Racing Lines February 2025: Club Racing Announces 2024 Champions and Award Winners

The Tire Rack BMW CCA Club Racing Series announced its 2024 national champions and award winners in January. National champions are the racers who scored the most points in their respective classes while running in at least four separate events over the course of the season. In addition to the championships, the series recognizes the rookie of the year and the Glenn Lucas Award winner—the racer who best embodied the spirit of Club Racing.

The series ran twelve events in 2024. National championships were awarded in eleven classes. The winners are listed here in descending order of class size.
Spec E46: Phil Wurz, a South Atlantic Region racer who campaigned a 330Ci, won the national title in Spec E46, by far the largest class in the series, contested by 74 racers in 2024. Second place went to Chris Randall, another South Atlantic Region racer who ran a 330Ci. Third place went to Jeff Quesenberry, another South Atlantic Region racer who drove a 330i. (Susan Dobson’s photo of Wurz in action at Watkins Glen appears above).

B-Modified: Brooks Friedeman of the North Atlantic Region won the national title in B-Modified in an F80 M3. Cory Deeds, based in the North Central Region, finished second in an F82 M4 GT4, and third went to South Atlantic Region racer Todd Brown, who ran a G82 M4 GT4. Twenty-two racers ran in B-Modified in 2024. C-Modified: Todd Brown won his third consecutive national championship in C-Modified. Most of his races were run in an E46 M3, although late in the season, he also drove an E46 B46, an E46 3 Series powered by a B48D four-cylinder turbocharged engine. As noted above, Brown also ran a G82 M4 GT4 in B-Modified.

Second to Brown in C-Modified was Charles Harding of the South Atlantic Region in an E46 M3. Harding had won four C-Modified titles from 2018 through 2021 and won the B-Mod national championship in 2023. Third in C-Mod went to North Atlantic Region E36 M3 racer and BMW CCA Club Racing promotion manager Shaun McKenzie.

PWR3: Emrich Stellar won the PWR3 national championship in his first club racing season. Stellar, based in the North Atlantic Region, raced an E36 M3. Keith Primozic of the South Atlantic Region, the 2023 national champion in the class, finished second in an E36 M3, and
Sean Dwyer of the North Atlantic Region was third in an E46 M3. PWR3, like all of the series’ power-to-weight-ratio classes, grew in 2024, with 22 racers compared to eight in 2023. I-Prepared: Ryan Agnew of the North Atlantic Region won the national title in the always closely contested I-Prepared class in an E36 M3. James Keown of the South Atlantic Region was second, and Job Nieman of the North Atlantic Region was third; both raced E36 M3s. Nineteen racers ran in I-Prepared in 2024. PWR4: Sri Haputantri of the South Atlantic Region won PWR4 in an E36 M3. He switched to PWR4 from D-Modified; he had won the D-Mod title for six consecutive seasons. Second in PWR4 was Ryan White, the 2023 champion in the class, in an E46 M3. Third went to Ron Hougham of the South Atlantic Region in an E46 M3. Nineteen racers ran in PWR4 in 2024. I-Sport: Michael Saul of the South Atlantic Region won the I-Sport national championship in an E36 M3. Charles Benoit of the North Atlantic Region was second in an E36 M3. Fifteen racers ran in I-Sport in 2024, but only Saul and Benoit ran enough events to qualify for I-Sport championship positions. Spec E36: The Spec E36 title went to John Wilkins of the South Atlantic Region; he drove a 325i. Second went to last year’s champion, Bert Howerton of the South Atlantic Region, who raced a 325is, and third went to Michael Deming of the South Atlantic Region in a 328is. Deming had placed third in 2023 as well and was BMW CCA Club Racing’s Rookie of the Year for 2023. Fifteen racers ran Spec E36 in 2024. PWR2: Canada’s Yakov Bielak won PWR2 in an E46 328Ci. Second in class went to Mirril McMullen of the North Atlantic Region, who drove an E36 323is. Marc Thomaes of the North Atlantic Region was third in an E30 M3. Ten racers ran in PWR2 in 2024. M2 Spec: Frank McCleneghen of the North Atlantic Region won the national championship in the all-F87 M2 CSR M2 Spec class. South Atlantic racers John Gardner and Michael Kerner were second and third, respectively. Gardner had also placed second in 2023. K-Prepared: Johnathan Hewitt of the South Atlantic Region won the national title in K-Prepared in an E30 325is. George Denliker was second in an E30 325iS, and Robert Chrystler was third in an E30 325i. Both are South Atlantic Region racers.

Rookie of the Year: The BMW CCA Club Racing Rookie of the Year Award, sponsored by VAC Motorsports, is presented to the rookie racer earning the most points for the year. Emrich Stellar won the PWR3 national championship in an E36 M3 and was named Rookie of the Year for 2024.

Glenn Lucas Award: The 2024 Glenn Lucas Memorial Award, presented to the driver who best represents the Spirit of Club Racing on and off the track, went to Mike Hinkley of the South Atlantic Region. The press release on the award says, “Mike holds BMW CCA Club Racing license #1,034, having raced with BMW CCA Club Racing for twenty years. As most know, Mike also serves as Club Racing’s ironman, filling the roles of Competition Steward, Technical Steward, Race Chair for the Tarheel Chapter, and Racing School Event Chair, also for the Tarheel Chapter (know that those last two roles require prep and delivery of four events every season; each one is a heavy lift).
We’d have to go out and recruit four people to replace Mike. His knowledge and experience are hugely appreciated by both Club Racing and the Tarheel Chapter, and his contributions to the BMW CCA made his selection by the national stewards as the 2024 Glen Lucas Memorial Award winner an easy decision.”
Both the Rookie of the Year and Glenn Lucas awards are accompanied by a $1,000 stipend.—Brian Morgan, Roundel Motorsports Editor

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