If you’ve been reading Speed News for any length of time, you might remember one particular GoPro Move of the Month in which NASA Great Lakes CMC racer Bob Denton’s car caught fire and was caught on video. If you race with Denton, you remember that he is one of the better CMC drivers in the country.
He was good enough to start from pole position in CMC followed by last year’s CMC Champion Russ Carter, who actually had logged a faster lap time in the days leading up to the Championships race. Shawn Stern started from third on grid.
In the early laps of the race, Carter and Denton were nose to tail and establishing a gap on the rest of the field. Had the race stayed green, they might have continued to march away from the pack, but a double-yellow came out when a Honda Challenge 2 car and a Performance Touring entry crashed in the entrance to the Uphill Esses.
That bunched up the field behind the safety car. All classes and cars were mixed and mingled, and the winners had to earn their money on the restart, which was marred by a PTB Hyundai Genesis blowing its engine and oiling down the track leading into the Bus Stop. At the checkers, it was Denton in first, Carter in second and Marshall Moore in third.
“It was fun. Bob, the winner, is our regional series leader. He’s helped me out a lot,” Moore said. “This is actually the first race that I’ve ever placed in, so it was great. Great track. Great people. Great weather. Great weekend.”
Reigning CMC Champion Russ Carter finished second.
“We ran nose to tail through most of the race. The double-yellows came out and unfortunately on the restart, traffic got in with us. That’s the nature of this type of racing. He (Denton) simply navigated it better than I did,” Carter said. “But it was a great race. Bob’s a great driver.”
After the race, Denton was elated, and a little incredulous.
“This is my first one. I can’t believe it. I’ve been runner up in CMC before at the nationals, but never been able to take the win,” Denton said. “I can’t believe it. I’m in shock. It was a great race. Russ Carter is a great competitor and the whole group was just fantastic this weekend. We hung out together. I couldn’t ask for a better weekend.”
