Racing Lines | Spec Class Racers Swarm at Carolina Motorsports Park

The annual late-October Sandlapper Chapter event at Carolina Motorsports Park brought out 38 racers, with 18 running in Spec E46 and another 12 in Spec E36. The entire pack ran an enduro and two sprints. Spec E46 ran one sprint race on its own, and Spec E36 teamed with all but the Spec E46 racers to run one additional sprint.

Sri Haputantri (PWR4 E36 M3) was the overall winner in the Friday enduro, followed across the line by Dave Garraux, running solo in PWR3 in an E36 M3, and Spec E46 winner Ryan Kerfien in a 330i. A mid-race full-course yellow impacted pit strategy. Spec E36 winner Harry Meyer (328is) saw a racer go off course and into a tire barrier. “Knowing the car wasn’t getting out on its own,” he said, “I dived for Pit Road for the Golden Pit Stop. I made it before the full-course yellow came out. I sat on Pit Road for my five-minute stop while the safety car collected the field and reentered the track at the back of the field, knowing that all of the others would have to pit after we went back to racing.”

C-Mod racer Robert Chang was one of those who had to dive into the pits after the track went back to green. He said, “I managed to squeeze into a space just enough, but unfortunately my right rear tire was not fully within the lane marker.” He went on to win his class despite a penalty, finishing tenth overall.

There were two additional solo class winners in the enduro: Steven Grayson won PWR2 in an E36 328is, and George Denliker won K-Prepared in an E30 325iS. Both racers, along with PWR3 winner Garraux, would go on to score solo victories in the remaining three races.

Chang won the first sprint for all of the non-Spec E46 classes, with B-Modified racer Ali Salih, who did not finish the enduro, finishing second overall and winning his class in an E92 M3. Garraux finished third, Bert Howerton (325is) won Spec E36, and Dave Ellman won PWR4 in an E46 M3.

Evan Levine (330i) won the all-Spec E46 sprint ahead of Turner Hilliard and Tyler James, both in 330Cis.

All classes ran the feature sprint, where Chang took the overall and C-Mod wins ahead of Garraux and Spec E46 winner Hilliard. Howerton won again in Spec E36, Ellman repeated in PWR4, and solo class wins again went to Garraux, Grayson, Denliker, and Salih. Chang said afterward, “During the feature race, things got really busy; I can relate how it feels to be the hornet in a hive of bees.  There is no time to blink as packs of other class cars are everywhere at every segment of the track, every lap. Each approach had to be pre-calculated carefully, as a pass involved two, three, four, or five cars at the same time for 40 minutes. I have to commend the other racers for showing exceptional awareness, whether it be a point-by or maintaining their line and speed. It was just good, fast, predictable racing from everyone.”

Haputantri took the overall and PWR4 wins in the final sprint on Sunday, finishing ahead of B-Mod winner Salih and C-Mod winner Olivier Raoust Jr, running solo in class because Chang did not compete on Sunday. Garraux finished his PWR3 solo sweep in fourth, while Levine took his second Spec E46 win in fifth. His two wins and a second-place finish in the second sprint netted him the Morehead Speed Works Carolina Cup, coveted by Spec E46 racers.

John Allemani (325is) edged out Bert Howerton in Spec E36. Club Racing chairman Mirril McMullen, who watched the race, said afterward, “Bert started last on the grid and then threaded his way up to second. On the last lap, in Turn Fourteen, Bert and Dave slid around the corner and drag-raced to the checker. Inches separated their bumpers!” Denliker, Grayson, and Salih again scored solo wins. Denliker won the Spirit of Club Racing award for continuing to race all weekend despite multiple challenges.

As always, the CMP event included a huge celebration off the race track. Race chairman Jack Sugameli notes, “Saturday-night activities included a full buffet dinner for everyone—a barbecue, an awards ceremony, night drifting under the lights, and a band. We served a little over 200 people dinner, and people stayed late; a bunch of people decorated their paddock spaces for Halloween, and there were kids in costume trick-or-treating.”

The drifting event, run on the CMP go-kart track, was a successful first for BMW CCA, drawing about a dozen participants. JP Mikula’s report on the event will appear in Roundel.

Martin Bullen served as competition steward; Mirril McMullen, Ann Massagee, Steve Whitcomb, and Hunter Dyer served as tech stewards; and Larry Fletcher ran timing and scoring.—Brian Morgan, Roundel motorsports editor.

Lead photo by Ed Vega