Corvettes at 51st annual SCCA Runoffs Sept 15-18 at Mid-Ohio
Photos by Ron Sanders and A.J. Bristol; Comments by Ron Sanders, crew chief, spotter and gofer for # 73 Dave Sanders from the Philadelphia Region, a 13 year old 2003 Z0-6 Corvette originally raced by Runoffs champion John Heinricy.
In GT1 # 31 Dave Ruehlow, # 07 Ryan McManus and # 64 Kenneth Davis were 3rd, 4th and 7th in an 8 car race won by the Trans Am/GT1 Mustang of Cliff Ebben, a runoffs regular for over a decade.
In GT2 # 33 Andrew Aquilante qualified 1st, finished 2nd leading 4 Corvettes in a 19 car race that was won by a BMW M3. A newly installed sequential shifter failed (oil leak) in the # 77 of Preston Calvert forcing him into # 32, a 2007 Grand Sport backup car that finished last. # 165, Jorg Nazzario, # 96 Jerry Onks and # 59 Mike McGinley raced with Vipers, Mustangs, Porsches, a Mazda, a Camaro and a Sunbeam Tiger.
In T1 # 52 John Buttermore qualified 4th, finished 2nd and # 33 Andrew Aquilante qualified 2nd were no match for winning Viper of Ross Murray. # 52 is owned by John Stracensky of Ohio but was driven at the 2016 SCCA Runoffs by John Buttermore Jr who had higher hopes. # 73 Dave Sanders, # 32 Jos Aquilante, # 41 Michael Pettiford, owner of Go-4-It Racing School were 8-9-10. # 33 Andrew Aquilante raced a nifty C7 2013 but dropped out on lap 5.
In T2 # 34 Marty Grand (ex Andy Wolverton 2002) was 10th, the highest finishing Corvette in a field of 20 won by Kurt Rezzatano in a Phoenix-prepared Mustang. Shown are # 05 Natha Waldbaum a/k/a “Track Queen” # 52 John R Buttermore and # 97 John M Buttermore. Jos Aquilante, owner of Phoenix Performance in Phoenixville PA shepherded a total of 8 cars including Corvettes and Mustangs that raced in T1, T2 and GT2.
