Runoffs Rookie Saurino Walks Away With SCCA F Production Crown

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 Despite making his first SCCA National Championship Runoffs appearance, 21-year-old Nigel Saurino, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, climbed to a 8.243-second win on Friday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to take the F Production title. Joe Huffaker, of Petaluma, Calif., and Eric Prill, of Topeka, Kan., joined Saurino on the podium.
 
Saurino moved his No. 57 The Race Shop/Kelley Engines/Hoosier MG Midget pushed Tire Rack polesitter Brian Linn’s No. 14 Hoosier/Red Line Oil/Carbotech/Hussey Lotus Super Seven clear of the outside row at the start, then moved around him just a couple of corners later to lead the opening lap.
 
Once in front, Saurino was virtually untouchable. Linn spun on lap two through Turn Six, trying to keep up, and Saurino was gone. He covered the 20-lap, caution-free race in a 78.692 mph average speed.
 
The only question was whether Saurino’s Midget would hold up to the finish after going off course in the GT-Lite race earlier in the day, driving the same car. Despite light smoke coming from the back, there were no troubles to the finish for his first National Championship.
 
“Honestly, I wish I could take credit for it,” Saurino said. “The car was hooked up. We made a couple of adjustments, and have had twice the track time as most of the competitors here. The motor was strong, AVP Engines stole the show, from my point of view. We were flying. We got on the radio after Linn had his off and we worked out a strategy and executed it to perfection.
 
“I buried it in the tire wall on Tuesday and we rebuilt the car in one night and handed me just as fast of a car as when I destroyed it. We made a couple of changes that we hadn’t tried before and last night over dinner decided we needed to go back to what we had before, and it paid off.”
 
Though Saurino is making his first Runoffs appearance as a driver, coming from a racing family, he has been to many as a spectator.
 
“To come out here to a track like Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and race with some great drivers like Joe Huffaker and Eric Prill, it’s surreal. To miss a little school and come out here to battle it out is a blessing.”
 
As Saurino set sail, Runoffs veterans Huffaker and Prill battled hard for second-place. Both avoided Linn at his spin, then dueled back and forth for nearly the full 20 laps.
 
Officially, Huffaker’s No. 77 Huffaker Engineering MG Midget kept Prill behind him for all but two of the laps, but each car showed their strength in different parts of the track. Prill’s No. 7 MaxtonsFight.org/Jesse Prather Motorsports/Hoosier rushed down the front straight and got alongside the black Midget going into turn two, but Huffaker’s inside line kept him in front.
 
Prill eventually made the move to second on lap 15 through Turn Five, but with tires and brakes fading after a race long battle opened the door going into the Corkscrew two laps later. Huffaker went by, and kept Prill’s Miata in his mirrors to the finish.
 
The Podium finish was the 13th for Huffaker in his career, including a GT-Lite National Championship earlier on Friday.
 
“It was exciting on the start with the different kinds of cars out there,” Huffaker said. “I had a view that I haven’t had in a while: a bunch of cars dicing it up out there over the first few corners. It was a marvelous display of ability out there. A lot of guys are just itching to get out there, but no one did anything stupid. I was just hoping for a good battle when I saw Nigel go off into the sunset.
 
“It was a great battle with Eric. You probably couldn’t even see how often we were swapping positions out there. We both used our cars up, especially there at the end. But it was great, clean driving from Eric. It was a lot of fun, in the end.”
 
The fourth-career podium finish capped a trying year for Prill.
 
“I had abused the tires quite a bit, and just locked it up going into the Corkscrew,” Prill said of the final pass. “That let him get back by. After that I had a pretty bad vibration, and actually picked up a fuel stumble coming out of Turn Two on the last couple lap. It was great fun. The best racing always happens here at the Runoffs. I’m glad we were able to figure out a way to get out here and race against the best.
 
“Last November my son, Max, was diagnosed with Leukemia. He was two at the time and is now three. He’s doing better, but still has a long treatment time ahead of him. For a while, I didn’t think I was even going to race this year. Someone told me ‘you have to keep living your life.’ So, we made the decision to keep racing and I am just glad I was able to come out here and race at the Runoffs against these guys.”
 
Rick Harris, in the No. 8 Jesse Prather Motorsports/Hoosier/V8Roadsters Mazda Miata, finished fourth, followed by Ken Kannard in the No. 51 Northwest Cable Construction/Hoosier Mazda Miata. Linn made his way back to sixth by the finish after his early spin.
 
Neal Frank earned the Sunoco hard charger award, improving eight positions to finish seventh.
 
The 51st SCCA National Championship Runoffs®, The Pinnacle of American Motorsports, will crown Sports Car Club of America’s Club Racing National Champions at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Friday, October 10 through Sunday, October 12.
 
The live broadcast of all 27 National Championship races is available live at SCCA.com, along with live timing and notes. Each race will be on demand at a later date on SpeedcastTV.com.
Adam Sinclair
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