Job Nieman in a PWR3 E36 M3 dominated the three sprints run in the Delaware Valley Chapter’s annual August club race on the Lightning circuit at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Twenty-six Tire Rack BMW CCA Club Racers running in 10 different classes took to the track for the event that included one sprint on Saturday and two more on Sunday.
Job Nieman scored overall and PWR3 wins in all three sprints.
In the Saturday sprint Nieman battled with C-Modified racer Kirk Olsen in an E36 M3. Olsen led until near the end, when a leaky oil pan took hm out of the race, and also out of the balance of the event. From that point on Nieman dominated, finishing ahead of B-Modified winner Anthony Valente in an E92 M3 and PWR3 runner-up Jacques Panneton in an E46 330i. Andrew Palumbo was fourth overall and third in PWR3 in an E46 M3, while C-Mod went to fifth overall finisher Tony Salloum, proprietor of Club Racing sponsor VAC Motorsports, in an E46 330i. VAC supplied the pace car for the event. M2 Spec winner Ron Checca finished sixth overall in an F87 M2 CSR.
Anthony Valente won B-Mod in all three races.
BMW CCA president Jeff Caldwell swept Spec E46 at Lightning.
Other winners in contested classes were David Ellman in I-Prepared in an E36 M3, Justin Pizzullo in PWR2 in another E36 M3, BMW CCA President Jeff Caldwell in Spec E46 in a 330 Ci, and Mike Denis-Rohr in I-Sport in an E36 M3. Solo class wins went to Tim Skeuse in J-Prepared in an E30 M3 and Ross Karlin in E-Modified in an E21 320i. A racer dropped a significant amount of oil from under the bridge to turn seven on the final lap. Six cars dashing for the finish got caught on the oily surface and went off on turn seven. As damage to most of the cars involved was extensive the incident reduced the field for the two Sunday sprints.
PWR2 went to Justin Pizzullo in all three races.
Mike Denis-Rohr swept I-Sport.
Job Nieman took his second win on Sunday morning, finishing ahead of B-Mod repeat winner Valente, who spent the race battling with third-place finisher Jan Nieman, Job Nieman’s father, in a PWR3 E36 M3. Michael Wetzel took a solo win in M2 Spec, finishing sixth overall in his F87 M2 CSR. Pizzullo finished just behind him, scoring his second PWR2 win. Next up was the second of what would turn out to be three C-Mod winnerz, Andrew Staiano in an E36 M3. JP Tracey was next to cross the line, taking a solo win in I-Prepared in an E36 M3. Caldwell in Spec E46 and Denis-Rohr in I-Sport both took their second class wins of the event, while solo class wins again went to Skeuse in J-Prepared and Karlin in E-Modified.
The feature, run about an hour after the first Sunday sprint, featured a close race for the overall win between Job and Jan Nieman, with Job crossing the line first to complete his weekend sweep. Valente, running solo in B-Mod, finished third overall, completing his sweep of B-Mod. Also scoring their third wins of the weekend in contested classes were Pizzullo in PWR2, Caldwell in Spec E46, and Denis-Rohr in I-Sport. Nafi Coker (E30 325i) became the third winner in C-Modified. Solo class wins went to Wetzel in M2 Spec, Tracey in I-Prepared, Skeuse in J-Prepared, and Karlin in E-Modified.
Karlin, who is one of the few remaining competitors in E-Modified running in the Tire Rack series, continues to compete in the E21 320i that he ran in his first race at Mid-Ohio in 1995, He was joined at Lightning by three other series veterans. They were Ron Checca and Fred Landwehr, who ran their first races at Mid-Ohio in ’95 along with Karlin, and Marc Thomaes, who ran his first race in the series at Lime Rock in 1996. These four racers were running in Club Racing before several of the 2026 competitors at Lightning were born. It was a rough weekend for both Checca and Landwehr. Checca in his F87 M2 CSR won M2 Spec on Saturday, but was a victim of the final lap incident in that race, and was unable to compete on Sunday. Landwehr, who runs an F22 M235iR in M240ir Spec, ran in practice and qualifying on Saturday but had to drop out because of an issue with hs car’s valvetronic system. Thomaes ran all three races in his PWR2 E30 M3, finishing second in class in two races and third in the other.
Veteran racefs Ross Karlin, Fred Landwehr, Ron Checca, and Marc Thomaes ran at Lightning.
As it always does in August, the Delaware Valley Chapter hosted parents and children from its charity group, B-Positive, for children battling cancer. They received lunch and track tours.
The Spirit of Club Racing flag was awarded to racer David Ellman, who supplied a transmission for Job Nieman to replace one lost in qualifying, enabling NIeman to compete and win.
David Ellman receives the Spirit of Club Racing flag from Mark Connolly (l) and Club Racing chairman Mirrill McMullen (r).
Lisa Mellott was event chair, Asher Hyman and Wayne Dobson served as competition stewards, Tim Bradford and Warren Brown served as tech stewards, and Michael Saul and Larry Fletcher served as timing and scoring stewards. .—Brian Morgan
Lead photo shows the VAC pace car leading the pack to the green flag on Sunday morning. All photos by Brian Morgan