Minor Cruises to Win at VIR
Alton, VA – After failing to qualify on the first row for the first time since 2012, Tim Minor didn’t waste much time – moving into the lead on lap one from third at VIR and leading every lap for his fourth win in 2014 in round six of the F2000 Championship Series. Minor managed a quick race pace and dealt with lapped traffic effectively to take another win, extending his points lead in the No. 88 Ski Motorsports Citation. Thomas McGregor followed a VIR Saturday win in second place, and Sam Beasley completed the podium.
“I had saved my tires in qualifying,” said Minor. “Everyone upped their game here this weekend and it was very challenging.”
McGregor proved his Saturday victory in the No. 93 Exclusive Autosport Spectrum was no fluke as he reeled in Minor from three seconds back to finish just under a second behind Minor’s No. 88
Most of the field elected to take their final two new tires for morning qualifying and put them on the left side of the car. But McGregor’s Exclusive Autosport team decided to change the front tires instead, giving them a slightly different setup strategy than the rest of the field.
The Van Diemen of Beasley continued a solid, fast weekend for Polestar at VIR with his second podium of the weekend, setting the fastest lap of the race in the last lap of the event in the No. 42 machine.
Kevin Kopp finished fourth after chasing electrical and transmission issues all weekend. David Grant, in the second Spectrum, followed by finishing fifth ahead of Chris Livengood.
After starting last due to a mechanical issue in qualifying Jason Rabe put on a show at VIR, moving from 23rd to 8th in just three laps in the No. 14 K-Hill Motorsports entry and fishing seventh after 14 green-flag laps. After qualifying sixth on Saturday and retiring on the first lap, it was the result Rabe was looking for as he continues to build sponsorship dollars for a continued campaign.
Jim Libecco came home in eighth while Tom Fatur raced from 24th to ninth and Nick Palacio completed the top ten in the No. 25 Van Diemen.
The only man to beat Minor for pole failed to complete the race as Skylar Robinson retired after a lap dragging the No. 6’s rear wing behind the car after spinning on the opening lap. Robinson led the opening set of corners from pole but failed to capitalize on his best qualifying effort of the season for Eric Langbien Racing in the Citation chassis.
Part of the VIR re-pave over the offseason that produced a much faster racetrack included a new starter’s stand further down the front stretch, leading Series officials to place acceleration cones on the run to the flag for Sunday’s race start to avoid any gamesmanship.
With rounds five and six of the 2014 season in the books at VIR, the 14-race, seven-weekend F2000 Series heads for another doubleheader weekend at Mid-Ohio, July 4-6, before visits to Pittsburgh, the brand-new road course at Thompson and the season finale at Watkins Glen in October.
Race Results:
PosNo.NameLapsBest TmMake/ModelDiff 1 88 Tim Minor/M 14 1:51.864 Citation F2k - 2 93 Thomas McGregor 14 1:51.802 Spectrum 014Z +0.744 3 44 Sam Beasley 14 1:51.651 Van Diemen +3.243 4 66 Kevin Kopp 14 1:52.866 Van Diemen +17.448 5 29 David Grant 14 1:52.802 Spectrum 014Z +17.933 6 73 Chris Livengood 14 1:52.845 Rfr +18.970 7 14 Jason Rabe 14 1:52.819 Van Diemen +23.588 8 98 Jim Libecco 14 1:53.293 Van Diemen Rf05 +24.504 9 70 Tom Fatur/M 14 1:54.399 Van Diemen +45.484 10 25 Nick Palacio 14 1:54.820 Van Diemen RF01 +47.805 11 7 Brent Gilkes/M 14 1:55.070 Van Dieman Rf03 +54.398 12 35 Eric Presbrey/M 14 1:55.324 Van Diemen +55.883 13 11 Quinlan Lall 14 1:55.306 Van Dieman Rf05 +56.489 14 76 Beau Borders 14 1:56.137 Van Diemen Rf-01 +1:09.223 15 31 Brendan Puderbach 14 1:57.362 Rfr +1:38.315 16 26 Alain Matrat 13 2:02.699 Van Diemen Rf99 1 Lap 17 90 Robert Wright/M 7 1:55.011 Radon Rn10 7 Laps 18 83 Charles Finelli/M 7 1:55.198 Van Diemen RF01 +17.598 DNF 01 John McCusker 2 1:59.409 Rfr 12 12 Laps DNF 19 Doug Stout/M 1 2:05.701 Van Diemen Rf05 13 Laps DNF 6 Skylar Robinson 0 -.--- Citation 14 Laps DNF 52 Dean Baker/M 0 -.--- Van Diemen Rf05 +0.900 DNF 07 Steve Bamford/M 0 -.--- Van Diemen Rf08 +1.012 DNS 23 Sergio Pasian 0 -.--- Van Diemen Rf -