Virginia
International Raceway
September 3rd &
4th, 2005
See the
Videos
Courtesy
of: Finish Line Productions
See the Pictures:
Courtesy
of: Finish Line Productions
Racing has
been described as a “bipolar sport” with obsessive highs and manic
lows. If that is true, then the 2005 Factory Five Nationals at
Virginia International Raceway (VIR) had enough angst to keep
several psychologists busy. Nearly every one of the racers had
something that brought cause for worry. In such a competitive field,
timing and teamwork was critical – and that was clear this year.
The marque leaders were East Champion Tony Buffomante and West
Champion Spencer Sharp (Levy Racing/Grassroots Motorsports). As
expected, both were fast in practice along with Factory Five COO
Dave Riha (Factory Five Racing). A deep and talented field of racers
from across the country meant that lap times were steadily improving
with nearly a third of the field running practice times ranging from
the 2:11s to 2:13s for VIR’s full course. The mild Virginia weather
gave everyone hope for strong lap times. Bryan Dobyns (BDM Racing),
the 2003 Nationals champion, brought a brand new car they had
finished only days before and was still running in the top 5 even as
they sorted the car.
Saturday features an exhibition race to coincide with the Factory
Five car show and other festivities. Instead of inverting the field
based on lap times, the field was sorted by reverse alphabetical in
order to mix up the field a little. As it turns out, Riha and Sharp
would start near the front, but 6 of the 8 fastest drivers would all
be in the back including Buffomante, Dobyns, former West champion
Donny Edwards (Evans Racing/Diamond Services), two-time Mid-Atlantic
champion Dan Elam (eVisory.com), and the East runner-up Brian Cates
(Cates Engineering).
Buffomante’s luck was instrumental in his 2005 East Championship as
any problems all occurred during late qualifying or practice. True
to form, he had to replace his transmission in practice, but still
managed to make the race. All year long his team has shown good
poise in the face of adversity and they fixed the problems courtesy
of a few parts from Marcus Motorsports who helped numerous teams
over the weekend.
Saturday’s exhibition race would also feature some new cars. Factory
Five’s own Eric Jacobs brought his new car and new license to join
fellow rookie Paul Kaiser and John George as some of the fastest
newcomers. Peter LaRose took delivery of his new car from Marcus
Motorsports during the weekend and was rewarded with a second place
finish in the Factory Five car show. The rookies joined racers from
around the country including Mike Easton, Brian Sanders (Rat Racing
Graphics), Ed Gaven, James Bondurant (Evans Racing), Dan Lawson
(Superior Sprinklers), David Lang, Langley Kersenboom (LK
Motorsports), Jim Schenck (Factory Five), Ryan Spencer-Smith (CobraSales.com/TGB),
Gary Cheney (Cheney Construction), and Kevin Eves.
Kersenboom leads familiar foes Edwards and Lang ahead of Kaiser and
Sanders
.
With spectators lining the fences, Sharp and Riha immediately took
off, but the nose-to-trail train of the fast guys in the back made
quick work of the middle of the pack to give chase. Buffomante,
Elam, Dobyns, and Edwards were closing in until slower traffic let
Buffomante get free. Sharp and Cates both had to pull off with
mechanical problems which left Riha as the fast car on the track
with Buffomante using consistency to close the gap. Back in the
pack, Bob Lawson (Superior Sprinklers) and Tony Burkett also had
mechanical problems as the field stretched out and cars fought for
position at every turn. When the dust settled, it was Buffomante
just ahead of Riha.
Ed Gavens with the train *very close* behind!
.
As the series has grown NASA has looked for ways to improve
compliance and keep everyone on a level playing field with the spec
configurations. Until now, the inspections have been mostly cursory
but that would change at VIR. Following the exhibition race, the six
fastest cars were brought in for a detailed tech inspection of the
engine internals and other compliance issues. That meant that four
of the cars were disqualified for very minor infractions and Dobyns
was awarded the exhibition race win. Even with the DQs, the
inspections showed that the top racers are complying with the intent
of the low cost, stock configuration philosophy.
Saturday night was busy with teams getting cars into compliance and
fixing problems. Sunday’s qualifying session was short, but that
didn’t stop Buffomante and Spencer from demonstrating they were the
class of the field. Dobyns and Edwards were just slightly behind
with Bob Lawson picking up the pace as well. Kaiser was the top
rookie qualifier with the sixth spot. Cates didn’t fare as well;
despite being one of the favorites, his engine blew up and seemed to
end his chances until Dave Riha offered his car to Cates. That
allowed Cates to start the race, but he would have to start from the
back of the field.
Edwards was anything but laid back on the track
.
Buffomante has shown strength with his consistency, teamwork, and
timing in his 2005 East title, but he has also demonstrated how to
use the pole position to his advantage each time he has had it. With
the Nationals title on the line, he brought the field down quickly
and immediately was in front of Sharpe by the time they rolled
through start-finish. Elam also had a strong start and split cars up
the middle to join the front runners. Elam quickly had mechanical
problems and fell back before falling out with Kaiser (oil leak) and
Burkett (overheating).
A slight gap opened up over Sharpe as Buffomante settled into his
pace with Dobyns and Edwards further behind. Lawson also continued
to drive very well with no one to challenge him for position until
Cates began to close the gap. Cates might have gotten by him except
for Buffomante’s nightmare of a full course yellow late in the race
due to a wreck from LaRose’s brand new spec racer. Spectators and
drivers all anxiously awaited the decision of the course officials
as to whether the track would go green for a lap or two to decide
the winner. No one was more nervous that Buffomante who now had all
of the remaining fast challengers sitting on his bumper. In the end
it was a finish under yellow for the new Factory Five Nationals
Champion. This time the post-race tech inspection found no problems
and it was Sharpe and Dobyns joining the podium as the NASA
Mid-Atlantic region won for the third year in a row.
Buffomante has only Sharp to challenge him
.
Despite hard racing only inches from each other all weekend, there
were almost no accidents. Only LaRose and the Evans Racing car
driving by James Bondurant hit a wall and neither was caused by car
contact. Both cars will be relatively easy repairs as the racers
return back to their regions to finish up the year.
Cates takes the inside line from Don Smith and Paul Kaiser
.
VIR showed that the Factory Five Challenge Series is growing well
and that the racing is competitive, safe, and cost-effective all
across the country. Buffomante has announced his intention to run
Grand-Am in 2006 so that leaves plenty speculation as to who will
win next year. After all, there is no shortage of contenders!
[ September 05, 2005, 10:06 PM: Message edited by: Dan Elam ]
