Phoenix Sun Automotive 200 21/04/2001   Race Report Watering the Desert   © Janos Wimpffen It rains about ten days per year in Phoenix. This was one of them. Blustery winds and passing showers marked race afternoon. It had cleared by the time the 8 p.m. start rolled around. However, the relatively poor drainage of the infield left enough standing water around to allow the race to be officially declared wet. This greatly benefited the Intersport group as team manager Martin Dixon had already decided to not go with their qualifying rubber. Ordinarily this would have relegated them to the back, but under wet race rules tires can be changed without penalty. Only one car elected to start on slicks, the no. 54 V-8 BMW with Toney Jennings behind the wheel. The Bell team felt they had been so handicapped by ballast weight and air restrictors that they had nothing to lose. Archangels may have been sending rain, but it was of no heavenly help to the Archangel racing team. Andy Lally felt the gearbox go burp during the reconnaissance lap and the team brought the SRPII class pole-sitting Lola in for major repairs before the race even began. Characteristically, Weaver shot into the lead from the drop of the green flag. Jon Field tried to make a hot start from his outside front row spot but went into Turn 2 a tad too strongly and spun. He would have to wait for the field to pass before being able to rejoin the fray. This allowed Theys to move the Crawford up to second. Baldwin was third in the Robinson team Riley & Scott-Judd, but he was chased by, of all things, the Norma-Mader. Patrice Roussel had made a demon start and a lap later passed Baldwin for third place. The new Riley & Scott of the Miracle Motorsports team was pushing well through the field. They had started from the back, having swapped motors and missed qualifying. Canadian star Ross Bentley was brought in to bolster their prospects, replacing team owner John Macaluso. In the classes, Matt Drendel made a fine start and was pursuing GT pole-sitter and fellow Porsche driver, Randy Pobst. Chris Bingham faltered slightly at the start, but his Saleen’s GTS lead position was not under threat as the Larry Schumacher Porsche 911 GT1 was even slower. Newcomer Rich Marziale was finding the Team Muzzy Dodge Viper a handful. At one stage he was nearly flagged off for a series of very slow laps. The spray was beginning to abate slightly as Weaver headed off into the cloudset, building up a six second lead by lap four. The GT contest remained the hot topic with Stefano Buttiero in the Seikel Motorsports GT3R passing Pobst and up to fifth overall. SRPII was also close, although only two cars started in the class. Robert Julien kept the Porschehaus Lola-Nissan about two seconds clear of Jeff Clinton in the remaining Archangel entry. Craig Conway’s Corvette was well clear of his AGT opposition, while Chris Bingham remained atop GTS, but had slipped down to 12th overall. On lap five Baldwin grabbed second place when he passed the Crawford through the infield portion. Didier Theys then had a moment when he nearly collected the spinning Viper as the two cars exited the infield back onto the oval. Both came to a complete halt, with Marziale having some trouble re-launching. Roussel was still doing quite well in fourth place, by far the best showing of this one-off Prototype. Lap 10 rundown Pos Nbr. Car Class Gap 1 16 R & S-Ford SRP 2 74 R & S-Judd SRP -4s 3 27 Crawford-Judd SRP -35s 4 37 Lola-Judd SRP -36s 5 78 Norma-BMW SRP -47s 6 57 Porsche GT -1 lap 7 15 Porsche GT -1 lap 8 28 R & S-Ford SRP 9 09 Corvette AGT 10 6 R & S-Ford SRP The track was drying, but not particularly quickly and several cars completed lazy spins, including Steve Marshall in the GTS class Porsche and Jennings’ BMW. The problems of the midfield runners allowed Field to quickly run back up to fourth overall, ahead of the Norma. Meanwhile, Baldwin steadily ate into Weaver’s lead. Randy Pobst put on a charge and re-passed Buttiero. This prompted the Italian driver into a spin at the twisty part of the infield which translated into a loss of lap before he could get going again. Pobst’s fine drive