Geoff Ehrman in a Porsche 996 and Job Nieman in an E36 M3 dominated the four sprints run in the New Jersey Chapter’s annual June Monday-Tuesday event on the Thunderbolt Circuit at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Twenty cars competing in ten different classes took to the track in the Tire Rack BMW CCA Club Racing series’ event at Thunderbolt, where racers ran a new configuration utilizing the Devil’s Pass section, just opened this year.
Geoff Ehrman scored four overall wins in his Porsche 996.
Ehrman, a Delaware Valley Chapter member, brought the EXB class Porsche 996.2 GT3 Cup car that he also campaigns in HSR. He was uncatchable in all four sprints, always pulling away early and running alone on the track much of the way. He had company in EXB, the series’ class for cars other than BMWs. Emre Kayaalp brought an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 to the party and piloted it to four second-in-class finishes.
Job Nieman built on his PWR3 win streak at Thunderbolt.
The fastest BMW class, and the largest class in the field as well, was PWR3. Job Nieman in his E36 M3 scored four wins, with Vin Chau (E46 M3) second in the first and second sprints, Johannes Nieman (E36 M3) second in the third, and Jared Randall second in the fourth. Job Nieman continues to build on a season-long streak that has included two wins in three races at VIR, four in four races at Summit Point, and three in the three sprints at Watkins Glen, where he also teamed with his father Johannes to finish third in the enduro.
Joe Fuchs won Spec E46 in all four sprints.
Spec E46, with four cars running, was dominated by 330Ci racer Joe Fuchs, who won the class in all four sprints, with Scott Reiman (330i) second in the first three races and Mike Wittman (330Ci) second in the fourth race, when Reiman did not run.
Matt Poth campaigns the only diesel in Club Racing.
Anthony Valente won B-Mod in three sprints.
B-Modified and C-Modified were the other two contested classes at Thunderbolt. Matt Poth, proprietor of event sponsor eMpower Automotive, won B-Mod in the first sprint in his E90 335D, the only diesel in Club Racing. Anthony Valente, whose E92 M3 ran out of gas late in the first race, won B-Mod in the other three sprints. In C-Mod Shaun McKenzie took four wins in his E46 M3, holding off class competitor Andrew Staiano (E36 M3) in the first three and then scoring a solo win in race four.
Shaiun McKenzie swept C-Mod.
The other five classes were uncontested. Solo class winners included Bert Howerton in Spec E36 (325is), event chair Ross Karlin in E-Modified in the E21 320i that he has campaigned in Club Racing since the early days of the series, Marc Thomaes, like Karlin a series veteran, in PWR2 in his E30 M3, J. P. Tracey in I-Prepared in his E36 M3, and Tim Skeuse in J-Prepared in his E30 M3.
All four races were run from start to finish under the green flag. The Devil’s Pass section received mixed reviews at best. While racers acknowledged that there is always a learning curve on a new turn, many felt that it was very difficult to establish a good rhythm with the new configuration, and several noted what they said was a scant runoff area.
Westlake students and staff attended the event, and a $5,000 check was awarded to the school.
As always the New Jersey Chapter’s June race is run as a benefit event for the Westlake School, a New Jersey-based school for special-needs children. The school selects high-performing students to come to the event, where they get track rides and watch races. This year the school was presented with a check for $5,000. Once again Westlake students made the trophies that were awarded to the racers. A special Spirit of Club racing flag was awarded to the school’s retiring principal Claudine Tantillo.
Matt Poth accepts the Spirit of Club Racing flag from Ross Karlin.
The Spirit of Club Racing flag was awarded to Matt Poth for the work that he and his eMpower Automotve team performed to assist racers at the event.
The Thunderbolt event was sponsored by eMpower Automotive and TotalEnergies.
Ross Karlin was event chairman, Bruce Heersink and Asher Hyman served as competition stewards, Warren Brown and David Weaver served as tech stewards, and Larry Fletcher served as timing and scoring steward. .—Brian Morgan
All photos by Brian Morgan
