Redline Time Attack: Round 2
New Jersey Motorsports Park
Englishtown, NJ
April 10-11 2010
The sun has set on New Jersey Motorsports Park as the second event in the 2010 Redline Time Attack series wrapped up. The action on and off the track was intense and in true Time Attack fashion, fans witnessed: drama, suspense, entertainment, and victory as competitors from all over the East Coast battled for podium steps.
The buzz was all about Brian Lock and the COBB Tuning Nissan GT-R from day one. Lock and COBB Tuning ended the day on top with a blistering fast 1:06.753 in practice. Crowds gathered to get a chance to witness COBB Tuning make time attack history as the first ever Modified Class car to take an overall event win. The drama and suspense started immediately when COBB Tuning ran into electrical gremlins which kept them off-track for nearly every practice session. Fortunately, Lock got one timed lap in all day which was a 1:09.762 qualifying him back in 3rd place heading into the first time attack round. Fans eagerly watched as Lock took to the track in the first time attack session but were sorely disappointed as they watched the COBB Tuning GT-R limp in with more mechanical issues. COBB Tuning worked tirelessly to get the issue fixed and make it back out to the second and final time attack session and as the GT-R pulled out of their pits to head to grid the anticipation rose yet again. The crowd roared as Lock crossed the finish line with a 1:06.768 to make history as the first Modified Class car to take an overall event win!
The Super Modified class only saw four entrants, but that didn’t mean they had it easy. All weekend long it was a battle of the 240SXs as Ricca Racing’s Jeff Ricca and Dent Sport Garage’s Bill Washburn, constantly swapping positions as the fastest in the Class. At the end of the day Jeff Ricca was able to put it together when it counted taking the overall Super Modified and Super Modified RWD titles with a 1:09.945. Bill Washburn would have to settle for 2nd place in his Dent Sport Garage Nissan 240SX with a 1:11.511.
The Modified Class seemed to be the dominant force at New Jersey Motorsports Park as the top three fastest lap times of the weekend were all set by Modified Class cars. Second place overall as well as in Modified AWD was 2009 Street Tire AWD champion Tony Weisenhan in the Turn In Concepts Subaru WRX with a blazing fast 1:08.494.
The Modified RWD Class was dominated by Ross Miller, who was the 2009 Modified Class champion, however Miller was driving his own personal Corvette not a sponsored car. Miller came across the line with a lightning fast 1:10.868 in the second time attack session to easily take the win. Dave Hary in the S-Max Intercoolers/RT Tuning Nissan S14 came in 2nd place with a 1:17.344 followed shortly by a brief encounter with the guardrail after an off-track excursion in turn 1. As for the front wheel drives, Jose Marcado in his Acura RSX had the best time in the Modified FWD class with a 1:16.069 beating out Kenneth Fox in the PTuning Scion tC who came across the stripe with a 1:20.655. Taking third in Modified FWD was another PTuning Scion, this time an xA driven by Justin Crenshaw to a 1:21.983.
The Street Tire class consistently delivers some of the closest battles of every event and this weekend was no different as Todd Reid, Cameron Benner, Daniel O’Donnell, and Justin Mathews were all very close to each other in practice. Todd Reid in the beautiful Fortune Auto Mitsubishi Evo took top honors in Street Tire AWD as well as the Overall Street Tire Class win with a 1:12.126. Daniel O’Donnell in the Professional Awesome Evo VII and Cameron Benner in the COBB Tuning Subaru STI were within two tenths of a second at the end of the day, but COBB Tuning’s Cameron Benner narrowly edged out O’Donnell with a 1:13.008. The Professional Awesome Evo came in with a 1:13.298 for third.
Scott Knott in his Lotus Elise sat on the top step in Street Tire RWD with a 1:17.426 over 2nd place finisher Joseph Richichi’s Nissan 350Z which he piloted to a 1:22.330. A 1:23.212 was good enough to land Raphael Santos a 3rd place finish in his Honda S2000 to round out the Street Tire RWD podium.
The Super Session was again a crowd favorite and as usual provided plenty of action. Looking for back to back wins, Lock and the COBB Tuning GTR sat on pole position with Tony Wiesenhan in the Turn In Concepts Subaru WRX next to him, both going for the extra Modified class points. On the second row, Ross Miller and his Corvette lined up next to Jeff Ricca and the 240SXMotoring.com/Ricca Racing Nissan 240SX for Super Modified. Cameron Benner in the COBB Tuning Subaru STI started at the tail end in the third row for the Street Tire Class. The green flag dropped and it was an all out brawl up front between COBB Tuning’s GTR and the Turn In Concepts WRX. Wiesenhahn stuck to Lock’s back bumper for nearly the entire race attempting to get by Lock a number of times in the braking zone at the end of the front straight. Unfortunately for Wiesenhahn, he could not get past the blazing fast COBB Tuning GTR. Lock and COBB Tuning took the checkered flag in the Super Session putting the icing on the cake for a great weekend leaving Wiesenhahn with second place.
As the dust settled and the paddock cleared out, the excitement of the weekend did not wear off for both fans and racers at New Jersey Motorsports Park. With Round 2 in the record books we look forward to the fireworks at the following rounds on some of the country’s hottest tracks.