HSR Kick off in Style at Daytona
The Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) Daytona Historics saw perfect weather and even better racing Friday (November 11th) at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) where Curt Vogt and Mike Banz scored the first races wins of the weekend in the Bob Woodman Tires International/American Challenge. Starting from the pole in his early-Trans-Am-era 1970 No. 23 Ford Mustang Boss 302 prepared by Cobra Automotive, Vogt led into the first turn and never looked back. He was up front for every lap of the race to win the American class and earn the overall victory in the 23-car field.
Banz also led every lap to take the International division win in his 1974 No. 13 Porsche 911 RSR from Heritage Motorsports but was pressured throughout the race by the similar Porsche of Todd Treffert. Treffert never got close enough to attempt a pass for the lead in his 1974 No. 141 Porsche 911 IROC but finished a close second in the International class. He and Banz also joined Vogt as the top-three overall finishers in the Bob Woodman Tires race.
Fourth overall and third in International went to the 901 Shop 1973 No. 11 Porsche 911 RSR of Stuart Milne. Alec Hammond was fifth overall and second in the American class in his 1966 No. 45 Ford Mustang 2+2 while Bernie Chodosh took third in the class in his similar 1968 No. 99 Ford Mustang.
The Bob Woodman Tires race kicked off a full weekend's schedule that includes a pair of WeatherTech sprints for all Run Groups, two one-hour B.R.M. Chronographes enduros on Sunday and special Historic and Vintage night races on Saturday.
Historic Sportscar Racing's new Global GT and RS Cup racing series are also making their DIS debuts this weekend at the Daytona Historics with Sunday feature races.
More than 30-entries on-hand at DIS are eligible to compete in the Global GT race, which features retired but modern GT sports cars from the last two decades. Race cars from eight different manufacturers representing nearly 20-different models in Global GT are represented on the Daytona Historics entry list.
Leading the way is Global GT championship leader Jonathon Ziegelman in his 2008 No. 911 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup prepared by KMW Motorsports. Similar KMW-prepared Porsche 997 GT3 Cup cars are also entered for Linden Burnstein and Ryan Harrold.
The 2015 HSR Driver of The Year, Juan Lopez-Santini, is also expected to challenge for the Global GT win in just his second HSR race weekend this year in his 901 Shop 2008 No. 810 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup car. Other drivers to watch include Russell Wittenberg who finished fourth two weeks ago in his debut Global GT race at the Savannah Speed Classic in his 2009 No. 33 Porsche Cayman S. Fifth-place in the Savannah race went to Don Ondrejcak in his 2007 No. 65 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup that is expected to contend again this weekend.
New challengers at Daytona include a pair of 2006 Pontiac GTO.Rs for Mark Greenberg and RJ Valentine and a 2004 Maserati MC12 GT1 team that has made the trek to the World Center of Racing this weekend from Belgium.
The HSR Global GT feature race is scheduled to start Sunday at 10:05 a.m.local time.
Banz is leading the RS Cup championship standings but is expected to battle all weekend with today's fellow podium finishers Treffert and Milne.
A solid RS Cup race by Kathy Blaha in her 1974 No. 14 Porsche 911 RSR from Heritage Motorsports could also keep her title hopes alive with just one race remaining this season after the Daytona weekend. The HSR RS Cup feature race is scheduled to start Sunday at 11:05 a.m.
Saturday's schedule at the HSR Daytona Historics final qualifying in the morning and the first WeatherTech Sprint races of the weekend for all Run Groups in the afternoon.
The pair of night races include the Historic/Prototype/Modern GT race cars at 6:30 p.m. and the Vintage and Classic GT machines at 7:30 p.m. Both races are 42 minutes in length.
