Racing Lines: Brown sweeps VIR in EA class, Levine wins Spec E46 belt

 

More than 80 racers converged on Virginia International Raceway in late March to compete in the first Tire Rack BMW CCA Club Racing event of the 2025 season, hosted by the Tarheel Chapter, who shared the event with VDCA, the Vintage Drivers Club of America. Forty-eight racers ran in the Spec Group for both Spec E36 and Spec E46, where Spec E46 racers competed for the coveted belt awarded at the event each year. Racers in classes other than Spec E36 and Spec E46 ran in an Et Alia group.
Each group ran four sprint races over the course of the three-day event. Todd Brown dominated Et Alia in his Rooster Hall Racing C-Modified E46 M3, and Evan Levine in his E46 330i became the first repeat winner of the Belt. Weather was good all weekend, and competition was intense.

Brown won Friday’s Et Alia sprint ahead of a pack of four other C-Mod cars that included James Keown (E46 M3), Peter Agapoglou (E36 M3), Kirk Olsen (E36 M3), and Scott Glenney (E46 M3). The first non-C-Mod car to finish was Billy Glavin’s M2-Spec F87 M2 CSR; he won his class in all three sprints in which he competed. Glavin’s JR III Racing team entered a pair of M2s in the event, one for Glavin and a second for Alan Davis. He said, “After having run the 24 hours of Daytona and the twelve hours of Sebring already this year for our IMSA LMP2 program [JR III manages and runs the United Autosports LMP2 program], it was great to have a fun low-key weekend at the track with my crew and customers. The atmosphere and friendship in the BMW CCA paddock is excellent, and I really enjoyed my chance to race and unwind with BMW.”

The next class winner to finish on Friday was Sri Haputantri, who finished just behind Glavin after running solo in PWR4 in his E36 M3. Jon Kozlow (E36 M3) won I-Prepared with a ninth-overall finish, crossing the line just ahead of class competitor Job Nieman in another E36 M3. Other winners in contested classes were Emrich Stellar (E36 M3) in PWR3, Steven Grayson (E36 M3) in PWR2, and George Denliker (E30 325iS) in K-Prepared. Solo class wins went to Nick Schein (F82 M3 GT4) in B-Modified, Michael Saul (E36 M3) in I-Sport, and April Curtis (E36 328i) in D-Modified.

The first of what would be four intense battles in the Spec group followed, with Levine winning overall—and the 33-car Spec E46 class—ahead of Aiden Baker Crouse (330Ci) and Spec E46 national champion Phil Wurz (330Ci).
The nine-car Spec E36 class held its own intense battle further back in the pack, with Bert Howerton (325is) finishing ahead of Jack Wilkins (325i) and Jeff Breiner (325i). Wilkins said later, “Just want to say that this event was well run and loads of fun—well, not all fun! Had a rear wheel bearing go bad during the first sprint race on Friday and finished second, but I was probably lucky to finish at all. Unfortunately, I didn’t discover my wobbly wheel until I was changing tires Saturday morning. The good news: The SpecE36 gang is a great group to race with. They helped me out with parts, specialty tools, and some hands-on wrenching—thanks, Bert!—and got me back on track for the Saturday feature race.”
Brown began Saturday with a personal best 1:55.2 lap in qualifying, and went on to score a second win in the morning sprint ahead of B-Mod winner Nick Schein and C-Mod racer James Keown. C-Mod runner Kirk Olsen rounded out the class podium in fourth, with Sri Haputantri finishing just behind him to win PWR4 again. Glavin repeated in M2 Spec, finishing eighth overall. Repeat class wins went to Stellar in PWR3 and Grayson in PWR2, and Johnathan Hewitt (E30 325is) won K-Prepared. Additional solo wins went to Saul (I-Sport) and Mike Hinkley (D-Mod E36 328is.
Crouse edged out Levine for the overall and Spec E46 wins on Saturday morning, with Levine second and Tyler James (330Ci) third. In Spec E36, Howerton repeated ahead of Breiner and Tom Tice (328i).
It was Brown again in the Saturday-afternoon feature sprint, taking the overall and C-Mod wins ahead of C-Mod competitors Brian Goodman (E46 M3) and Liam Harrow (E36 328i). Repeat wins in contested classes went to Glavin (M2 Spec), Kozlow (I-Prepared), Stellar (PWR3, and Grayson (PWR2), with Robert Chrsytler (E30 325i) becoming the third K-Prepared winner in three races. Repat solo wins went to Schein (B-Mod), and Hinkley D-Mod).

