2016 PCC Lites: Race 3: Carbondale

Lenore Scurries to First Career Victory



Four years ago, Lenore Scurry broke onto the PCC Cup Series scene, running the European races for her own team.  While she didn't find a lot of success back then, today was definitely a taste of something better.

Driving the #92 Tampax Yugo for PetrolTech Engineering, Scurry managed to put her car on the pole before dropping back in the superspeedway-like shuffle that occurred throughout the day in this 45 minute event. However, as the race continued on, she made her way back to the front.  After a caution for AJ Murphy and Jeff Fisher's accident, Scurry found herself back in 2nd about halfway through the race.  On the ensuing restart, Tiffany Matthews, who was running 4th, lost a motor and jammed up the field.  This allowed the top three cars of Sam Burkhart, Scurry, and Matt Beck to pull out to a massive lead over the field.  For a while, it looked like Burkhart was going to walk away with the race, but he suffered a mechanical failure with just five minutes remaining in the event, leaving the fight to the finish between Scurry and Beck.  Beck and Scurry swapped the lead several times in the dying minutes of the event when a caution flew with only twenty seconds of regulation remaining.  When time expires on a race under caution, PCC Lites Series rules dictate that the race runs a one-lap shootout to ensure the race finishes under green.  Scurry led the field to the restart, and while Matt Beck got a run coming off Turn 3 and got to the inside of Scurry, nothing could stop her from taking her first career PCC Lites Series victory today.

With this win, Scurry moves up to second in PCC Lites points, only 5 points behind point leader Lucien Eckdahl Jr.

Burkhart Denied Three In A Row by Faulty Clutch



For a while, it looked like Sam Burkhart was going to set history.

For a while, that is.  

Burkhart, driver of the #51 Beyer Sound Systems Yugo for Sam Brown Racing, began the race with his worst starting position of the year, 5th place.  Burkhart remained in the top-5 nearly all race, and when the field became separated into two groups due to Tiffany Matthews' blown engine, Burkhart emerged as the dominant car.  In the three car battle between Burkhart, Scurry, and Beck, neither Scurry or Beck had enough power to mount a charge on the 51.  Burkhart was poised to become the first driver in PCC Lites Series history to start a season with three straight wins.  The last time a driver won more than one race to start a season was in 2002 when Bob Stephans won two races to begin his championship campaign.  Unfortunately for Sam Burkhart, his car did not feel like co-operating with him, and gave up with only five minutes to go in the race.

With Sam Burkhart's 33rd place finish, he drops to 5th place in the standings, tied with Casey Lester for 4th place.

Burkhart will be on standby for Alex Phillips for tomorrow's PCC Cup Series Round of Carbondale after Phillips sustained a Grade II concussion and a sprained wrist in last week's Round of New York.

Good Showing for AJ Murphy Ends in Crash



AJ Murphy collected the first last-place finish of his PCC Lites Series career after he was collected in an accident after completing 62 of the race's 88 laps.

AJ Murphy has been an on-and-off competitor in the PCC Lites Series, first showing up in 2009.  Murphy competed full-time in the PCC Lites Series starting in 2010, collecting a win at Mansfield along the way.  In 2011, Murphy got his first chance in the PCC Cup Series at the track he got his first win at, getting a ride in the #02 for The Motorsports Team.  He did not qualify, but his efforts got the attention of team owner Tom Delgado.  Delgado gave Murphy a trial run at the end of 2011, which culminated in Murphy getting a full-time seat in Delgado's 37 for 2012.  Unfortunately, Tom Delgado Racing in 2012 was nothing short of a dumpster fire, and Murphy struggled mightily throughout the season.  Come 2014, Murphy was without a ride.  After not being able to find a ride at the start of the season, Murphy began compiling resources to make a run later in the season in Lites and Cup.  Murphy purchased several cars from the defunct Bobby Dollar team for Cup, and began negotiations with Yugo to purchase several chassis.  However, before the Lites deal for 2014 could come together, Murphy's phone rang.  ZakkTek needed a driver to fill the gap in their schedule at several tracks, and Murphy had the talents and car to perform.  Murphy drove admirably in his few starts, attracting Joe Tree and Lawn Care as a sponsor.  Joe Tree and Lawn Care was so impressed by his efforts, they threw full support behind an effort for Murphy in Lites, as well as supporting a new Trucks venture at the start of 2016.

