TOPEKA, Kan. (June 1, 2007) – SCCA’s Club Racing program has been in full swing for months, but June marks a pivotal point of the season, where many divisions have reached crunch time for points and the action on the track begins to heat up before summer even begins.

Three weekends, covering each coast as well as the central states, grab the attention of National and Regional competitors this weekend, with more than 750 drivers preparing for action at Road Atlanta, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Portland International Raceway.

At scenic Road Atlanta, more than 250 drivers are entered in the National and Restricted Regional featuring the South Atlantic Road Racing Championship (SARRC).

Defending GT-1 National Champion Philip Simms hopes to return to his winning ways in his Jaguar XKR. Simms won twice early this season in Southeast Division races, but had second and third-place finishes in the most recent two rounds.

John Robinson II also hopes to turn his luck around in Atlanta. The 2005 Formula Ford National Champion and current SEDiv FF point leader won the first race at Road Atlanta this year, but comes off a rare DNF at Daytona last month.

Two drivers spending much of their season traveling the country to different divisions, are Midwest Division’s Keith and David Grant in Formula Atlantic. The brothers who qualified first and fourth, respectively, at the 2006 Runoffs have finished first and second in all five of the races they’ve entered thus far in 2007—three of them outside of their regular divisional schedule.

On the opposite side of the country, the famed Rose Cup Festival races are being hosted by Oregon Region at Portland International Raceway. One of the biggest events on the West Coast, the Regional and National competitions boast a combined 375 entries.

Two-time and defending GT-3 National Champion Collin Jackson goes for his second-straight National win at Portland after taking the opening round last month in his Nissan. He’ll face stiff competition though, with teammate Dave Humphrey, former Spec Racer Ford National Champion John Black and 2005 C Sports Racing Arnie Loyning on the entry list.

Traditional fixtures at the Rose Cup the last several years are Scotty B. White and Cindi Lux. Last year, White was on the pole at the Runoffs and led until a flat tire forced him to the pits. Lux took over the point and looked to be on her way to becoming just the third female Runoffs Champion, but a late brake problem dashed her hopes as well. The two return to the Rose Cup in a pair of Dodge Vipers, but this year, they will be NayKid Racing’s Dodge Viper Competition Coupes normally run in SCCA SPEED World Challenge GT competition. White and Lux will enter the new B Prepared class.

Two names from the past that garner attention on the Rose Cup entry are Greg Pickett and Duane Davis. The 1978 Trans-Am Champion, Pickett is entered in GT-1 this weekend driving the same Jaguar XKR that he most recently ran in the 2006 Trans-Am Series. Davis sits second on the all-time National Championships list, with 13. However, after his final win in 2005, he was non-committal as to his future. Rumors swirled that he would appear at the 2006 Runoffs, but they were for naught. The longtime Toyota Celica pilot returns to GT-2 this weekend, but in a Mazda RX-7.

Davis, Jackson, Loyning, Black and Robinson all stamped their names in SCCA’s history at the third track in the spotlight this weekend—Mid Ohio, which hosts the Ohio Valley Region Race of Champions National.

The Lexington, Ohio track once again will be the site of several, high profile events for what is now the Great Lakes Division, but the June 2-3 event will be the only National on the 2007 calendar, making it a destination for many.

For more information about all of the events, check out the individual Region Web sites at:
Atlanta Region: http://www.atl-scca.org/
Ohio Valley Region: http://www.ovr-scca.org/
Oregon Region: http://www.oregonscca.com/

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