US GT Championship Set to Invade Motorsport Park

[AF News Desk]

It's another weekend of racing for the drivers and fans of the the US GT Championship Series, this time in Hastings, Nebraska at Motorsport Park.

Here's a preview of the action from our friends at the North American Road Racing Association:

Originally Posted by NARRA - 8/2/11

High end and high performance cars set to invade Hastings, Nebraska
for NARRA's Super Sports Car Weekend


Corvettes have a history of doing well in both the USGTC and Whelen USTTC.
The Leonard brothers took home three trophies at Virginia International Raceway.
(Image and cutline copyright NARRA)

Motorsport Park Hastings will host two of America's newest national GT series this weekend, the Whelen US TimeTrial Championship and US GT Championship, as part of the 2011 NARRA Super Sports Car Weekend at Motorsport Park Hastings, Nebraska, August 5-7.

On track will be some of the nation's fastest competition cars, dueling it out in time-trial and race events for contingencies from Cool Shirt® and Hoosier Tire.

Both championships use very simple power-to-weight based rules to group cars into three classes, including a no-holds-barred Unlimited class, where essentially anything goes.

Because of these open rules, the categories have seen entrants and drivers from a number of other series, such as Grand-Am, SCCA World Challenge, Cayman Interseries, and the Dodge Viper Cup.

Local Ted Hughes will be one to watch in the Whelen US TimeTrial Championship. While he usually competes in the Dodge Viper Cup pro-racing series, this weekend he'll be driving against the clock, behind the wheel of his road-going limited edition 2010 Dodge Viper ACR VooDoo.

With this machinery, he's expected to be competing in the TT-Unlimited class, against Championship points leader Carl Kafarowski, in another Viper ACR.

Another local to keep a stop-watch on will be Sid Harchelroad of Harchelroad Motors, in Imperial and Wauneta- Southwest Nebraska's premier GM Superstores and one of the largest Corvette and Camaro dealerships in the USA. The former Viper Days National Champion and twice SCCA Regional Driver of the Year will be driving a 2010 Chevrolet Corvette.

A fellow Corvette driver who'll also turn heads is Mike Zoner, the managing director of Callaway Cars- famous for their Corvette derived sportscars including the Callaway C12 R GT that qualified on class pole for the 2001 Le Mans 24 Hour. This weekend he'll be driving a 2006 Corvette Z06, quite possibly with some of those sought after Callaway upgrades.

In the TT-1 class, George MacDonald will be hoping to claw back championship points on first and second placed Doug Wind and Tanya Mayzak. However, all eyes will be on Jim Booth, who has won the last four rounds in TT-1 and is quickly moving up the championship points table.

After using his Lamborghini at Virginia International Raceway last month, he's set to field his Dodge Viper this weekend in his quest for a hat-trick of three perfect weekends in a row.

As for the US GT Championship, hard fought wheel-to-wheel racing is expected with a all current championship leaders entered.

GT-Unlimited points leader Kevin Ferguson will have tough competition from Dodge Viper Cup regular Kurt Sollberger.

Along with Ross Murray, the pair brings a total of three Dodge Viper ACR-Xs entered in GT-U class.

And while they're entered in the premier class, it may just be Jim Stout, GT-1 driver and class points leader, who will take the overall race win, having done so numerous times already this season.

Finally, set to continue is the stellar battle between the two men most likely to take the GT-2 class championship, arch-rivals Tom Antonelli and Steve Loudin. While Loudin is up in the points, Antonelli is coming off the back of two strong wins at Virginia International Raceway, and both are looking to prove who's really top-dog.

Still in striking distance for the GT-2 Championship, however, is the only female in the USGTC field, Kathy Stout. She's consistently finished on the podium this year and will be looking to do the same at Hastings.

All the action from both the USGTC and Whelen USTTC will be captured using GoPro cameras by the Internal Production Group, and will be broadcast later this year on GoRacingTV.com, hosted by motorsport television personality Tom Hnatiw.

This weekend's event will also feature a number of off-track activities including a Saturday night banquet, as well as the US Performance Driver Education program. This highly regarded driving school is open to all owners of high performance road cars, from track-day beginners to advanced performance drivers.

Entries for both categories and the driving school are still open, and will be accepted at the meeting.

Event images, commentary and results can be found at facebook.com/NARRAonline.

We should have some results for you all next week! If you're watching the race this weekend, let us know!