There were more than a few last-to-first stories at this year’s Western States Championships and Tristan Littlehale was certainly one of them. Littlehale started from last in class, mired among slower GTS1 cars and pulled off an upset win over Jon Burgis who started on pole and Anthony Zwain, who started second.
Like so many other similar stories, Littlehale’s started with a DQ the day before, which was the reason he was relegated to his starting position for the Championship race on Sunday.
“It was a tough one,” Littlehale said. “I had start from the back of the field from a previous DQ the other day, so I had to work my way up and back to first. But I knew I had a quick, and consistent car for the 45-minute race, so I just went out and raced according to plan.”
The plan worked, and Littlehale took first, which left Burgis to finish where he started in second.
“NASA had a great day with great competitors,” Burgis said. “The car stayed under me for the most part thanks to Hoosier tires. I had a lot of fun.”
With Burgis in second, Anthony Zwain finished third after briefly holding the lead during the race and fighting mechanical gremlins the day before.
“I had a great race just trying to keep up with these guys,” Zwain said. “We had an underpowered car, but we did what we could. Thanks to Hoosier Tires, of course, Edge Motorwerks and all the crew that we have. The guys worked around the clock last night. We got in at 4:30 this morning and raced at 8:30 this morning and again at noon, so I can’t say enough about my guys. These guys are good racers and they pulled it out. They drove really well.”
