Brothers Al and Paul Keiser, and standout Kevin Eves joined Riha, Cates and Tony Buffomante in the fastest company.
Pete LaRose showed strong gains in speed over last season and newcomer Tony Johnston jumped in with both feet, mixing it up early with midpack drivers. Lars Lattstrom and Harry Elam drove well, but Harry lost his ride when his son Dan Elam’s newly built car (completed the week before) lost an engine and Dan asked dad if he could take his ride for the Saturday race.
At one point it was just amazing to watch as the fast group of Challenge cars (keep in mind 225 hp!) were slugging it out with stock cars over the long circuit. The speed of the challenge cars is really amazing given their cost and reliability.
Brian Sanders (Ohio-Indiana Regional Director) set personal records at Road Atlanta and Ed Boothman picked up the pace early and showed he had improved over the lay-off.
The race on Saturday was challenging as the field was strung out at the start and no-one really got a chance to catch Buffomante on his way to setting new track records.
The East Coast drivers got a chance to try out the brand new for this year V710 Kumho tires and everyone felt the new rubber was seconds faster than the old Victoracers used last season.
Tony might not have been caught until his third gear failed and he was forced to run in 2nd and 4th for the last part of the race. This allowed Brian Cates and Kevin Eves to close quickly. Cates would pass Tony with a few laps remaining. Without 3rd gear, Tony was still able to adjust his driving and finish just behind Cates for second place, Eves rounded out the top three.
Saturday ended without too much drama. Second year driver Philicia Gray (That’s her in the number 69 car) spun and hit the wall on Saturday. Inspection of damage at the track suggested that the damage was mostly fiberglass repairs with only some minor support pieces. The damaged parts are covered under Factory Five's $25,000 replacement parts contingency program for drivers at series points races.
Road Atlanta ECS Series Round 1 Race Results (Saturday)
|
Pos
|
#
|
Class
|
Driver
|
|
Chassis
|
|
Best Lap Time
|
Laps
|
|
1
|
27
|
FFR
|
B. Cates
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:41.904
|
11
|
|
2
|
34
|
FFR
|
T. Buffomante
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:42.500
|
11
|
|
3
|
30
|
FFR
|
K. Eves
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:43.189
|
11
|
|
4
|
1
|
FFR
|
B. Dobyns
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:44.533
|
11
|
|
5
|
04
|
FFR
|
A. Kaiser
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:44.198
|
11
|
|
6
|
066
|
FFR
|
D. Elam
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:43.535
|
11
|
|
7
|
50
|
FFR
|
T. Johnston
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:46.878
|
11
|
|
8
|
49
|
FFR
|
B. Sanders
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:48.513
|
11
|
|
9
|
17
|
FFR
|
L. Lattsrom
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:49.079
|
11
|
|
10
|
60
|
FFR
|
E. Boothman
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:51.343
|
10
|
|
11
|
39
|
FFR
|
P. LaRose
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:55.699
|
10
|
|
12
|
22
|
FFR
|
E. Jacobs
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
02:00.399
|
9
|
|
DNF
|
128
|
FFR
|
P. Kaiser
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:48.139
|
3
|
|
DNF
|
51
|
FFR
|
D. Riha
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:46.961
|
2
|
|
DNS
|
66
|
FFR
|
H. Elam
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
|
0
|
Margin of Victory 1.2 sec
Sunday looked like it might rain, but the weather held off for the most part. After the Sunday practice there was a tech inspection to keep drivers and cars close to the rules. The issue of Brake Ducting was discussed, but no ruling was made and the racers headed back to the track. Three Challenge Series drivers were admonished for not wearing Nomex socks. FFR engineer Eric Jacobs was found to be one pound underweight (a two-burrito minimum penalty) and several other cars were near the minimum weight, but not under.
Once again Buffomante qualified on the pole. Amazingly, almost the entire field of FFR Challenge cars were within a few seconds, but Tony was a solid 2 seconds ahead of the next fastest guy!
By race day Sunday, FFR’s Dave Riha had gotten his car dialed in and would end the day third. Cates would shadow Buffomante the whole time, but never get close enough to attempt a pass. No one was to deny Tony his first win of the season. The next six drivers all crossed the line within sight of each other! Close racing has become the hallmark of the series and this year's inaugural ECS race was true to form!
After some fantastic and close racing with solid lead changes, the final podium finishers would be Buffomante to win, Cates in second, and FFR‘s Dave Riha in third.
Road Atlanta ECS Series Round 2 Race Results (Sunday)
|
Pos
|
#
|
Class
|
Driver
|
|
Chassis
|
|
Best Lap Time
|
Laps
|
|
1
|
34
|
FFR
|
T. Buffomante
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:39.740
|
10
|
|
2
|
27
|
FFR
|
B. Cates
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:40.285
|
10
|
|
3
|
51
|
FFR
|
D. Riha
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:40.755
|
10
|
|
4
|
066
|
FFR
|
D. Elam
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:40.812
|
10
|
|
5
|
30
|
FFR
|
K. Eves
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:40.928
|
10
|
|
6
|
1
|
FFR
|
B. Dobyns
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:42.096
|
10
|
|
7
|
128
|
FFR
|
P. Kaiser
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:41.472
|
10
|
|
8
|
49
|
FFR
|
B. Sanders
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:42.739
|
10
|
|
9
|
04
|
FFR
|
A. Kaiser
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:42.785
|
10
|
|
10
|
17
|
FFR
|
L. Lattsrom
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:47.746
|
9
|
|
11
|
60
|
FFR
|
E. Boothman
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:50.917
|
9
|
|
12
|
39
|
FFR
|
P. LaRose
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:55.576
|
9
|
|
13
|
22
|
FFR
|
E. Jacobs
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:54.553
|
9
|
|
DNF
|
50
|
FFR
|
T. Johnston
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
01:45.707
|
3
|
|
DNF
|
50
|
FFR
|
(new)
|
|
Challenge Cobra
|
|
|
0
|
Margin of Victory 4.1 sec
The first ECS race weekend now means that Buffomante and Cates are tied for the ECS lead. As the ECS heads to Carolina Motorsports Park, there is little doubt the rest of the FFR drivers will have Tony Buffomante and Brian Cates in their gun sights. If the fireworks at Road Atlanta are any indication, the 2006 season promises to be the best FFR Challenge Series season yet.
Story by Eric Jacobs and Dave Riha.
