2015 Competition Wrap-up

[blindsidefive0]

Competitors,

It does not seem like that long ago when we were gearing up for the 2015 COMSCC season opener at NHMS and placing bets on when the snowbanks would melt. Now nearly 6 months and 7 white knuckle time trial events later, we have another full season in the books. The season finale at NHMS did not disappoint with enough tight finishes and championship-deciding battles to make F1 fans jealous.

NHMS Season Finale Event results: http://comscc.org/events/results/view/?id=2015-10-11
2015 COMSCC Standings: http://comscc.org/events/results/view/?id=2015-final
Lap Records: http://comscc.org/events/track-records/


Before we get to NHMS-3, here are the top 5 highlights from the 2015 season (that probably didn't make the box score):

1) Rookies of the Year - Vic Larin (e46, T60) and Mikhael El-Bayeh (Civic, T30) earned their COMSCC Time Trial licenses and some serious victory-related hardware in 2015. These two "rookies" made a dent in the standings with Larin taking down the T60 Class Championship with 4 wins. El-Bayeh gave 2014 T30 Class Champion Stephen Hosker a run for his money, winning 3 events and finishing as the T30 runner-up by just 2 points.

2) Massachusetts - finally, the Corvettes of MASSACHUSETTS Sports Car Club gets to race at a track in MASSACHUSETTS. And it's awesome. In 2015, COMSCC was privileged to get 2 weekend dates at Palmer. We'll be returning in 2016 as the track continues to evolve into one of the best circuits in America.

3) Blame Canada - With tight competition across nearly every class, many season-long battles were decided one way or another at the 13-point Mosport event. With a likely return in 2016, competitors might as well mark this as a “must-win” on their calendars right now. Oh, and nearly everyone who made the trip will tell you that Mosport is now (if it wasn't already) their favorite track on earth.

4) Win-or-go-home - this was the phrase du jour at the NHMS 2015 Season Finale with 4 Class Championships and the Overall Driver Championship yet decided. In-fact, 3 of the Class Championship battles were straight-up (win at NHMS, win the 'ship).

5) Repeats - or lack thereof... Since the implementation of the Touring Classes in 2013, only 2 of the 8 classes have had a repeat winner (Fleming, T90, 2014 and 2015 and Hosker, T30, 2014 and 2015) with the other 6 classes producing 3 different winners in 2013, 2014, and 2015. You will not find another $15 trophy that's harder to earn.


And now, highlights from the NHMS Season Finale:

Super Unlimited – with back-to-back SU Class Championships already under wraps, Dan D'arcy took some victory laps to finish his 2015 campaign. SU had some fun this year, particularly at Palmer, with tight finishes between D'arcy, Mark Stellato, and Bill McMahon. Meanwhile, Michael Jacques and Bill Washburn showed us what it means to go really, really fast...

Super A - Finally, the Fuchswanz family got the memo that they were missing all the action. Marc dipped into the :13's, but Mike went faster at NHMS-chickens than any non-formula car in COMSCC history...by over 1.5 seconds! Mike Fuchswanz's 1:11.8 is a lap that will find its way into COMSCC lore for years to come. Dana Johnston clinched the SA Class Championship at Mosport, but NHMS-3 solidified 2nd and 3rd place for Thomas Greer (V8 Miata) and Charles "Butch" King Sr. ("truck"), respectively.

Super B - James Laughlin's only event with COMSCC in 2015 was a good one, putting just enough heat into his slicks at 1:15 pace to win. However, the real show was for the 2015 COMSCC SB Class Championship. John French woke up on Sunday with a slight lead over Daniel Preston, but Preston's 1:17 2nd place run in his 370z (2 thousandths faster than Nick Coutu in the Cayman) jumped him to the front in one of the many dramatic championship-clinching finishes at the event. John French crushed his personal best at NHMS, flying into the 1:18's with his Mustang (honestly, can you remember anyone touching :18's in a fox body?!), but his 5th place finish (less than 2 tenths behind David Coutu, who sealed 3rd place in the SB standings) wasn't enough to hang onto the championship lead. Bob Brooks got a new grill...err...car, and dropped into the 1:19's - not a bad first event.

