2023 NASA Championships By The Numbers

When all the sprayed champagne has evaporated, the smoke has cleared and everyone has towed home from a Championships event, it’s always illuminating to reflect back and look at the numbers. Inevitably the regions closest to the track where Championships are held tend to have higher representation, and this year was no exception. However, it’s always interesting to see which regions end up with the most wins and podiums.

We’ve compiled a collection of data, from who gathered double championships and double podiums to which regions sent the most winners to this year’s NASA Championships, and we’ve published some of the highlights below.

 

 

Champions by Region for Racing and Time Trial

California – Northern                     2

Florida                                         1

Great Lakes                                  9

Mid-Atlantic                                  6

Northeast                                     4

Rocky Mountain                            3

Southeast                                    2

Texas                                           1

 

Podium Sweeps by Region

Great Lakes                                    4

Mid-Atlantic                                    1

Texas                                             1

 

Podium Finishes by Region

California – Northern                     3

California – Southern                     2

Florida                                          4

Great Lakes                                  31

MidAmerica                                   3

Mid-Atlantic                                   20

Northeast                                      8

Rocky Mountain                              3

Southeast                                      4

Texas                                            5

Utah                                              1

Double Champions

Double-dipping in racing and Time Trial at the NASA Championships is practically a national pastime among NASA competitors, but it’s a lot to take on. Often, but not always, there are drivers who earn a NASA Championship in two classes, and we had four this year at PittRace.

Super Touring 2 and Time Trial 2

For the second consecutive year, Jake Latham earned the Championships in ST2 and in TT2 at PittRace and last year at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Latham’s TT2 time was 1.24 seconds quicker than his second-place competitor David Kramar, and Latham was one lap up on second-place Ben Grambau in the ST2 race.

Super Touring 3 and Time Trial 3

Eric Magnussen captured the Championships in Super Touring 3 and Time Trial 3. Magnussen was 1.642 seconds quicker than Andrew Stevens in TT3 and finished just .407 seconds ahead of second place ST3 finisher Mark Burt, who has two Championships to his credit, one in ST1 at Circuit of The Americas in 2018 and one in ST3 at Watkins Glen in 2016.

Super Unlimited and Time Trial Unlimited

2022 TTU Champion Jonathan Finstrom sat out Saturday’s qualifying race to preserve his car for Sunday’s Super Unlimited Championship race and, as it turned out, for the Time Trial Unlimited Championship, and it paid off. Finstrom nabbed Championships in TTU and SU. Finstrom won TTU by 3.631 seconds over Brian Faessler in his monster Mustang, whom he also bested in SU.

Super Touring 4 and Time Trial 4

Team ST Edge MV notched wins in ST4 and TT4, but what is interesting is that the team did it with two different drivers. In ST4, Shaun Webster picked up the Championship 1.369 seconds ahead of Nick DeRosa and 6.220 seconds ahead of fellow NorCal driver Scott Smith.

Then in TT4, driver Anthony Zwain captured the win by the slimmest margin in all of Time Trial competition at the 2023 NASA Championships, at just .078 seconds over David Farrar. It was close.

Triple Podiums

There was only one driver to score a triple podium at the 2023 Championships. Brian Faessler started from last in AIX and brought home the Championship and also notched a second-place finish in TTU behind Jonathan Finstrom’s super-quick Staudacher prototype and a third podium in Super Unlimited, where he finished second.

Double Podiums

This group of competitors didn’t score the coveted double championship, but they did get on the podium in Time Trial and in racing, which is also worth noting because of how difficult it is to do.

ST1 and TT1

Joe Kellerman won the ST1 class, but came in second in TT1 behind Johnny Miller.

ST2 and TT2

Ben Grambau was favored going into the 2023 NASA Championships at PittRace, but never made it to the top step of the podium. He did make it to the second step in ST2 and finished third in TT2.

ST3 and TT3

Andrew Stevens finished third in ST3 and was able to climb up one more step on the podium in TT3, where he finished second.

ST5 and TT5

Samed Rizvi scored two second-place finishes in ST5 and TT5. In ST5, he finished 5 seconds behind the winner Nicholas Barbato, but in TT5, he was much closer to the win, just .447 seconds behind winner Ricardo Soares.

 

Spec Miata and TT6

Jonathan Davis pulled off a masterful drive in Spec Miata, starting from seventh and finishing third, and then logged the fastest lap in TT6 ahead of second-place finisher Team Mick Blue Racing.

Hit or Miss: Speed News Picks and Percentages

Speed News always runs a “who will win” story in the months leading up to the Championships. It’s supposed to be all in good fun, but we do put considerable effort into making informed choices. Sometimes we get it right and hit the bullseye, and sometimes we miss the mark. And sometimes, as you will see below, we end up with “near misses.”

Time Trial

Time Trial 1                 Hit

Time Trial 2                 Miss

Time Trial 3                 Miss

Time Trial 4                 Miss

Time Trial 5                 Hit

Time Trial 6                 NA

Time Trial Unlimited     Hit

That’s three out of six contests called correctly for a 50 percent accuracy rating. Of the three misses in predictions, two of the drivers favored in the July 12 “Who Will Win” story did finish on the podium in their class.

Racing

944 Spec                                         Hit

American Iron                                  Miss

American Iron Extreme                     Hit

Camaro-Mustang Challenge               Miss

GTS3                                               Miss

Honda Challenge 2                           Miss

Legends                                          Miss

NP01                                              Hit

Spec3                                             Miss

Spec E30                                        Miss

Spec E46                                         Miss

Spec Iron                                        Miss

Spec Miata                                       Miss

Super Touring 1                               Hit

Super Touring 2                               Miss

Super Touring 3                               Hit

Super Touring 4                               Hit

Super Touring 5                               Miss

Super Touring 6                               Miss

Super Unlimited                               Hit

Thunder Roadster                            Miss

Seven of 21 contests called correctly for a 30 percent accuracy rating. Seven other drivers that were predicted to win in the July 12 story finished on the podium. So, one might call them near misses, technically speaking.