Nissan Adds to SCCA Runoffs Championships Total
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Nissan Adds to SCCA Runoffs Championships Total
Nissan Adds to SCCA Runoffs Championships Total with John Saurino's Nissan 240SX GT3 Victory; Nissan Wins Record 87th National Championship Title since 1967
27.09.2005 19:23:00
With approximately one out of every 14 entrants at the2005 Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) National Championship RunoffsPresented by Kohler racing a Nissan (Nasdaq:NSANY) or Datsun vehicle,it wasn't so much a question of if Nissan would add to its recordnumber of manufacturer championships again this year. It was more of amatter of which of the 45 Nissan drivers competing in seven classeswould join the prestigious list of previous Nissan winners.
By the end of a long weekend of racing action at the beautifulMid-Ohio Sports Car Course, it was John Saurino of Tulsa, Oklahoma whobrought Nissan its 87th class title since 1967. Saurino drove hisNissan 240SX to a flag-to-flag victory in GT3, setting a new fastestlap record for the class of 1:32.084 on his way to an 8.478-secondmargin of victory.
"Our Nissan 240SX was great from the git-go," said Saurino afterthe race. "We sent the car to Ken Murillo to prepare it, so the creditgoes to Ken and Mickey Shreiner, my crew chief." It was Saurino'ssecond consecutive Runoffs win in GT3, his first in the 240SX.
Nissan's championship total could have risen even higher. JimmyBurke of Cumming, Georgia finished second in the GT Lite class drivinga Nissan Sentra.
There were also three third place finishes: Kevin Dennis ofRochester, New York in a G Production Datsun 510, Jim Goughary ofHouston, Texas in a GT2 Nissan 350Z; and Terry Watson of Pierrefonds,Quebec City, Canada in a GT3 Nissan 350Z.
Goughary who finished second in GT2 last year and first the yearbefore, had trouble with traffic early in the race. "The Nissan 350Zand its strong motor made a great package and we might have won, butanother car slipped ahead of me at the start and I had to waste toomay laps getting past him while he weaved from side to side to blockme. By the time I did, first and second place were long gone," saidGoughary.
"Once again, Nissan Motorsports made a strong showing at theRunoffs and the challenging Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course," said RonStukenberg, senior manager, Nissan Motorsports marketing andoperations. "We had a chance to win in nearly every class we competedin and John Saurino did a great job of keeping our string of titlewinning years alive. I'm equally proud of all of our podium finishers,as well as every one of our drivers who made it to the Runoffs."
Teams qualify for the Runoffs, America's largest sports carweekend, by finishing first in points in 24 competition classes in theeight SCCA geographic divisions. Nissan drivers were entered in sevenof the 24 classes this year, including Production, GT and Touringcategories. A record 11 drivers campaigned Nissan 350Z sports cars inthree separate classes.
As always, Nissan Motorsports was heavily represented at Mid-Ohio,providing technical assistance and parts support for all participatingNissan racers. Nisan also has provided more than $75,000 incontingency and bonus money to successful Nissan drivers in 2005.
The race weekend receives full tape delayed television coverage onthe SPEED network. Each race will have its own one-hour show. This isthe fifth straight year the network will televise all of the races.
NISMO, the premier supplier of high-performance parts andaccessories for Nissan vehicles, supports the teams. NISMO now offersa wide range of parts, accessories and apparel through participatingauthorized Nissan dealers nationwide. For more information on thecomplete line of NISMO parts and accessories, log on towww.NissanUSA.com/NISMO.
27.09.2005 19:23:00
With approximately one out of every 14 entrants at the2005 Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) National Championship RunoffsPresented by Kohler racing a Nissan (Nasdaq:NSANY) or Datsun vehicle,it wasn't so much a question of if Nissan would add to its recordnumber of manufacturer championships again this year. It was more of amatter of which of the 45 Nissan drivers competing in seven classeswould join the prestigious list of previous Nissan winners.
By the end of a long weekend of racing action at the beautifulMid-Ohio Sports Car Course, it was John Saurino of Tulsa, Oklahoma whobrought Nissan its 87th class title since 1967. Saurino drove hisNissan 240SX to a flag-to-flag victory in GT3, setting a new fastestlap record for the class of 1:32.084 on his way to an 8.478-secondmargin of victory.
"Our Nissan 240SX was great from the git-go," said Saurino afterthe race. "We sent the car to Ken Murillo to prepare it, so the creditgoes to Ken and Mickey Shreiner, my crew chief." It was Saurino'ssecond consecutive Runoffs win in GT3, his first in the 240SX.
Nissan's championship total could have risen even higher. JimmyBurke of Cumming, Georgia finished second in the GT Lite class drivinga Nissan Sentra.
There were also three third place finishes: Kevin Dennis ofRochester, New York in a G Production Datsun 510, Jim Goughary ofHouston, Texas in a GT2 Nissan 350Z; and Terry Watson of Pierrefonds,Quebec City, Canada in a GT3 Nissan 350Z.
Goughary who finished second in GT2 last year and first the yearbefore, had trouble with traffic early in the race. "The Nissan 350Zand its strong motor made a great package and we might have won, butanother car slipped ahead of me at the start and I had to waste toomay laps getting past him while he weaved from side to side to blockme. By the time I did, first and second place were long gone," saidGoughary.
"Once again, Nissan Motorsports made a strong showing at theRunoffs and the challenging Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course," said RonStukenberg, senior manager, Nissan Motorsports marketing andoperations. "We had a chance to win in nearly every class we competedin and John Saurino did a great job of keeping our string of titlewinning years alive. I'm equally proud of all of our podium finishers,as well as every one of our drivers who made it to the Runoffs."
Teams qualify for the Runoffs, America's largest sports carweekend, by finishing first in points in 24 competition classes in theeight SCCA geographic divisions. Nissan drivers were entered in sevenof the 24 classes this year, including Production, GT and Touringcategories. A record 11 drivers campaigned Nissan 350Z sports cars inthree separate classes.
As always, Nissan Motorsports was heavily represented at Mid-Ohio,providing technical assistance and parts support for all participatingNissan racers. Nisan also has provided more than $75,000 incontingency and bonus money to successful Nissan drivers in 2005.
The race weekend receives full tape delayed television coverage onthe SPEED network. Each race will have its own one-hour show. This isthe fifth straight year the network will televise all of the races.
NISMO, the premier supplier of high-performance parts andaccessories for Nissan vehicles, supports the teams. NISMO now offersa wide range of parts, accessories and apparel through participatingauthorized Nissan dealers nationwide. For more information on thecomplete line of NISMO parts and accessories, log on towww.NissanUSA.com/NISMO.
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