Super Touring 2 is a fun class, but based on what happened in the start with ST1 driver David Greenman, ST2 drivers were in a precarious position at the Eastern States Championships Presented by Toyo Tires.
Just after green, Greenman got an offset bump from behind at the green flag, which spun him into the inside wall and left his car disabled and scattered across the front straight. That left the bulk of the ST2 field to dodge around the wreckage.
Everyone got through relatively unscathed, and the race went to full-course caution for nearly 20 minutes while rescue crews cleared the wreckage. Greenman was OK.
When the race resumed, it was only for roughly 12 minutes, about six laps of green-flag racing, then another double-yellow came out and stood until the last lap, a green-white-checker condition. In the end, John George came out on top, with DJ Fitzpatrick in second and John Gatzenmeyer in third.
“Off the green, the crash that happened right in front of me,” Fitzpatrick said. “I weaved through traffic and got into first place. They then threw the double-yellows. When we did the restart, I battled it out with the black Corvette right behind me and then we had another double-yellow and went green again with one lap to go, and the black Corvette decided to punt me into the Bus Stop and sent us both spinning. John George took the win. Congratulations to him. And then me and that ‘vette kept going and he lost it again and wrecked his car, so …”
The black Corvette was DQ’d after the race. Before the podium ceremony, George characterized the scene on track.
“It was crazy. It was intense,” he said. “We had a bunch of yellows. On the last lap we got one lap to race, basically. The second yellow was one lap left. I get on the outside of Turn 1 and Adrian is on the inside and there’s a car between us. We go up the Esses, we touch a little bit and then Adrian (Wlostowski) is in front and the BMW (DJ Fitzpatrick) he was leading ST2 and he and Adrian got together going into the Bus Stop so that handed me the lead. So that’s about it. I brought it home and here I am.”
