August 20, 2025
for immediate release
Contributed by Brian Volkert
It was quite the weekend at Mission Raceway Park. An inch and a half of rain on Friday left a wet track with sprinkles persisting into Saturday. The track dried by Saturday noon and the remainder of the weekend was cloudy, dry and a bit humid.
Gunther Ruppel, Bill Okell, Martin Maggio, Rod Duncan, Stephen Newby and Brian Volkert were there for the race. By race time Rod’s car was sidelined with clutch problems and Gunther’s by engine issues.
The Le Mans start saw three Group A cars, one Group B car and four runners ready to go. While the numbers were small the start was popular and generated many positive comments at the banquet. Stephen got going first followed by Martin. Bill quickly made-up ground and took the lead. Midway through the race the engine in Stephen’s car let go coming out of the turn 3 hairpin. The car coasted off track by the 4, 5, 6 combination and there he sat.
Martin breezed to the win in Group B and earning the event’s Chairman’s Cup plus another VRCBC award at the evening banquet. Add in the Sprite Midget Challenge award Martin almost spent more time walking to the podium that he did sitting. Stephen was awarded the VRCBC hard luck award for his engine mishap.
The SMC thanks the event hosts and organizers for their terrific hospitality. They go out of their way to make everyone feel welcome.
Below are the results through four races as well as a photo of the Sprite Midget award.