and the problems of others put him in an excellent sixth place overall. As usual, the AGT contest began its slow deterioration. Craig Conway’s Corvette spun and collected the only clump of grass in the state, which clogged its radiator. The tube frame car came in for servicing, returning to the track a minute later only to have its hood blown off — another customary AGT display. They would soon go behind the wall for more extensive repairs. This left Kenny Bupp’s Camaro in the class lead. Most teams were predicting that they would come in at about lap 20 for slicks and this pattern indeed began to occur. By then Baldwin had moved up to about a 3.5 seconds deficit behind Weaver, and was content to keep station there. Field was back up the third place, Theys next, and Roussel beginning to fade. Bingham in GTS and Julien in SRPII had largely consolidated their class leading positions. Lap 20 Rundown Pos Nbr. Car Class Gap 1 37 Lola-Judd SRP 2 27 Crawford-Judd SRP -1s 3 16 R & S-Ford SRP -14s 4 74 R & S-Judd SRP -36s 5 78 Norma-BMW SRP -68s 6 15 Porsche GT -1 lap 7 6 R & S-Ford SRP -1 lap 8 28 R & S-Ford SRP 9 89 Lola-Nissan SRPII 10 5 Saleen GTS Baldwin and Weaver came in together for slicks, which immediately made for a strange sight as the teams were now using cold “sticker” tires on a damp, dark track. Baldwin also lost some tempo here as the left rear was a bit balky coming off and then the tall Georgia driver nearly pinned a crew member against the wall when he spun slightly coming out of the still wet pit stall. Jon Field remained out and inherited the lead, but then he too came in for slicks and a dose of fuel as well — only to re-emerge and re-enact his first lap spin. Either the car was a bit damaged or he was so miffed that Conway’s Corvette (back from repairs) was able to pass the Lola at speed. All this left the Crawford in the lead, the new car showing improvement each race. The Arizona-domiciled Belgian (Theys) then began to steadily stretch the gap, knowing that he would eventually have to yield to the slower Fredy Lienhard. But for the time being, Kevin Doran’s call to stay on grooved rubber definitely seemed to be the right choice as the track was still distinctly damp and some of the cars on slicks looked squirrely. Weaver was in second place, but some 25 seconds behind the Crawford-Judd, with Roussel hanging onto third place. None of the other classes were featuring close contests at this point, but one highlight was a strong charge through the field by Bill Lester. He was in the stock GT class Corvette which started from the very rear of the field. Ross Bentley became the first retirement of the race when he pulled his Riley & Scott off the back of the course. Theys finally brought the Crawford in on lap 33 for slicks, a bit of rear wing, and a handover to Lienhard. Weaver took over the lead, with Field having gained second place at the expense of Baldwin. The gearbox change on the no. 21 Archangel Lola was finally complete and Andy Lally’s erstwhile SRPII pole-sitting car finally started the race. At least with only three starters this would guarantee a podium finish. Lienhard’s stint was going badly as he tagged Bupp’s AGT Camaro, sending both into a bit of a spin at the entrance onto the oval. Down in GT, Randy Pobst was among the last of the entire field to come in for slicks. This put Buttiero back into the class lead. Weaver was still going very strongly in the overall lead, by now having lapped Baldwin’s third place Riley & Scott. Lap 40 Rundown Pos Nbr. Car Class Gap 1 16 R & S-Ford SRP 2 37 Lola-Judd SRP -21s 3 74 R & S-Judd SRP -58s 4 78 Norma-BMW SRP -1 lap 5 28 R & S-Ford SRP 6 27 Crawford-Judd SRP 7 15 Porsche GT -2 laps 8 5 Saleen GTS 9 57 Porsche GT 10 89 Lola-Nissan SRPII There was still one important runner out on wet weather rubber, Chris Bingham. The Saleen’s sanguine romp in the GTS lead suddenly came undone as the center nut on the right rear corner jammed. After several tries the team finally decided to send Bingham back out with only three slicks. Meanwhile the lumbering Porsche GT1 had taken over the class lead. Although ahead of the pack, Schumacher