Levine was back on top in the Spec feature race, finishing ahead of Crouse and Wurz. Howerton won again in Spec E36 ahead of Wilkins—back on track with a new wheel bearing—and Tice.

Brown completed his sweep of C-Mod and the Et Alia group in a reduced field on Sunday, finishing ahead of B-Mod solo winner Nick Schein and C-Mod runner-up James Keown. Michael Kerner finished fourth overall and first in M2 Spec in his F87 M2 CSR, and Kozlow completed his sweep of I-Prepared with a sixth-place finish. Stellar (PWR3) and Grayson (PWR2), both running solo in class on Sunday, completed their class sweeps, and Denliker returned to take first in K-Prepared. He said later, “I raced in KP with three others and had a wonderful experience this year, as everyone played nice. We in KP are not the pointy end of the spear on pace, to say the least, and usually spend a lot of time in our mirrors to not get divebombed in South Bend. I really felt that the CM, BM, and IP and M2 competitors really gave us room and let us do our thing; it was some pretty courteous driving.”

PWR2 winner Grayson, who swept his class on his first Club Racing weekend, said, “I completed the Club Racing school last March at this same event. This was my first wheel-to-wheel race ever, and an amazing experience.”

Levine finished the weekend with another win in the Spec finale on Sunday, with Crouse second and Ben Hostetler (330i) third. In Spec E36, Howerton finished the weekend with a win ahead of Breiner and Wilkins.

Carrie Wurz, the spouse of Spec E46 racer Phil Wurz, works along with her husband at BimmerWorld. She ran in the Tire Rack series for the first time at VIR, campaigning a 325i in Spec E36. They finished her car just before the event, came to VIR to help run the BimmerWorld test day on Thursday, and helped instruct at the BimmerWorld Club Racing School on Thursday and Friday. She said afterward, “I was afraid I might be off pace for my very first weekend in my SE36 car, and my very first weekend participating in sprint qualifying/racing. I ended up qualifying third and finishing Friday’s race in fifth place. I have previously only done endurance racing, and realized pretty quickly that sprint racing is a very different experience!”
Two Spirit of Club Racing flags were awarded at VIR. One went to the board of directors of VDCA in appreciation of BMW CCA Club Racing’s involvement with them since 1999. Club Racing chairman Scott Reiman notes, “We were one of the first events at VIR when it opened. It’s amazing to have a relationship last as long as this these days. Mike Jackson with VDCA and David Bradyhouse with the Tarheel Chapter of the BMW CCA were instrumental in making this relationship happen.”
The second Spirit flag went to Joe Mueller of Mueller Motorsports, who drove from Pennsylvania with a brake caliper that enabled one of the racers to continue the race weekend.
Emrich Stellar, the defending PWR3 champion, summed up the weekend well, noting, “The event was run flawlessly and the racing was close and exciting. What a great way to knock off the rust to kick off the season!”
Bruce Heersink served as competition steward and Wayne Dobson served as race operations steward. Bruce Smith, Tim Bradford, Steve Whitcomb and April Childers served as tech stewards, and Larry Fletcher served as timing and scoring stewards.—Brian Morgan, Roundel motorsports editor with input from the racers.

Lead photo of Spec pack by Dana Johnsons

Tags: Club Racing VIR