Super C - your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place SC standings leaders were in-town for the finale, and it was win-or-go-home for the SC Championship as Will Martins and Gordon Andrade completed another chapter in their decade-long feud. This time, Martins worked his Miata hard for the win and tie-breaker over Andrade, earning Martins back-to-back Super C Championships with a 1:19-flat. Peter Fontana was hoping for more but suffered from a rear subframe failure, causing an outlap spin and DQ. I hear there's a top-running SC car looking for some new left seat ballast if anyone's interested...

Super D - Greg Hosselbarth continued his winning streak, the longest active streak in COMSCC, with a 1:21.5. The 2014 and 2015 Super D Class Champion has won the last 8 events (actually, he's won 10 in-a-row if you don't include missed events), including all 7 this year, completing the first perfect season that COMSCC has seen since Fred Ferguson swept Prepared C in 2012 with his monster e30. To cap off Greg's season, a crazy T80 finish might have bumped him into 1st place for the 2015 Overall Driver Championship, but either way, he secured the coveted Miata Cup - get the film ready for a Miata Tiara selfie with Greg at the COMSCC Banquet! COMSCC Chiefs Bill Hosselbarth and Mark Swinehart worked into the :23's, but Swinehart came out on top in his new-to-him Miata, securing 2nd place in SD for 2015.

Touring 100 - 1:13's at NHMS-Chicane/Chicane aren't common, nor should they be. However, both Donald Piette and Bob Cairns ran in the mid 1:13's - your T100 Class Champion's 1:13.496 was 2 hundredths faster than Bob Cairns's 1:13.516. T100 was a lot of fun to watch in 2015 with these guys trading FTD's and friendly jabs all year...but I hear that 2016 should get even more interesting with a new entrant...

Touring 90 - This was Laura Fleming's last rip in T90, and it was a good one. Fleming crossed the 1:15-flat barrier with a 1:14.9. Across her 6 victories in 2015, Fleming AVERAGED a 4.998 second margin of victory! The boys in T100 should watch out for this sandbagger next year...

Touring 80 - With a narrow margin in the 2015 Overall Driver Championship, Nick Fontana needed a win in T80 to hold the lead. However, with his ride suffering suspension issues all weekend, finally dying during Peter's TT, Fontana needed to phone a friend to arrive at the starting line. While he got some help from Mario Fallas (car issues forced Fallas to switch to Shake-N-Bake's new Super B C4 Vette), Ryan Catucci applied pressure in his F80 M3. Now deeply in debt to Jon Cowen for the on-the-spot rental opportunity, Fontana drove Cowen's T70 trim e36 just 0.154s faster than Catucci's F80. Had Catucci prevailed, SD Class Champion Greg Hosselbarth would have taken the Overall Driver Championship. Behind Fontana and Catucci were 2014 T80 Champion Fred Kim (3rd) and Jon Harris (4th). Harris's 4th place finish secures him 2nd place in the T80 Championship with Kim jumping from 4th to 3rd.

Touring 70 - 5 guys posted times of 1:20 or better, including Emilio Arce (5th), newly-licensed Nelson Barros (4th), and 2-time Most Consistent driver Norbert Martel (3rd - 1:19.571, .433, .547). However, it was another win-or-go-home for the top 2 competitors, Stephen Tise Jr. and Jon Cowen. These guys basically "tied" in 2015, trading victories in tight battles all year long and finishing in style with just 6 thousandths of a second between them at the NHMS finale...but this is racing...and there are no ties. Tise Jr. ripped a 1:18.738 out of his Mustang Shelby GT, less than a hair ahead of Cowen's 1:18.744, earning him a hard fought T70 Class Championship.

Touring 60 - a huge, 10-competitor class showed up for the final T60 battle. T60 Class Champion Vic Larin showed off a new ride: e46 M3 on street tires, but Larin couldn't quite find the pace to run down Health Speckman who was flying in his WRX (1st, 1:20.544) or Howard Roundy (2nd, 1:20.573) who had to steal one of Dan D'arcy's Loti after springing a transmission leak (British car problems...). Oh, and Sarah Fuchswanz wasn't far off in her s2000 with an impressive personal best lap time (4th, 1:21.947). Both Speckman and Roundy needed every possible point at NHMS, each jumping one place in the 2015 T60 season standings to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Touring 50 - another monster field with 11 competitors, including the top 7 guys in the T50 season standings. Sure enough, the top 7 season standings leaders took the top 7 spots at the season finale. 2011 Overall Driver Champion Jeff Wasilko (2nd, 1:21.0) put in a good drive after clinching the T50 Championship at Mosport, but Dave Lemoine was flying (1st, 1:20.5) to finish the year with back-to-back wins. Just about 1/2s separated the next 4 competitors, including 2014 Driver Champion Chad Fox (3rd, 1:21.8), 2015 T50 Bronze Medalist Troy Velazquez (4th, 1:22.0), Matt Leblanc and his 1.6 (5th, 1:22.2), and 2012-2013 Driver Champion Dave Wittmer (6th, 1:22.3)...what a field!