was actually being passed by Buttiero’s GT car. Almost unnoticed, the Viper was running very well with Eric Messley taking over from Marziale. Otherwise, the 40s represented the mid-race trough often seen at endurance events. Pobst was trying to gain ground back from Buttiero and in the process was able to even hold off Baldwin’s Prototype through the infield. A few laps later Pobst caught the class leader and after an excellent dice passed Buttiero at Turn 9. Up front Weaver was steadily building up a substantial lead, as a persistent drizzle began that would soon escalate. Lap 60 The return of the rain indicated that the change to slicks may have been premature. The Seikel Porsche had remained out on grooved rubber and they were able to catch back up to the class leader as the conditions deteriorated. This time the Crawford was among the first to stop. Lienhard had been painfully slow and Theys jumped back in. Clint Field took over the Intersport team’s other car, the Riley & Scott-Ford. But Uncle Joel had apparently bent something in the rear and 17-year old only completed a few slow laps before the car was retired. The rain became quite steady as the race passed the halfway mark. Clinton brought the SRPII Lola in for a tire and driver change (to Mike Durand). He had been making headway against Julien / St. Jacques, who were now left well in the class lead. Schumacher brought the GTS Porsche in and, surprisingly, they decided on intermediates. The rapidly recovering Viper now moved to the head of this group. Lap 80 Rundown 1 16 R & S-Ford SRP 2 37 Lola-Judd SRP -43s 3 74 R & S-Judd SRP -1 lap 4 27 Crawford-Judd SRP -6 laps 5 15 Porsche GT -7 laps 6 78 Norma-BMW SRP -7 laps 7 28 R & S-Ford SRP -8 laps 8 89 Lola-Nissan SRPII -9 laps 9 81 Porsche GT -10 laps 10 34 Porsche GT -10 laps Weaver came in on lap 82. Butch Leitzinger jumped in and went back out on wets without having lost the lead after some excellent pit work. Jon Field also stopped with Oliver Gavin taking over for the run to the flag, and George Robinson took the wheel from Jack Baldwin. The close dice in GT came undone when Buttiero collided with the no. 61 GT3RS and the Seikel was retired with a split oil radiator. With the rain coming down ever harder, Gavin completely missed the entrance to the infield and calmly went around the unused Turn 1 of the oval course before rejoining the proper circuit. The Saleen made another stop and the recalcitrant wheel was finally loosened — but of course now wets all around were necessary. Also, Ron Johnson took over the car for the remainder of the race. George Robinson was among those beginning to slow as the spray got worse. But the closed top cars suffered more as windows were fogging up. Among those needing to stop for a wipe of a rag was new daddy Terry Borcheller in the large-engined BMW. Randy Pobst still continued in the GT class lead, although his wipers had completely stopped. He was a veteran of this situation as he was able to nurse a similarly misbehaving Porsche through like conditions at Daytona. Lap 100 Rundown 1 16 R & S-Ford SRP 2 37 Lola-Judd SRP -42s 3 74 R & S-Judd SRP -3 laps 4 27 Crawford-Judd SRP -6 laps 5 15 Porsche GT -9 laps 6 78 Norma-BMW SRP -10 laps 7 81 Porsche GT -11 laps 8 89 Lola-Nissan SRPII -12 laps 9 22 Lola-Nissan SRPII -12 laps 10 54 BMW GT -14 laps Leitzinger continued with the stong lead of the Dyson car as not only the rain got worse, but a stiff breeze was also picking up. Ron Johnson was able to pass the slow moving Martin Snow (in for Schumacher) and thus take over second in GTS, but he was still a lap behind the Viper. The rather good run of the Crawford came to an end when Theys spun and stalled coming onto the oval. A small lake was growing in the short chute between turns 4 and 5, an area of particularly poor drainage. This prompted the race’s first full-course yellow. A truck with a blow dryer apparatus and another with a sweeper were dispatched to the scene. Grand-Am officials hoped they could keep the field properly bunched and allow the truck drivers to do their work for long periods before the cars would splash by again. But too many cars