NASA Arizona’s David Schotz and his father packed up two rented Penske vans and headed east to Road Atlanta with two racecars in tow. Schotz sought to follow up on a decidedly good go at the 2013 National Championships at Miller Motorsports Park, where he won titles in PTB, TTB and in TTC in his father’s Chevrolet Camaro Z28.
In PTB, Schotz scored pole position, so initially things looked as though they were headed in the right direction. Jeremiah Fox started from second and Robert Rutzky started from third. Schotz and Fox were locked in a two-car battle the entire race distance. Late in the race, Fox captured the lead, with Schotz retaking the point on the very next lap and holding on for the win.
“It was an incredible battle,” Schotz said. “Traffic played a part in it. I tried to keep a couple of these cars between me and Jeremiah because I know he has a lot of top speed. It was a great race. My car has a few issues, but we were able to make it to the finish and the win. I want to thank Carbotech and Hoosier tires for a fun weekend.”
In PTE, pole sitter Ben Anderson actually posted a slower lap time than NASA Great Lakes racer Jason Kohler, who is the 2012 HC1 Champion and 2013 PTE Champion. But Anderson had more points from the qualifying races, which put him on pole, followed by Kohler, Chris Adams and Eric Powell in Mazda Miatas.
Anderson fell out of the lead, but was able to hold on for the win, followed by Powell in second and Kohler, who came in third.
“Road Atlanta is tough when it is hot like this,” Anderson said. “We have by far the heaviest car, by 500 pounds, and it is all about tire management. It is 95-degrees and it is one of the hardest cars to drive managing the tires. I was in second for a few laps and then was able to pass and I had a gap. The yellow came out and I was able to keep the focus and pull off the win.”
In PTF, Matthew Denny started from pole, followed by Ronald Nielsen and Ken Brewer in third. Brewer barely made the race.
“My car is really stock,” Brewer said. “I bolted up fresh Hoosiers for the race. I started third because I didn’t make qualifying. I had to borrow an ECU from a fan’s street car so I could make the race today.”
In the end it worked, and Brewer finished first, but post-race inspections disqualified him due to weight. That put Nielsen up into first, followed by Denny. There was no third place because the only remaining car, a Mazda Miata driven by Cody Mason also was disqualified for weight.
PTB
PTE
PTF
