Mid Ohio Recap & Watkins Glen lead-up
- Scott Freehoff
- Sep 9
- 6 min read
Good morning, racers! The penultimate round of the Sports 2000 North America Championship at Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course is in the books, and what a fantastic weekend it was. The SCCA played host to us at Mid-Ohio once again, with 12 entries who were treated to spectacular weather.
Coming up this month might be your last chance to race with the S2NA club this year, don't miss out! Our last stop is at Watkins Glen International, September 12–14. Scroll to the bottom of this email for the registration link—we hope to see you there!
VIR Weekend Recap
Saturday:
The Ohio Valley Sprints weekend opened under clear skies at Mid-Ohio, with the S2-NA field slotting into a highly competitive qualifying session on Saturday morning. Brent Gernert set the benchmark early, his 1:29.990 lap putting him firmly on class pole. Rob Sherwood secured P2, followed closely by Chip Vance and Glenn Jividen Jr. The Payne family duo—Henry and Sam—lined up mid-pack, with Mark Coombs, Jim Kelley, and Max Whitaker all within striking distance. Rounding out the order were Eric Pickering and Angelo Savoia, ensuring a deep grid of seasoned drivers ready for the afternoon's race.
Race 1 delivered its share of drama. Gernert converted his pole into an early lead, holding steady at the front while Sherwood and Vance battled closely behind. Ultimately, Gernert held on for the class win after 11 laps, with Sherwood taking P2 and Vance completing the podium in third. Henry Payne crossed the line just behind in P4, followed by Glenn Jividen Jr. and Mark Coombs. Whitaker, Pickering, Kelley, and Savoia all made it to the checkered flag, while Samuel Payne was an unfortunate retirement mid-race
Sunday:
Sunday's longer feature saw the S2-NA pack back at it, this time over a grueling 19-lap contest. From the drop of the green, Chip Vance emerged as the class leader, putting in a consistent drive to secure his first victory. Behind him, Gernert recovered from early pressure to claim second, while Henry Payne delivered a strong run to secure the final podium spot.
Glenn Jividen Jr. and Mark Coombs completed the top five, both turning laps within tenths of each other in the mid-1:31 range. Sam Payne returned after Saturday's disappointment to finish sixth overall, with Whitaker, Pickering, Schmitt, and Savoia all making it home in a tightly packed midfield. Jim Kelley had a difficult run and was classified several laps down, while Sherwood, who had shown podium pace the day before, retired after just four laps
The Mid-Ohio weekend underscored the depth of competition in S2-NA. With Gernert and Vance trading wins, Payne showing steady podium form, and a tightly bunched midfield of veterans and newcomers.
Watkins Glen Circuit Intro
Watkins Glen International did not start as the track we all know and love today. The famed WGI started in 1948 as a 6.6 mile street course that went around the small town of Watkins Glen. In 1956, in an effort to create a safer circuit, the track we race on today was created just above the town where the racing all started. The track went on to host many important races of the years including many United States Formula 1 Grad Prix's, Can-Am races, IMSA racing, NASCAR and more.
Watkins Glen has two different track configurations, both of which we will be run during the SCCA Fun One weekend. The long course and the short course share the first four corners including the Bus Stop, and the last two corners. Both laps start with a fast downhill braking zone into turn 1. You are welcome to use the first tier of apex curbing as if you do it right, the compression on apex will help you get through the corner and back on power quickly. Track out to the exit curbing and make sure you do not lift going through the Esses as turns 2, 3, 4 are all flat out. Carry your speed down the back straight and into the next braking zone for the Bus Stop. Brake late and roll a lot of speed through the first two apex's. Use a lot of the first righthand apex curbing and get back on power somewhere in the middle of the chicane. As you come through the second half of the Bus Stop, track out wide when you set up to enter The Loop, turn 5. This is where the two laps begin to differ as The Loop is where the two laps deviate.
Long Course:
Work your way down to the apex and get back on power so that the car tracks out to the left hand side of the track heading down into The Chute. Don't hang out on the left side of the track there as you need to work back over to the righthand side of the track before braking downhill into the left hander. Be careful in this corner as its quite tight and easy to lose the rear end of the car here. Use all the road on exit and hustle down the laces of the boot into the uphill braking zone for the toe of the boot. Because this braking zone is uphill, you can brake later than you think and roll lots of speed into the uphill portion as it will aid in scrubbing off speed. Apex the toe middle to late and get on power because it will take some time to climb the hill on exit. The heel of the boot doesn't have much to it, hit your marks and accelerate up the hill. Turn 9 requires extreme patience, as early throttle application here will throw you into the fast approaching wall on exit. This completes the long course before joining back onto the short course, however, turn 10 does require a different technique depending on which configuration you are racing. In the long course configuration, this corner should be flat or very nearly flat if your car is setup right, there is runoff here so don't be afraid to experiment with some speed here!
Short Course:
The approach to The Loop is quite different when you are running the short course. Be exceedingly patient here, slowly working your way down to a very late apex. Make sure you are holding some maintenance throttle here and balancing the car on the limit of adhesion as you roll through the corner. If you have accelerated at the right point, you should be pulling 4th gear somewhere around the dark patch on track out, the earlier you hit your shift point the more speed you have rolled through the corner, this is a good indicator of a fast lap! Turn 6, turn 10 on the long course, while identical in form and function, requires a different approach. Because you are coming into the corner at a higher rate of speed, you will have to apply some brake and a downshift as to not run wide on exit.
Both:
The last turn on the track is once more the same for both configurations. Make sure you approach the turn from as far left on the track as possible to shallow out the total radius of the corner. Apex the corner in the middle of the curbing and let the car float out to the wall just on the outside of the exit curbing. The faster you go through this corner the closer you will get to the wall, so be careful rolling too much speed into this corner as it can come back to bite you. One other thing to note in this corner is that pit-in goes right around the apex curbing at the bottom of the track so be cognizant of slow moving cars entering pit lane before the session has ended.
Below is a video of long time club member Brent Gernert running some very fast laps at last years WGI short course race tucked up underneath Rob Sherwood's rear deck! Be sure to look at Brent's channel for more videos of the long course at WGI if you need some more speed secrets!
We hope that all of the members of the S2NA Club find a venue that works for their schedule and will join in the challenge, fun, camaraderie, and excitement of our racing events. Join now to be included in this season's activities; it's never too late. The membership form can be found on our website under the Members tab (link at the bottom of this email). If you haven't yet, be sure to click the link below and sign up for our 4th round of the season at Watkins Glen International. Keep it clean, and the track stays green!