7th
Oli Thordarson 8th
In T1, James Candelaria, another Phoenix customer, clawed his way to 3rd place. Joe Aquilante finished 8th one spot behind Michael Pettiford. Missing in action this year were Phoenix Performance stalwarts Dave Sanders and Joseph Gaudette.
Micheal Pettiford 7th
Joe Aquilante 8th
In T2, Veteran Bill Collins from Minneapolis was a DNF.
Photo gallery https://corvetteregistry.smugmug.com/Cars/Corvettes-at-SCCA-Runoffs/Corvettes-at-Runoffs-2020/
Road America recently unveiled a statue of Road America founder Cliff Tufte celebrating this spectacular track’s 65th anniversary.
Cliff Tufte video: https://twitter.com/i/status/1315672819045478400
