Futrelle wins second gold in second tournament, first in SRF3

Franklin Futrell of Augusta, Georgia earned the pole position for this year’s Spec Racer Ford Gen 3 (SRF3), albeit narrowly in the field of talent. The SRF3 race during the 59th round of the SCCA National Championship, which runs Sept. 24-Oct. On February 2, 2022, Virginia International Raceway had all the makings of a great race as 42 cars entered the first of three days of Hagerty Race Day at VIR’s wet 3.27-mile, 18-turn track.

All eyes were on the starter as the green flag flew on the far lap and a huge field charged into Turn 1. Futrell retained the top spot in his Comprent Motorsports/Meco Inc SRF3 with Charles Russell Turner and John Black. persecution As the leaders made their way through the Esses, a car that spun at the first turn was brought out under a full-length caution – although the caution was short-lived and the track went back to green on the third lap.

Back on green, Stripling spun coming out of Turn 3, although disaster was averted as the drivers handled the sliding car deftly. Meanwhile, Futrell, Turner and Black began to pull away, with the Donatestuff.com S. Sandy Satula III race car and David Ogburn’s Salt Stick/Dave Ogburn Driver Development SRF3 trailing behind. That hunt ended for Satul at the famous turn at Oak Tree when an unforced error put him on the grass ahead of Bobby Sacco and his Elite Autosport/Eng. By lap five, the Heat Treat SRF3 was fifth until Brian Scofield took fifth in his PM Racing SRF3 a couple of laps later.

At the halfway mark, Futrell was 2.3 seconds ahead of the duo of Turner and Black, with Ogburn less than five seconds behind. Then Mother Nature threw a curve ball.

“The first half of the race was pretty steady and then it started raining again,” Futrell explained after spraying Mazza sparkling wine from the top step of the podium on the victory lap. “As a leader, you’re kind of the first guy to come up with a new rain situation, so I just set up new braking zones for every corner, and then it started raining, and you know, you have to start rethinking everything.”

The extra rain didn’t matter much to Futrell, as he was 3.3 seconds ahead of Turner (by SRF3 standards) in the final stretch of the 15-lap race. Black was another two seconds behind and Ogburn another five seconds behind – that is, until Black pounced on Oak, allowing Ogburn to catch up to third.

At that point, Turner, who was riding alone in second place, ran into some self-inflicted trouble.

“I immediately caught the car behind me and got a little draft, and the next thing I know, I went into what I thought was a good, safe braking zone — it became a dangerous braking zone,” the Montpelier, Virginia, driver explained, losing third a pillow “I was able to lift the car – I almost left the track. I came back right in front of John [Black] and Dave [Ogburn]and suddenly it became a race.’

With two laps to go, Black and Ogburn had Turner in their sights and Ogburn was struggling to get on the podium.

As the trio entered the final lap, Ogburn edged Black for third, while the three-car battle for second and third moved through lap traffic to the Esses. At that point, Ogburn slipped while exiting the Esses, ending the race for the podium and pinning Black to third.

“[Ogburn] it seemed like the line was kind of forming — I think he was behind us figuring out where to be on the track,” Black, a native of Olympic Valley, Calif., recalled. “I concentrated on catching Russ [Turner] or stay with him, and [Ogburn] really had the best line at the end and i just couldn’t hold it in. Then we caught traffic on the wheel, and unfortunately for him, he was pushed off the track.”

At the checkers, Futrell claimed his second SCCA national title, his first in SRF3, with Turner finishing second five seconds later. Black finished third, followed by Schofield, Caleb Schrader and Sack in sixth.

Whitney Strickland was ninth, running from 26th place^thousand finished sixth in his Bitcoin SRF3 to earn the Sunoco Hard Charger award.

The second round of the 59th SCCA National Championship, the pinnacle of American amateur motorsports, crowns the Sports Car Club of America road racing this year at VIR during Hagerty Race Days from Friday, September 30th through Sunday, October 2nd.

Live online video coverage of the Runoffs presented by Mazda is available throughout the three days of competition at SCCA.com/liveand in the official SCCA YouTube and Facebook social media channels. Also available on SCCA.com is live timing and scoring for each race, as well as an audio-only feed from Super Tour Radio, presented by the Hoosier Racing Tire broadcast team.

Below preliminary results for Friday’s SRF3 race in the second round of the 2022 SCCA National Championship with finishing position, bracket starting position, driver, hometown, car and laps completed.

1, (1), Franklin Futrelle, Augusta, GA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

2, (2), Charles Russell Turner, Montpelier, VA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

3, (3), John Black, Olympic Valley, CA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

4, (10), Brian Schofield, Lakeland, FL, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

5, (9), Caleb Schrader, Tigard, OR, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

6, (6), Bobby Sack, Bloomfield Hills, MI, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

7, (21), Mark Eaton, O Galley, FL, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

8, (11), James Gogary, Jupiter, FL, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

9, (26), Whitney Strickland, League City, TX, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

10, (20), Andrew Charbano, Delray, FL, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

11, (18), Joe Kolasaka, Greenwich, CT, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

12, (15), Mike Miserendino, Bakersfield, CA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

13, (28), David Anzalone, Glen Head, NY, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

14, (25), Scott Monroe, League City, TX, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

15, (14), Justin Clacherty, Jackson, MI, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

16, (8), Richard Baldwin, Covington, LA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

17, (29), Sam Schechter, Boyds MD, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

18, (12), TJ Acker, Saugus, CA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

19, (4), Danny Stripling, McKinney, TX, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

20, (24), Chris Jennerjean, Hartford City, IN, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

21, (19), Matthew Horst, Sandy Springs, GA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

22, (16), John Green, Gainesville, GA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

23, (37), Charlie Rogers, Pittsburgh, NC, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

24, (31), Sal Webber, Spring Branch, TX, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 15.

25, (7), David Ogburn, San Angelo, TX, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 14.

26, (27), Tom Burt, Woodway, WA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 14.

27, (39), Russell King, Minneapolis, MN, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 14.

28, (33), Chuck Newman, LaGrange, GA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 14.

29, (35), Matt Gray, Chaska, MN, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 14.

30, (36), Greg Miller, Lancaster, Ohio, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 14.

31, (32), Andre Perrault, Govermont Camp, APE, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 14.

32, (22), Wade White, Vail, CO, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 14.

33, (38), Robert Sachs, Napa, CA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 14.

34, (43), Thomas Kirchman, Framingham, MA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 14.

35, (44), Andrea King, Minneapolis, MN, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 14.

36, (42), Ken Reilly, New Canaan, CT, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 13.

37, (5), S Sandy Satullo III, Hillsboro Beach, FL, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 9.

38, (41), John Dole, Huntington, NY, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 9.

39, (40), Dwight Ryder, Aurora, CO, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 9.

DNF, (13), Todd Vanacore, Ormond Beach, FL, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 6.

DNF, (17), Calvin Kautz, Geneva, IL, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 0.

DNF, (23), Lincoln Young, Farmington, CT, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3, 0.

DNS, (30), Mark Ballenji, Shafter, CA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3.

DNS, (34), Jean-Luc Liverato, Atlanta, GA, SCCA Spec Racer Ford Gen 3.

Race statistics

Race duration: 49 miles
Total race time: 38:57.050 (75.557 mph)
Margin of victory: 05.021 seconds
Fastest lap: 2:22.066 (82.863 mph)
Circle leaders: #97 – circles 1-15
Sunoco Hard Charger: #80 Whitney Strickland