Virginia International Raceway-April 2013 (Race 3 & 4)

Race 3

Rounds 3 and 4 of the US Formula 1000 Championship East presented by Hoosier Racing Tires, Sunoco Race Fuels, George Dean Racing Engines, Jongbloed Racing Wheels, Hyperco, LS Motorsports, and Geartronics took place at Virginia International Raceway this weekend.  It was clear before the event even got officially started that the championship battle would change significantly.  During the pre-event test day, JR Osborne lost a fuel fitting that caused an engine fire and the damage was too significant to repair at the track so the team headed home.  In addition, Race 1 winner and current points leader Lawrence Loshak was a no-show at VIR so the points race was sure to be reshuffled at the end of the weekend.


Pre-race favorite Glenn Cooper was fastest in testing and continued that speed in qualifying, putting his Firman/Suzuki on the pole for race #3.  At the green flag, he jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.  However, things were not as easy for the drivers behind him.  Alex Mayer tried to go around the outside of front row starter Nicholas Ortiz as they entered turn 1.  The two made contact and Mayer was launched into the air, landing in the gravel on the outside of the turn.  Ortiz was able to continue after losing several spots but Mayer’s day was done.


A brief full course yellow for the Mayer/Ortiz dust-up allowed several drivers to move up with Nicho Vardis and Jason Slahor benefitting the most.  At the restart, they ran nose to tail while Alastair McEwan was giving chase and Jonathan Scarallo was closing in after a stellar start from his 12th starting spot.  Once again, Cooper checked out leaving everyone else dicing for the 2nd and 3rd steps on the podium.  With about 5 laps to go, Slahor dropped out of the battle with an expired engine.  This left Vardis, McEwan, Scarallo, and Richard Franklin locked in a heated battle.  Vardis started fading late in the race, first giving up 2nd to McEwan, then giving up 3rd to Scarallo.  With Vardis out of the way, Scarallo hunted down McEwan and took the second spot.  However, an intermittent electrical problem suddenly became more prevalent and Scarallo was forced to give up the 2nd spot on the last lap, settling for the 3rd step on the podium.  Vardis was able to fend of Franklin and they finished 4th and 5th.  Peter Seabrook quietly moved up to 6th, improving 4 places from his 10th place start.  Ortiz was able to salvage a 7th place finish after his first lap incident and JohnPaul Ciancimino finished 8th, using the race to learn the track after missing qualifying due to an electrical problem.  Anthony Autiello finished 9th and Slahor dropped to 10th after his engine let go.  Tyler Thielmann came in 11th but only completed 7 laps after also experiencing engine problems.  Mayer was a DNF and Tim Pierce didn’t start the race due to engine problems in qualifying. 

Full results-Race 3:

1.  Glenn Cooper
2.  Alastair McEwan
3.  Jonathan Scarallo
4.  Nicho Vardis
5.  Richard Franklin
6.  Peter Seabrook
7.  Nicholas Ortiz
8.  JohnPaul Ciancimino
9.  Anthony Autiello
10.  Jason Slahor
11.  Tyler Thielmann
    DNF Alex Mayer
    DNS Tim Pierce
    
    
    

    Prize Fund for Race 3
    1st Place	Glenn Cooper	4 Hoosier Tires,
    2nd Place	Alastair McEwan	2 Hoosier Tires,
    3rd Place	Jonathan Scarallo	1 Hoosier Tire,
    Pole	Glen Cooper	1 Hoosier Tire
    Random Drawing #1	Tyler Thielmann	1 Hoosier Tire

    
    

The next day, Cooper completed the sweep by leading every lap in race #4.  Once again, there was plenty of action behind him.  Ortiz was able to keep Cooper within his sight and pulled out a gap to 3rd place McEwan, who had his hands full with a challenge from Mayer and Vardis.  Behind them, Ciancimino was creeping up.  He took 5th away from Vardis and was ready go after Mayer but car problems ended his day prematurely.  A car in the tire wall brought out a black flag situation and the stewards brought the cars to pit lane.  They were resorted according to position on the previous lap and once the disabled car was cleared the field was turned loose again.  As the field came to the green flag, McEwan made a quick spin, relinquishing several positions.  Cooper stretched out his gap once again while Ortiz and Mayer had an exciting battle for 2nd.  They swapped the position several times but Ortiz was able to nip Mayer at the line, taking the second step on the podium.  Vardis was able to hang on to 4th despite pressure from Franklin, who had to settle for 5th.  Seabrook followed him home to 6th and Pierce finished in 7th after recovering from engine problems the day before.  Both Ciancimino and Autiello did not finish the race.  Unfortunately, several drivers were unable to make repairs from the previous race.  Slahor, Thielmann, and Scarallo were not able to start the race.
Full results-Race 4:

1. Glenn Cooper
2. Nicholas Ortiz
3. Alex Mayer
4. Nicho Vardis
5. Richard Franklin
6. Peter Seabrook
7. Tim Pierce
8. Alastair McEwan
9. DNF-JohnPaul Ciancimino
10. DNF-Anthony Autiello
11. DNS-Jason Slahor
12. DNS-Jonathan Scarallo
13. DNS-Tyler Thielmann