had straggled astray to take on splashes of fuel and other service. Thus when they returned to the track they would be away from the pack and disrupt the workers. Probably a few drivers even considered removing their helmets and getting their hairdos rearranged as they went past the jet of warm air. Among those choosing to halt were the race leader, the Dyson team throwing in a splash of fuel and Leitzinger retaining the lead. Also Randy Pobst handed the GT leading car over to Kim Hiskey with a three lap advantage in hand over the Drendel / Law Porsche. The attempt to remove the standing water became a bit too frustrating and the race was red-flagged. A few minutes later the rain completely stopped, ensuring that the event would be restarted. After a pause of nearly 15 minutes, the field went back out for a few paced laps before a restart. The race rules called for 133 laps or a three-hours, and this stoppage threatened to bring about the time limit. However, conditions improved enough that the green waved with enough time to go the full distance. The re-bunching of the field meant that Leitzinger’s long lead over Gavin was for naught. Similarly, in GTS all three leading cars were on the same lap. The other classes were already decided, barring calamity, although the Canadian-entered Lola only had a lap lead over the surviving Archangel in SRPII. Hiskey had GT well in hand, while the Conway / Goad Corvette was back in front after the Bupp / Leavy Camaro had gone through its allotted AGT self-destruction. The green was shown on lap 116 and the high-torque Ford immediately was able to open up a gap to the Judd-powered car. Gavin was off to a surprisingly balky restart and Theys was even able to unlap himself. Further back, Durand was fighting to put his SRPII car onto the same lap as that of St. Jacques. Lap 120 Rundown 1 16 R & S-Ford SRP 2 37 Lola-Judd SRP -0.5s 3 74 R & S-Judd SRP -3 laps 4 27 Crawford-Judd SRP -7 laps 5 15 Porsche GT -9 laps 6 78 Norma-BMW SRP -10 laps 7 81 Porsche GT -12 laps 8 89 Lola-Nissan SRPII -11 laps 9 22 Lola-Nissan SRPII -11 laps 10 54 BMW GT -14 laps Gavin went back around Theys and began to rapidly gain on the leader, going especially well on the banked portion of the circuit. He moved to within ten car lengths of the Riley & Scott as Leitzinger began to encounter a cluster of traffic. Entering Turn 1, Gavin had to take to the grass to avoid the poorly placed Porsche of Hiskey. But he deftly put the car back onto the proper surface without incident, although the gap to Leitzinger about doubled. Undaunted, the Englishman went back on the attack on the still very soggy circuit. To his rescue came Jonathan Fay. The rookie driver of Porsche no. 14 spun and stalled on the back stretch, bringing out another full-course caution. Another restart was in order and this came on lap 126, leaving a seven lap dash to the flag. This time Gavin didn’t let Leitzinger get away. The Riley & Scott was noticeably understeering on several of the bends. He was looking for the least greasy spots to use and this included keeping to the outside on more than one occasion. Gavin was never more than a car length behind. Then coming into the very tight Turn 9 which leads back onto the oval, Leitzinger went especially wide and promptly did a complete 360-degree spin and the Lola-Judd was past. Gavin quickly opened up a 6.2 second lead. Over the last five laps, a very angry Butch Leitzinger tried to use traffic to his advantage and was able to cut into the gap, but there just weren’t enough laps left. It was historic first for the very enthusiastic band of Intersport Racing, and a return to prominence for Lola in American racing. Phoenix had delivered — not only great racing but some decidedly unusual weather. It was as thrilling a finish as SRP had seen. Even the meager SRPII class had a tight finish (St. Jacques prevailed), while a valiant charge by the Viper upset the expected Saleen vs. Porsche battle. GT saw a fresh face — indeed a pretty face (no, not Oliver Gavin, below) — into the winner’s circle. Phoenix put the Grand in Grand-Am. Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport