Tropic Zone Racing SCCA SARRC Champions...
SCCA Southeast Division South Atlantic Road Racing Championship – SARRC
The SCCA Southeast Division includes drivers from the states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, S. Carolina, N. Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia.
The SARRC series is the most successful regional race series in all of SCCA. Each year, the series has 25 races and over 4000 total entries. SARRC stands for the South Atlantic Road Racing Championship.
The final SARRC race of the race season is at Roebling Road in October and is called the SIC or SARRC Invitational Challenge. As the name implies, this is an invitation only race. In order to be invited, a driver must enter three regular season SARRC races.
Drivers may count their points for their best six regular season races toward the SARRC Championship. In addition, the points earned at the SIC count double and are added to the best six regular season races.
2005 - SCCA GT-1 SARRC Champion
The Jim Stark Memorial double SARRC in April is a favorite event for our team. Each of us knew Jim Stark personally.
We thought our best qualifying time of 1:13.143 would give us a shot at the Pole. I was surprised to find that not only did we have the Pole, but the next best time, by Dan Shaver in his SPO Corvette, was 1:15.785...better than a 2 second difference!
There were 29 cars in the group and 8 GT-1 cars. There were several heated races within the race. From Start to Finish there was action all around the track. The battle for the lead between Dave and Dan was fierce. It was a photo finish with Dan winning in the SPO Vette by .212 of a second! We still got points for First in GT-1.
Sunday's race was more relaxed. Dan had headed home due to other commitments. We were on Pole. Dave was not really challenged for the lead. Another 1st first for Jim Stark.
The Daytona Double SARRC races in August were hot! We were 3rd in the championship points after our two GT-1 class wins at Roebling in July. If Dave could get another win or a 2nd place finish, we would be in good shape for the SIC.
There were 49 cars on track for qualifying. Given the difference in the cars and closing speeds, we were happy with our 1:59.318 time for a 3rd place grid position. Dan Shaver was 1st on the grid in his lightning fast SPO Corvette and Guy Ratliff was 2nd, in a Camaro.
Ratcliff went out on lap 5. Bill Riddell in his vintage Buick Sommerset got ahead of Dave when someone spun on track. Shaver broke something around lap 8 and was out. Dave worked his way back up to 2nd overall, but ran out of time and couldn't catch Riddell who took 1st.
The only way we could better our points would be to take first place in class. Considering the risk to the equipment, we decided not to run on Sunday.
Coming into the October SIC at Roebling Road, we were in 1st Place by 9 points. We only needed to finish in 2nd Place to clinch the championship, but we intended to run hard for the win.
Dave was on the pole, but Jeff Emery, in his Monte Carlo, was stronger on the straight. Emery was third in points and real competition for the championship.
Each lap Emery was in front with Dave glued to his bumper. On lap 14, lap traffic slowed Emery enough for Dave to get past coming out of Turn 2. Dave took the checkered flag, winning by 7.679 seconds!
Dave was the SIC winner and 2005 GT-1 SARRC champion!
1998 - SCCA GT-1 SARRC Champion
Our first outing with the now #96 Tropic Zone Racing Oldsmobile Cutlass took us to Moroso Motorsports Park for the Sport Car Club of America (SCCA) March Madness Double SARRC (Southeast Atlantic Road Race Championship) race in March of 1998. This event was hosted by the Florida Region of SCCA. Dave finished a very respectable 2nd on Saturday and 3rd on Sunday. Smiles were all around!
In April we took the car to Roebling Road Raceway for the Buccaneer Region's 1st annual Jim Stark Memorial SARRC event. Jim, who had passed away a few months earlier, had been a good friend and it was especially meaningful to win the race in his honor.
The next month we returned to Roebling for the North Carolina Double SARRC. Dave had a close race against Tom Coleman in his Trans-Am Camaro and came out victorious both days.
South Carolina Region hosted the Low Country Boil SARRC race in August at Roebling Road. The Saturday evening Low Country Boil is a well known feast of boiled shrimp and great side dishes washed down with beer or your favorite beverage. Dave was running a close 2nd place to John Henderson in his IROC Camaro, when he was spun in Turn One on the last lap as the Mazda of Edward Stackpole, who he was lapping, turned in on him unexpectedly. After recovering from the spin Dave went on to finish 5th...a little hot under the collar.
The Tropic Zone Racing Oldsmobile was leading the points chase by 11 points going into the SARRC Invitational Challenge, which is a triple points race for competitors who had run at least 3 SARRC races during the season. We had figured out who we had to beat. Dave did not have to win, just place better than 5th and hope that Ray Montalvo didn't finish 1st.
Dave was first in class for the first 3 laps of the 15 lap race and then John Henderson got around him. Dave chased closely behind, but since he didn't need to finish ahead of Henderson to win the championship, he settled for 2nd place.
In January of 1999, we attended the Southeast Division Awards Banquet at Jeykll Island, Georgia to receive our GT-1 SARRC Championship award.
The Buccaneer Region members also voted Dave "The Regional Driver of the Year" award. It was a very rewarding first season with the Oldsmobile.
