Tire Rack BMW CCA Club Racing Series chairman Shaun McKenzie has announced the series’ 2019 championships and awards.The series awarded national championships in twelve classes in 2019; four of the 2019 champions had won in 2018. The winners, listed in descending order of class size, were:
• David LeBlanc of the North Atlantic region, who races an E36 M3 in I-Prepared.
• Charles Harding of the South Atlantic region, a repeat winner in C-Modified in an E46 M3.
• Patrick Harris of the South Atlantic region in Spec E46 in a 330i.
• Wayne Dobson of the North Atlantic region in I-Sport in an E36 M3.
• Sripathi Haputantri of the South Atlantic region, a repeat winner in D-Modified in an E36 M3.
• Ralph Warren of the Pacific region, a repeat winner for a number of years in B-Modified in an E90 M3.
• Gary Palumbo of the North Atlantic region in J-Prepared in an E36 328is.
• John Wilkins Jr. of the South Atlantic region in Spec E36 in a 325is.
• Bob Martin of the North Atlantic region in M3T, the spec E30 M3 class.
• David Harrison of the South Atlantic region, a repeat winner in K-Prepared in an E30 325i.
• Steve Liadis of the North Atlantic region, a repeat winner in H-Prepared in an E46 M3.
• Jason Varnell of the South Atlantic region in Spec E30 in a 325i.
Club racers ran in an additional eleven classes in 2019 in which no championships were awarded. These were Tire Rack series classes in which no racer ran the minimum number of four events required for a national title, and NASA and SCCA classes that are allowed in Club Racing but for which no national titles are awarded.
Jeff Perritt, a North Central region racer who competes in an I-Sport E36 M3 is the 2019 winner of the VAC Motorsports rookie of the year award. The award goes to the rookie club racer who has both accumulated the most points over the course of the season and completed the BimmerWorld Club Racing school. Perritt, who was just elected as North Central region representative on the club racing advisory committee, has served for seven years as crew chief for his father, I-Prepared racer Bob Perritt.
The winner of the 2019 Glenn Lucas Award, presented to the BMW CCA Club Racer who best represents the spirit of Club Racing both on and off the track, is Bud Scott, a South Atlantic region racer who runs an M-Prepared E30 325e. Scott, known for his barbecue dinners at club races, was winner of the national title in M-Prepared in 2018, has chaired two BimmerWorld BMW CCA Club Racing Schools, and has established and chaired the Club Race at Carolina Motorsports Park that is now a regular event on the Tire Rack Series schedule.
Both the rookie of the year and Glenn Lucas award winners carry a stipend of $1,000.—Brian Morgan
[Photo of Bud Scott courtesy Kitty Scott. Other photos courtesy Brian Morgan.]