Hans Peter, of Overland Park, Kan., nearly lapped the field en route to winning his second-consecutive C Sports Racing National Championship at the 2007 SCCA National Championship Runoffs Presented by AT&T at Heartland Park Topeka. Jacek Mucha, of Laval, Quebec, and Ken Davis, of Escondido, Calif., completed the top three.
Peter, a Chicago Region SCCA Triple Crown ® winner who was heavily favored to win, did not quite get the jump he thought he did at the start as Jason Miller shot around Peter heading into turn one. Though Miller powered his No. 3 Kohler/Millenium/Goodyear WynnFurst West by Peter in turn one, he could not make the move stick. Two corners later, Peter put his No. 66 Phenix Label/Hoosier Swift 014 Viking to the inside of Miller in turn three and from there, cruised to his second National Championship by 1:24.531.
“I was really surprised at the start because I thought that I had a great start, ” Peter said. “I looked into my mirrors to see where [Rennie] Clayton was because I got a good jump on him. I thought to myself that this was going to be easy. And then, Jason Miller went past me into turn one. He really pulled me into the turn and then he was weaving around because he had so much speed so I was able to get a good run on him coming out of two and into the Carousel. There is no way that somebody can pass on the outside there so I just went inside and got past him. He tucked in behind me and then three or four turns later I looked into my mirrors and saw that I was pulling away. I backed off two or three seconds a lap and brought it home. “
Although Mucha qualified fifth in his No. 07 PHOENIX-INNOTECH INC. Swift JMS, he had to start from the rear because he was late to the starting grid. Undaunted by his starting position, Mucha maneuvered his way through 16 cars to finish second.
Driving the No. 64 Davisstone inc/Speed Dynamics Ralt Viking, Davis spent most of the race battling then third place driver William Goldkind, of Holbrook, N.Y., until the last lap of the race. Coming out of the final corner, Goldkind spun allowing Davis to earn his first Runoffs podium finish.
Despite the spin, Goldkind finished fourth and Vance Gaddini, of Mi Wuk Village, Calif., finished fifth.
James Smith, of Alvin, Texas, was the Sunoco Hard Charger for advancing six positions throughout the race, from 12th to sixth.
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