Five
for Five – Prather Finishes SCCA Regular Season Perfect
WAKARUSA, Kansas - July 14, 2011 - Kent Prather wrapped up his regular season racing schedule in the
SafeRacer SCCA National Racing Series over the Independence Day holiday
weekend with a pair of wins at Colorado’s High Plains Raceway, including
his second BFGoodrich Tires Super Tour win on Sunday.
The
pair of wins brought the season total up to five; a perfect record for his
five GT-Lite starts in the Prather Racing/Moss Motors Mazda Miata. The
wins put him in a commanding lead for the GT-Lite Midwest Division
Championship and sixth in the National Points Championship, trailing only
drivers that have competed in more 2011 events.
Following wins at Hallett Raceway (April), Heartland Park Topeka (May) and
Mid-America Motorplex (June), Prather Racing elected to forego the second
Hallett race of the season in favor of the Double National at High Plains
Raceway, which included the sixth, and final, round of the nation-wide
Super Tour. For the weekend, Prather Racing also provided support for the
Miatas of Bob Bramlage (F Production) and Jim Stinehelfer (GT-Lite)—both
former Colorado residents.
Saturday’s race proved to be one of the best for Kent in many years, as he
took the GT-L pole position with a blistering lap of 2:02.823 around the
twisty and undulating 2.55-mile circuit. At the start, Jon Goodale snuck
past in his Mazda MX-5, but Kent was able to get back around and into the
lead on lap four. Ten laps later, the duo, which ran nose-to-tail the
entire time, surged to the overall lead of the group, ahead of the
generally faster E Production cars. Goodale put another move on Kent with
two laps to go to re-take the lead, but it was short-lived as Kent was
able to power past. On the final lap, the two went side-by-side, but the
six-time SCCA National Champion was able to stay ahead at the checkered
flag for the overall and GT-Lite win by just 0.565-second.
The crowd that had gathered at the event agreed it was the best race of
the weekend, and Kent was pleased to come out on top of such of a
hard-fought battle with Goodale, who is also considered a favorite for
this year’s Championship in September.
Sunday brought another pole, but Goodale again snuck past on the start. He
encountered a problem on that opening lap, though, which allowed Kent to
re-take the lead and open up a seven-second advantage. Goodale’s car
recovered, but Kent was able to maintain the gap, cutting fast laps right
through the end of the race run with temperatures in the mid-90s.
The win was Kent’s second in the BFGoodrich Tires Super Tour, joining his
Hallett triumph earlier in the season. Kent finished the Super Tour season
atop the GT-Lite points, and fourth overall in the Small-bore category.
Adding to the Prather Racing success on the weekend was Bob Bramlage’s
pair of wins in F Production. The wins pushed Bob to the top of the F
Production Super Tour points and he was the winner of the Small-bore
category. Bob ran events at Texas World Speedway and Hallett in addition
to the High Plains Raceway finale.
Full results of the High Plains Raceway event are available here:
http://www.scca.com/eventitems.aspx?item=267&event=17403&hub=1
Prather Racing’s SCCA effort is now focused on preparation for the
National Championship Runoffs, held at Road America Sept. 19-25. Kent
Prather will be one of the favorites to capture the GT-Lite National
Championship in his Mazda Miata. That race will air live on
SpeedCastTV.com at 11:30 a.m. (Central) on Saturday, Sept. 24.
Prather
Racing would like to thank its sponsors for their continued support,
including ARP, Carbotech, Goodyear Tires, Mazdaspeed, Moss Motors, Torco
Advanced Lubricants, Total Seal Rings and Venolia Pistons.
Image: Kent Prather
spraying champagne after winning at High Plains Raceway. Photo by Bill
Lamkin. |