Racing Lines | Roebling Road BMW CCA Club Racing Finale Saw Broken Track Records, Close Racing

Thirty-five competitors converged on Roebling Road Raceway near Savannah in December for the Tire Rack BMW CCA Club Racing series’ annual finale, hosted by the Tarheel Chapter. Racers ran three sprints and an enduro over the course of three days—a weekend of close racing, with the C-Modified track record broken twice.

In the first sprint on Friday, Jason Phillips took the overall win in an EXB-class Porsche Cayman—a rare overall win for a non-BMW in BMW CCA Club Racing competition. Early in the race, Phillips battled with Frank McCleneghen, who left his M2 CSR in the paddock in favor of his Z4 GTR, a car he has used in track events for years; at Roebling Road, he ran it in C-Mod, setting a track record for the class in qualifying (1:11.078). However, McCleneghen dropped out of the race after losing a wheel, leaving the C-Modified win to Liam Harrow, who finished second overall in an E36 328i. C-Mod runner-up Scott Glenney (E46 M3) was third. Mike Akard took a solo win with his PWR4 F82 M4 GT4, finishing sixth overall, and Kirk Olsen, also a solo class winner, finished seventh in Charles Harding’s B-Modified E92 M3 GTR. Next across the line was M2 Spec winner Krista Williams (F87 M2 CSR), who finished just ahead of class competitor Michael Kerner in another M2 CSR.

Cristopher Lindner won I-Prepared in an E36 M3. Keith Primozic (E36 M3) won PWR3, finishing just ahead of class competitor Cameron Nipper, who drove an F22 M235i-R. Primozic said later that he’d battled with Nipper throughout the event.

Turner Hilliard took the first of what would be three wins in the weekend’s sprint races in his Spec E46 330Ci, each time battling with pole-sitter John Park in another 330Ci. Park said later, “Turner Hilliard and I had some great battles throughout the weekend, trading positions for the lead. However, he kept finding ways to get around me and finish in front!” Park went on to win the class in the enduro. Bert Howerton won the seven-car Spec E36 class in his E36 325is.

Todd Brown, who did not race on Friday, drove his C-Mod E46 M3 (shown in the lead photo) for the Saturday and Sunday sprints. He was on a mission: “Before Roebling,” he said, “I thought I had no chance to win the C-Mod National Championship, since Robert Chang was fourteen points ahead of me.  I would need at least five other C-Mods to compete against me, win both 150 percent point races, and have the other C-Modified cars complete over 50 percent of those races.” Chang did not run at Roebling, but there were enough C-Mod cars in the pack for Brown to take the title if he won the races. He gave notice in qualifying by breaking the C-Mod track record that McCleneghen had set on Friday, running a blistering 1:10.374.

Blistering was an apt term for tires as well; Roebling Road is known as a tire-eater, and it retained its reputation in December. Racer Charles Harding said, “I don’t really know what the heck is going on with that track surface. When I won there after the repave, I thought that my 1:12.2 time would stand for a good while, with track curing in, degradation, etc. In fact, one year after the repave, all the times across the board went down by a second! But for Todd and Frank to throw down a 1:10 and a 1:11 was really strong—seems the track has picked up grip, as if the asphalt aggregate has become rougher, at least for a couple of heat cycles on stickers. Then they drop off super quick, and front-left-tire cording was the flavor of the day.”

Nevertheless, Brown dominated the Saturday-morning sprint, finishing over six seconds ahead of C-Mod runner-up Sri Haputantri (E30 M3). Harrow, Friday’s C-Mod winner, rounded out the podium. Phillips was next to cross the line, scoring another solo EXB win in his Cayman. Akard took another solo win in PWR4, finishing ahead of McCleneghen, who was back in his M2 Spec M2 CSR to take a class win ahead of Kerner and Williams. Jeff Bennett won I-Prepared his E36 M3, Primozic scored a repeat win in PWR3, Olsen took another solo win in B-Mod, and Hilliard won Spec E46 ahead of Park. Jack Wilkins won Spec E36 in his 325i, and Jeff Traenker, who had not run on Friday, took a solo win in I-Sport, driving an E36 M3. The enduro was run on Saturday afternoon, with several racers electing not to compete. The win went to Sri Haputantri in his C-Mod E30 M3. McCleneghen finished second overall and first in M2 Spec, while Harding and Olsen finished third overall for a solo B-Mod class win in Harding’s E92 M3 GTR. Phillips finished fourth, taking another solo win in EXB. Lindner took the I-Prepared victory ahead of Bennett, while Park had his turn at the front of the Spec E46 pack and Wilkins repeated in Spec E36.

The Sunday sprint was the feature race, and five cars remained in C-Mod; Brown had to win ahead of all of them to take the title—and he did just that, winning overall and leading a five-car C-Mod train ahead of Harding (E46 M3), Haputantri, Glenney, and Harrow. His points put him exactly half a point over Chang for the season championship. (Note that championship standings are subject to review, and were not yet official at deadline time.)

Akard, who said that tire degradation had slowed him on Sunday, took another solo win in PWR4, finishing just behind the pack of C-Mod cars. Planning to retire his M4 GT4 next season, Akard plans to return to D-Modified competition in the venerable E30 that has taken him to wins in a number of classes over the years. Kerner won M2 Spec, Lindner took his third victory of the weekend in I-Prepared, Hilliard won Spec E46, Primozic won PWR3, Howerton won Spec E36, and Traenker scored his second I-Sport solo win.

Mike Hinkley, the long-time Tarheel Chapter race chair, is stepping down from his role. He was given the Spirit of Club Racing award for his many years of service to the chapter and the BMW CCA Club Racing program, Ross Karlin served as competition steward, Mark Connoly and Steve Whitcomb served as tech stewards, and Larry Fletcher served as the timing-and-scoring steward.—Brian Morgan. Roundel motorsports editor

Lead photo by David Williams