Touring 40 - Scott Rosnick was back on-top (1st, 1:22.873) to close out an impressive 2015 T40 Class Championship-winning campaign that included 5 wins. Despite a 3rd place at the NHMS rain event and 2nd place at Mosport, Rosnick was closer than most people realize to winning the Overall Driver Championship - had the T80 result been flipped by a tenth in the other direction and had a few more competitors shown up in T40, Rosnick would have won it. Making it difficult on Rosnick all year was 2014 T40 Class Champion Derek Tangard (2nd, 1:23.469) - after 2 complete seasons of close battles, both competitors enjoyed the "day off" with T40 already decided, instead taking in the championship showdowns throughout the day. Finally, after bumping himself to 3rd place at Mosport, Tom Cannon (3rd, 1:24.2) solidified his podium in the T40 Championship.

Touring 30 - with the T30 Class Championship hanging in the balance, Stephen Hosker and Mikhael El-Bayeh put on an old-school/new-school battle for the ages. With all eyes upon them and El-Bayeh mounting a major comeback at Palmer and Mosport to even the score with Hosker, both guys were under tremendous pressure to perform. Hosker got things started in his red Miata with a first-lap 1:24.8. El-Bayeh finally figured it out in his silver Civic on lap 3, matching Hosker's 1:24.8, but it wasn't enough as Hosker dropped a track record 1:24.5 on lap 3 that sealed the deal. All season, El-Bayeh has impressed with his pace and ability to quickly learn new tracks, even pulling off a "day-trip" win at Mosport; however, Hosker's experience and determination have earned him back-to-back T30 Championships.


COMSCC grants several Special Awards annually. Please check out all the COMSCC Special Awards (http://comscc.org/events/awards/), and let a member of the Board of Directors know if you have any recommendations. Here are your 2015 winners for the awards based solely on COMSCC Time Trial event results:

British Cup: Dan D'arcy (Lotus Elise, Lotus Exige Cup 255, 49 points)
American Iron: Stephen Tise Jr. (Ford Mustang Shelby GT, 73 points)
Miata Cup: Greg Hosselbarth (Mazda Miata, 81 points)

With big fields and early wins, it looked like the 2015 COMSCC Overall Driver Championship would again come down to the top dog in T40/T50. However, as the season wore on, the race came down to a pair of 7-win seasons from Greg Hosselbarth and Nick Fontana with class attendance serving as the tie-breaker.

Overall Driver Championship:
3rd - Scott Rosnick (T40, 83.0 points)
2nd - Greg Hosselbarth (SD, 83.71 points)
1st - Nick Fontana (T80, 85.14 points)


Did you not finish where you should have because of some BS rule? Let us know by submitting rule change proposals for the 2016 season (submission form: http://www.comscc.org/rules/submission-form/). We will be reviewing and voting on 2016 rule changes at the November and December Board Meetings – must be present to win.

OK, that’s it. The racing season is over. It’s time to see if your spouse and kids are still waiting for you, and it’s best to make sure that your key still works at the front door. If you need just a little bit more…kick off the new year by celebrating your racing hangover with some “bench racing” at the COMSCC Annual Banquet in January – stay tuned to Motorsportsreg.com for event details!

[ED9man]

A great write-up and a great season!

[wizzman]

The Driver Champion podium

12115680_1188265551190484_1245403575300488119_n by David Wittmer, on Flickr

[hroundy]

Great recap, Nick. Love Dave's podium pic.

[SEISAN]

Nick,

Another great recap on another Super COM Season.

You have my vote on the "Pulitzer "

Thanks for taking the time to do this. I know all the members appreciate your personalize touches.

See you at the banquet and Congratulations on your 2015 Championship

Shake N Bake