Competition and Camaraderie in BMW CCA Club Racing at Watkins Glen

Round three of the Tire Rack BMW CCA Club Racing series took place at legendary Watkins Glen International in the Finger Lakes region of New York, with a robust 54 entries spread over 11 different classes. The event was hosted by the Genesee Valley Chapter, which also held an HPDE that weekend.

Racers competed in four races over the course of the weekend, with two sprint races, an enduro, and a feature race. There was a great variety of cars at Watkins Glen, from an E30 M3 to the G82 M4 GT4. The SpecE46 class once again had the largest number of entries with a high of 19 cars in the sprint races, but the PWR3 class also had a strong showing with a high of 12 entries in the first sprint race on Friday. The weather was beautiful all weekend.

Todd Brown won the first sprint race and the feature race in C Modified and overall in his E46 M3.

There were consistent winners in many of the classes throughout the weekend. Todd Brown won the first sprint race and the feature race overall and in the C Modified class in his #800 E46 M3. He was also leading in the final sprint race on Sunday before he ran through debris from a wreck in front of him, which damaged his car and left him sidelined on the track. That race ended early to get the debris and stricken cars off the track. Kirk Olsen went on to win the C Modified class in his #417 E36 M3 in the final race, while Shaun McKenzie won the class in the enduro on Saturday in his #839 E46 M3.

Brian Cincera won the first sprint race and the feature race in B Modified in his M4 GT4. He also finished second in class in the enduro with Johan Schwartz.

The B Modified class also had entries that were running at the front overall throughout the weekend. Brian Cincera won the first sprint race and the feature race and finished second in the enduro with Johan Schwartz in his F82 M4 GT4. Cincera was only in his second race weekend in the car after moving from an E36 M3 in the I Sport class in previous years. “The M4 GT4 is a lot heavier but has a lot more horsepower,” said Cincera. “I learned a lot about how to go fast in a slower car, so that set me up well for getting into a higher horsepower car. When I’m driving well, the car (M4 GT4) just gives you immense confidence from midway through the bus stop all the way up through turn eight. It’s great through that whole section.”

Brooks Friedeman won the Sunday sprint B Modified class in his M4 GT4, and finished second on class in two other race.

Todd Brown and son Sean also won in the Bo Modified class, driving in the enduro together in the Rooster Hall Racing #804 F82 M4 GT4, and Brooks Friedeman won the class on Sunday in his #014 F82 M4 GT4. Friedeman was also second in class in the first sprint and the feature race. Cincera and Friedeman also finished second and third overall behind Brown in the first sprint race and the feature race, fourth and fifth overall in the enduro and first and second overall (Friedeman first, Cincera second) in the final sprint race on Sunday.

Todd and Sean Brown won the B Modified class in the enduro in the Rooster Hall Racing M4 GT4.

The competitive PWR3 class had a solid field at Watkins Glen. Job Nieman (shown in top photo) won the class in both sprint races and the feature in his #888 E36 M3 and finished third in class with his dad Johannes in the #27 E36 M3 in the enduro. Johannes finished third in the first sprint race and second in the final sprint race in the #27 car.

Job is on a hot streak, as he also won the class in two of three races at VIR and all four races at Summit Point, and he carried that over to Watkins Glen. “The weekend has gone great, and it was fun to race together with my dad,” he said. “I think VIR is my favorite track, but Watkins Glen is right up there. Going up through the esses full speed and then barreling through the bus stop – you don’t get that feeling in a lot of other tracks.” Sean Dwyer also had a strong weekend in the PWR3 class at Watkins Glen, winning the enduro and finishing on the podium in the first and last sprint races.

Jesse Clark won all three SpecE46 races he competed in.

Perhaps the best racing of the weekend took place in the highly competitive SpecE46 class, which also had the highest car count. Jesse Clark won the class in all three of the races he competed in (both sprint races and the feature) with his #77 330ci, though it wasn’t easy. He was in third in the feature race behind Patrick Harris and Ben Hostetler before those two got together under braking into the bus stop and took each other out. “I think the whole top five traded places several times during that race,” said Clark. “We have fantastic racing all the way through the field wherever we go. It’s like a hornet’s nest when you’re in it, but it’s fantastic racing.”

Dan March won the SpecE46 class in the enduro in the #116 car and there were seven other drivers on the podium in the class over the weekend of racing, including Jonathan Adams, Alexander Crosson, Joe Fuchs, Greg Hartman, Brewster Charles, John Park and Oner Khera, who was second in the first and second sprint races.

Krista Williams won the M2 Spec class in all four races, and finished in the top ten overall in every race.

Several of the other classes only had one to three cars in the field. In I Prepared, Christopher Lindner won the class in every race but the enduro, with Keith Primozic winning that race in class and overall. In the M2 Spec class, Krista Williams won all four races in her #611 M2 CS Racing and finished in the top ten overall in every race, including sixth overall in the enduro and the final sprint race. In PWR4, Greg Wharton won the enduro and the feature race, while Ryan White won the first sprint race and Allan Lewis won the last one. In I Sport, Francois Metivier won the class in every race among two cars. Mirril McMullen, Timothy Skeuse and Geoffrey Ehrman were single entries in the PWR2, I Prepared and Exhibition classes, respectively, with Ehrman driving the only Porsche in the field.

The Spirit of Club Racing award for the Watkins Glen weekend went to Krista Williams, who competes in the M2 Spec class. “The award went to Krista for helping one of her class competitors be more competitive all in the spirit of good competitive club racing,” said Wayne Dobson. “Ron Checca’s M2 Spec car was low on power for some unknown reason. By sharing data, comparing results from the dyno that was at the track on Friday, and helping to diagnosis the problem, they found the issue causing the boost problem. She also provided a part that allowed another M2 Spec car to continue racing that weekend.”

Krista Williams won the Spirit of Club Racing award, here with fellow M2 Spec racers Ron Checca (right) and Michael Kerner. [Photo by Susan Dobson]

Speaking of trophies, the awards for the Watkins Glen weekend were provided by Finger Lakes Distilling, which overlooks Seneca Lake and is the region’s first stand-along distillery. The Little Speed Shop in nearby Rochester was a race sponsor and also provided the M3 pace car for the event.

Wayne Dobson was the Race Chair for the Watkins Glen weekend. Asher Hyman was the Competition Steward and Bruce Heersink was in charge of Race Operations. Working as Tech Stewards were April Massagee, Tim Bradford, Hunter Dyer and Warren Brown. Larry Fletcher and Roland Nieves were in charge of timing and scoring, and Tim Bradford managed the grid. The next race weekend for Club Racing will be at New Jersey Motorsports Park on June 1st-2nd.