Racing Lines | An Exciting Weekend at Road Atlanta

The November Tire Rack BMW CCA Club Racing weekend at Road Atlanta featured close racing at the front of the pack in every class. Forty-five racers contested the event that featured an enduro on Friday, two sprints on Saturday, and a final sprint on Sunday.

Todd Brown and Robert Chang, the two contenders for the C-Modified national championship, battled in the first three races, with Brown coning out on top and going on to win the final sprint on Sunday. Brown brought two cars to Road Atlanta: He ran the enduro in the E46 B46 (a Strom Motorsports-built E46 3 Series powered by a B48D four-cylinder turbocharged engine), sporting a new turbo setup that gave him extra speed, and he ran the three sprint races in his E46 M3, which had a new engine—and set a new C-Mod track record of 1:28.2.

Chang was racing an E46 M3. “Robert Chang had passed me about ten minutes into the enduro,” said Brown, “but I was counting on him making a slow entry into the pits before the 35-mph cones, because it was his first time on this track. He pitted several laps before me, and as I suspected, he did not charge down the hill toward the pit exit. I came out five seconds ahead of him after my pit stop and didn’t look back.”

Chang, noting the pace of Brown’s car, said, “On Saturday, my competitor in class decided to switch to a much faster car, so I knew that I would have to up my game. The first sprint race allowed me to size things up and see where I could improve, where I could lay on the throttle longer and brake later. All I could do for the second sprint race was change to new front brake pads and put on the best tires that I had with me. But the biggest change was mentally: I had to think faster and know how to be faster, thus reacting faster so my car would follow.” Unfortunately, a contact incident took Chang out of the feature sprint.

Brown acknowledged Chang’s pace. “In the feature,” he said, “Chang had certainly found his mojo. We swapped the lead several times before I was able to out-brake him at the end of the back straight. I was fortunate to put some traffic between us before he, unfortunately, had an incident with a couple of out-of-class cars that had him exit the race.”

The racers in the M2 Spec Class ran at the front of the pack for the entire event, finishing just behind the battling C-Mod contenders. In the enduro, Krista Williams (F87 M2 CSR) finished third overall and first in class on her first outing with the car, ahead of Frank McCleneghen in another M2 CSR. Third-in-class finisher Michael Kerner was sixth overall, separated from Williams and McCleneghen by the PWR3-winning E46 M3 of Sean Dwyer, who finished fifth overall and began what would be a class sweep for the weekend. Club-racing veteran Ron Checca, who traveled from the Northeast for the event, was fourth in M2 Spec in another M2 CSR.

Chris Joos, who spent the weekend battling with class competitor Chris Lindner, finished seventh overall and first in I-Prepared in an E36 M3. The top three cars in Spec E46 rounded out the top ten: Rob Eskew (330i), runner-up Sergio Ramirez (330i), and third-in-class finisher Josh Rich (330Ci). Several racers commented on the intense competition in Spec E46, a class that drew 22 cars—almost half the pack—for the weekend.

Other class winners in the enduro were Michael Saul in I-Sport, beginning an event-long battle with class competitor Bill Bass, who finished just behind him; both were in E36 M3s. The win in the highly competitive Spec E36 class went to John Wilkins (325i); K-Prepared went to George Denliker in an E30 325iS, and a solo win went to Steven Grayson in a PWR2 E36 328is. It was the first trip to Road Atlanta for Grayson. “This was my first visit to Road Atlanta,” he said afterward, “and it lived up to its hype. It’s now my favorite track—fast, dangerous, and technical.”

Robert Chang, another first-timer, noted, “Another first for me—and wish I had raced this track years ago. It is the most intimidating race course I’ve experienced, and it separates the men from the boys!”

Brown and Chang finished first and second overall on Saturday morning, with M2 Spec winner McCleneghen third. M2 Spec runner-up Kerner was fourth overall, with Dwyer scoring his second PWR3 win in fifth. Williams rounded out the top three in M2 Spec with a sixth-place finish.

Battling I-Prepared racers Lindner and Joos were seventh and eighth, with just 0.117 seconds between them; Lindner took the lead on the final lap after Joos bobbled momentarily. He recovered, but could not get past Lindner.  PWR3 runner-up Keith Primozic was ninth, and Eric Corwin, third in I-Prepared, was tenth, ahead of Spec E46 winner Josh Rich, who was followed across the line by class competitors Eskew and Omer Khera (330Ci). Bass won I-Sport and Wilkins repeated in Spec E36, while Grayson and Denliker scored solo class wins.

Following his battle with Chang at the front of the pack, Brown cruised to a win with a minute-and-a-half lead over M2 Spec winner (and second-overall finisher) McCleneghen. Kerner was third overall and second in M2 Spec; Dwyer was next across the line with his third PWR3 win, and I-Prepared winner Lindner was fifth, with Williams—third in M2 Spec—separating him from I-P runner-up Joos. The top three Spec E46 finishers—Rich, Eskew, and Ramirez—followed Williams. Wilkins once again won Spec E36 after Tom Tice (328i), who led early, fell back with overheating problems. Saul won I-Sport after Bass was hit and sent off-course; he recovered to finish second in class. Grayson and Denliker again took solo wins in their respective classes.

Brown completed his sweep on Sunday, finishing ahead of M2 Spec runners McCleneghen, Williams, and Kerner. Dwyer completed his sweep of PWR3, Wilkins completed his sweep of Spec E36, Lindner won I-Prepared, and Simon Foweather (330Ci) became the third Spec E46 winner of the event. Grayson (PWR2) and Denliker (K-Prepared) completed their class sweeps.

Racers were treated to a Friday-evening event hosted by Steel Hands brewery, followed by a Saturday-evening  event hosted by Rooster Hall Racing. Rooster Hall’s Todd Brown noted. “The air on both nights was filled with tire smoke from the drifting show across the street at Lanier Speedway—a true car-lover’s weekend!”

The Peachtree Chapter, with special recognition given to Matt Joos, Chris Joos, and David Harrison, was given the Spirit of Club Racing award for the chapter’s efforts in hosting club races; they ran three in 2025. BMW CCA president Jeff Caldwell served as competition steward; Mirril McMullen, April Massagee, Hunter Dyer, and Warren Brown served as tech stewards; and Larry Fletcher served as the timing-and-scoring steward. Barrie McMullen served in multiple roles.—Brian Morgan, Roundel motorsports editor

Top Photo: David Williams