Feller Pulls National Championship Hat Trick In H Production

TOPEKA, Kan. (Oct. 13, 2006) – Tom Feller of Clarkston, Mich., captured his third consecutive H Production title at the 2006 SCCA National Championship Runoffs Presented By Kansas, As Big As You Think. Craig Chima, of Akron, Ohio, and Don Barrack, of Waterloo, S.C., completed the podium.

From the drop of the green flag, it looked like the show belonged to the polesitter Chima, and his No. 8 Midwest Motorsports /Goodyear MG Midget. But, jaws dropped on lap four when Chima spun on his own in Turn Six. Feller didn’t even flinch, as he pwered his No. 71 W.Michigan Import/Goodyear Triumph Spitfire into the lead.

Chima wasn’t finished however; setting laptimes nearly a second faster than Feller, Chima chipped away at the gap his spin had cost him and caught Feller on lap seven. Chima regained the lead briefly, until he spun for a second time in Turn 14 and Feller again retook the lead. Feller left Chima behind, despite Chima’s best efforts to make a comeback, which was marred by a third spin on lap 15.

“Back-to-back-to-back is something that you do not expect,” Feller said. “You expect to have some bad luck, but I have had good luck all three times. Everything just went right which is unusual in racing. Last year everything went right and this year everything went right. We worked on the car all week and it kept getting better.”

No. 28 Don Barrack redeemed himself from an early spin in his Podium Performance Volkswagen to finish third, after battling in the closing laps with fourth-place finisher Christopher Crisenbery, of Parma, Mich, in the No. 05 RedLine Oil/Goodyear Triumph Spitfire. No. 34 John Salisbury, of Gurnee, Ill., brought home his Austin Healey Sprite in fifth. Dayle Frame, of Dewitt, Mich., won the Sunoco Hard Charger award by advancing eight positions in his No. 08 Wounded Turtle Racing/ Dr. Margie Austin Healy Sprite.

Now in its 43rd year, the SCCA National Championship Runoffs Presented by Kansas, As Big As You Think annually crowns the best amateur road racers in North America as Champions. More than 750 competitors have gathered this year to battle for 25 class titles, with nine races on Friday and eight Saturday and Sunday. This marks the first year that the Runoffs is held at Heartland Park Topeka.

Celebrating its 62nd anniversary, Sports Car Club of America is a 55,000 member organization that sanctions and promotes grassroots and professional motorsports events in a variety of disciplines, including road racing, Solo, road rally and rallycross.