Racing Lines: Harding, Chang, and Randall win at Thunderbolt in June

Racers converged on the Thunderbolt circuit of New Jersey Motorsports Park to run four sprint races on the first Monday and Tuesday in June. The annual New Jersey Chapter event, co-hosted by the New York Chapter again this year, was run in conjunction with a high-performance driving school. It drew 35 racers. As always, the event was run as a benefit for the Westlake School.

Charles Harding brought out his very quick B-Modified E92 M3 GTR for the first time this year. He started the first Monday sprint from the pole and led much of the way ahead of C-Mod racers Kirk Olsen (E36 M3) and Jared Randall (E46 M3). But Watkins Glen winner Robert Chang (E46 M3) mounted a charge and found his way past Harding for the overall and C-Mod wins. Harding took a solo win in B-Mod with a second-overall finish, and Randall finished third.

The first non-C-Mod driver to finish was seventh-place Ryan Agnew, winning I-Prepared ahead of Chad Waddell; both were in E36 M3s. In twelfth place overall, Ryan Zmiewski  won Spec M240iR in his F22 M235iR, and just behind him Mike Denis-Rohr won I-Sport in an E36 M3.

Robert McInerny took the hotly contested Spec E46 class win in a 330i, and James Bee won PWR3 in an E36 M3. Solo class wins went to three long-time racers: Mark Thomaes (PWR2 E36 M3), Bob Martin (M3T E36 M3), and Ross Karlin (E-Mod E21 320i).

The second Monday sprint started at a late 5:48 p.m. Harding took command from the start and held on for the win ahead of C-Mod winner Chang and C-Mod runner-up Olsen. Once more Agnew was the best non-C-Mod finisher, coming in seventh again and scoring a repeat win in I-Prepared. Denis-Rohr won again in I-Sport, Bee repeated in PWR3, and Greg Hartman won Spec E46 in a 330i.

Mike Denis-Rohr was a three-time winner in I-Sport. [Brian Morgan photo]

Fred Landwehr, another club racer who has been in the series since the beginning, won the Spec M240iR class in—what else?—his M240iR. Solo class wins again went to Martin (M3T), Karlin (E-Modified), and Thomaes (PWR2). Bert Howerton, who had not run in the first sprint, won Spec E36 in his 325i.

Chang led at the start of the Tuesday-morning feature sprint ahead of Peter Agapoglou (C-Mod E36 M3) and Harding. Waddell and Agnew ran nose-to-tail in I-Prepared; theirs was the closest battle of the race. Harding overcame Agapoglou for second at about the twenty-minute point, but Chang held on to the overall lead until an incident set him back. Harding was eager to pounce; he took the lead and kept it, chased across the finish line by Agapoglou and fellow C-Mod runner Jared Randall. Agapoglou won C-Mod and Agnew got by Waddell with just a few minutes left for his third I-Prepared victory of the event. Denis-Rohr once again won I-Sport, McInerny won Spec E46, and Landwehr won Spec M240i for the second time. Tim Ripley, who uses hand controls to pilot his E46 M3, took his first-ever class win. Karlin, Martin, Thomaes, and Howerton each took a solo class win.

Randall took the overall and C-Mod wins in the final sprint, running in a reduced field on Tuesday afternoon. Agnew cemented his sweep of I-Prepared with a second-overall finish, and I-Prepared runner-up JP Tracey (E36 M3) finished third. Nick Somma won I-Sport in an E36 328i, Greg Hartman won Spec E46, and solo wins again went to Karlin, Howerton, Martin, and Thomaes. Both Martin and Thomaes exited early with mechanical problems.

Peter Agapoglou’s Connecticut-based Autosport Fabrication shop supported eleven cars at Thunderbolt—almost a third of the field. Of the drivers he supported, Bee and Agapoglou himself scored class wins in the event.

Since 1997, back in the years when the New Jersey Chapter’s June race was run at Lime Rock Park, the chapter has been donating funds to the Westlake School, a New Jersey-based school for special-needs children. Every year the school selects high-performing students to come to the event, where they watch the races, get track rides, and receive gifts from race sponsors. (This year’s generous gift bag came from BMW of Manhattan.) Over time the chapter has donated over $200,000 to the school; this year the school was presented with a check for $3.000. For the second year running, Westlake students made the trophies that were awarded to the racers.

Chad Waddell, who performed very well at Thunderbolt despite struggling with a long-term suspension issue, was the recipient of the Spirit of Club Racing award. Race sponsors were BMW of Manhattan, eMpower Automotive, Keis Motorsports, and long-time BMW CCA Club Racing national sponsor VAC Motorsports. BMW of Manhattan also supplied the pace car for the event.

Ross Karlin served as the New Jersey Chapter race chairman, Bruce Heersink served as competition steward; Tim Bradford, Warren Brown, and David Weaver served as tech stewards; and Larry Fletcher served as the timing-and-scoring steward.—Brian Morgan, Roundel motorsports editor

Lead photo of Monday first race start by Brian Morgan

Tags: Club Racing New Jersey Thunderbolt