The first event in the 2023 PHA Championship series was the 2023 Spring Jefferson Time Attack. It was held over Memorial Day weekend – May 27 & 28, 2023 — on the Jefferson Circuit at Summit Point Motorsports Park in Summit Point, WV.
(Photo Credit Trevor Filipowicz)
Note: All photos in this post were taken by me unless otherwise noted.
The weather was close to perfect both days – mid 70’s and dry – and the cars seem to agree, as there were 12 course records set over the weekend. The event turnout was on the low side, but there were a number of new faces, and that was great to see. And as usual, one of the highlights of my weekend was catching up with everyone, new friends and old!
Thanks to Kris Reid and Gibby Bozicevich for their tireless effort to form pods of drivers in staging. The event would not have run as smoothly or efficiently without them. They did all that and still both co-drove their 1999 Chevrolet Camaro in SMR.
Without the event officials, corner workers, and everyone else who helped out, the event could not have happened. Thank you also to the drivers who stepped up to work a corner.
And now, onto the main event. Complete results can be found on the Schedule/Results page, but here are some highlights.
Bill Feist took FTD in his Stohr F100 with a 73.738.
(Photo Credit Don McLauglin)
But wait, in second place was Bill Feist again! He paid 2 entry fees and had originally intended to run 2 cars, but his other car broke at an event the weekend before. So he ran his Stohr F100 in both Formula Atlantic (FA) and Formula S (FS) , and ended up also taking the second spot overall with a 73.993. I guess that’s one way to make sure you beat the 2nd place driver – well played Bill, well played! Incidentally, Bill set the class record in both FS and FA.
Dave Cutchins was third overall in his FS Stohr F1000 with a 74.224. Dave also beat the previous FS class record, but Bill ultimately prevailed.
(Photo Credit Don McLaughlin)
In addition to Bill Fiest’s 2 records, there were 10 other class records set.
In ITB, Max Valerio set a record in his 1997 VW Golf with an 86.421. In SSM, Mike Robinson set the record in his 1994 Chevrolet Corvette with a 78.531. In GT3, Jason Fraley set a record in a 1976 Ford Pinto with a 86.127.
In CF, Michael Company took Greg Hagan’s record from 2022 with his 1973 Ford Merlyn with a 79.50. In S2, Ron Moreck set a record in his Norton with a 74.307.
Our track events are unique in that we also invite the SCCA TT National classes to compete, and this year we had 8 National TT class entries over 5 classes. The TT National S3, S5, S6 and M3 classes had entries for the first time this event, and a record was set in each TT National class entered.
Rick Terrill took the record in TT-S3 when he ran an 88.429 in his 2017 Ford Mustang Ecoboost. Rick also worked the entire event, driving the course truck.
(Photo Credit Don McLaughlin)
In TT-S5, Jonathan Crane ran an 85.574 in his 2019 Toyota 86. In TT-S6, Donald McLaughlin ran a 105.541 in Dave and Sue’s 2013 Ford Fiesta.
In TT-M1, James Elliot and David Ascheman both beat the previous record set in 2022. David Ascheman had an 83.766 in his 2001 Chevrolet Corvette, but it wasn’t enough to hold the record. James Elliot ran a 75.8918 in his 2002 Chevrolet Corvette Z06.
And last but not least, in TT-M3, Trent Daggett set the records in his 1995 Honda Civic with an 87.769.
While it was quite comfortable during the day, it did get pretty cold at night. Sue and Dave brought their new fire ring, and the fire was definitely appreciated by many of us!
(Photo Credit – last 2 photos Jen DeHart)
I walked around the pit area on Saturday and took a bunch of pictures, some of which are scattered throughout the post. I put the full set in the gallery below.
Don McLaughlin also took pictures, and you can see them in his Flickr Gallery.
So yeah, we should probably address the elephant in the room. I had an incident on Sunday, and will need to sit the rest of the season out. If my recovery goes as expected, I plan to attend some of the events this fall to work or even just to hang out if I’m not quite cleared for working yet.
I have an important message for everyone. Even though PHA is not requiring it until next year, wear a head/neck restraint. I had planned to start wearing one this year, and I wish I had not procrastinated. Even if you have a slow car and/or don’t push it that hard, you never know when you might have a mechanical failure.
