PTE fielded the biggest grid in Performance Touring for the Championships race, with 12 cars vying for top honors, including many drivers double-dipping from other classes.
Randy Evans had pole position, followed by NorCal’s Glen McCready and Spec Miata standout David Dodge. 944 Spec Champion Charlie Buzzetti started from fourth and finished in second, but was DQ’d after the race.
“I didn’t expect to win,” Buzzetti said. “I didn’t have the lap times to support a win. Randy would have had to break. He was consistently faster than me all weekend.”
That didn’t stop Buzzetti from hounding Evans from behind for much of the race.
“It wasn’t easy. Those guys weren’t giving this old man the respect I thought I deserved on the start, so I had to fight back,” Evans said. “I had a bad start, but it was a lot of fun. NASA is just great. I love this venue. It was a lot of work. It was a long race. We had to overcome a couple of things, but nothing serious. I had to use my backup car. The one I brought that I thought I’d run had some issues, so I was the mechanic, the driver, the sponsor and everything.”
Buzzetti’s DQ meant Glen McCready’s third-place finish was now good for a second place on the podium.
“It was a good time,” McCready said. “Coming out of NorCal, I thought I’d have more of a home track advantage, but overall I’m pretty happy to be on the podium. The guy in front of me got loose in Turn 4 and I managed to just drive on the inside in 5 and then I had good line through the Carousel and life was good. After that it was just gapping and gapping and gapping.”
The DQ also mean Team Black Armor Racing moved up from fourth and into third.