Murphy started 31st, but worked his way through the field as a drafting pack formed.  Murphy had worked his way up to 6th place before himself and Jeff Fisher tangled on lap 62.  Through the dogleg, Fisher and Murphy made contact.  Fisher did not take kindly to this, and turned the 28 into the Turn 3 wall, taking both the 27 and 28 out of the race.

With this last-place finish, Murphy finds himself a dismal 37th in the standings.

Winsalot Motorsports Doesn't Win, But Secures First in Team Standings




Winsalot Motorsports may not have won today, but you couldn't have been able to tell that from how the team was reacting.

Both Matt Beck (#07) and Greg Maddox (#08) finished in the top-10 at Carbondale, with Mattox 6th and Beck a surprising 2nd.

While Winsalot Motorsports did not make the cut for PCC Cup this season due to a lack of three contracted drivers in their stable, their optimism is high for the rest of the year.  The team now leads the PCC Lites Team Standings with 172 points, seven points ahead of fellow team-in-promotion DJ Motorsports and twenty-two points ahead of third place team Eckdahl Autosport.  PetrolTech Engineering, whose driver Lenore Scurry won the race today in a photo finish over Matt Beck, sits in eighth place with 125 points, 47 points behind the lead team.

F S # DRIVER INTERVAL LAPS LED POINTS STATUS
1 1 92 L Scurry -R- 85.080 88 12 180 Running
2 12 07 M Beck -R- -0.10 88 2 175 Running
3 11 39 L Eckdahl Jr. -R- -0.29 88 1 170 Running
4 15 48 D Jones -0.47 88 0 160 Running
5 21 964 R Pritchard -R- -0.65 88 1 160 Running
6 9 08 G Maddox -1.02 88 1 155 Running
7 24 8 R Llave -1.20 88 2 151 Running
8 20 79 I Parsons -1.40 88 0 142 Running
9 17 6 C Fitzgerald -R- -1.61 88 1 143 Running
10 30 007 A Constantine -R- -1.96 88 0 134 Running
11 25 24 B Belushi -R- -2.12 88 2 135 Running
12 19 29 C Lester -2.29 88 12 132 Running
13 13 34 A Lambert -2.68 88 1 129 Running
14 4 22 J King -2.86 88 1 126 Running
15 2 43 J Beverley -3.04 88 1 123 Running
16 16 12 B Juveno -3.24 88 1 120 Running
17 33 42 D Wormer -R- -3.62 88 0 112 Running
18 22 25 D Adams -4.00 88 1 114 Running
19 6 93 G Macena -4.31 88 0 106 Running
20 28 972 D Bouchard -R- -4.87 88 0 103 Running
21 14 18 A Pausington -5.02 88 1 105 Running
22 27 89 JC Carpenter -5.05 88 1 102 Running
23 32 44 J Hofacker -5.24 88 0 94 Running
24 35 60 M Tauger -R- -5.75 88 0 91 Running
25 36 06 T Tauger -R- -5.81 88 0 88 Running
26 26 919 R Carpant -6.01 88 0 85 Running
27 34 7 A Sanders -R- -6.19 88 0 82 Running
28 7 72 K Thomas -6.39 88 2 84 Running
29 23 11 P O'Hannigan -R- -1L 87 10 81 Running
30 3 31 D Oliver -1L 87 11 78 Running
31 8 191 D Van Hall -R- -1L 87 0 70 Running
32 18 67 J DeVila -1L 87 0 67 Running
33 5 51 S Burkhart -12L 76 17* 74 Clutch
34 29 16 T Matthews -20L 68 5 66 Engine
35 10 27 J Fisher -24L 64 0 58 Piston
36 31 28 AJ Murphy -26L 62 2 60 Retired

1. Winsalot Motorsports - 172
2. DJ Motorsports - 165
3. Eckdahl Autosport - 150
4. Lambert Motorsports - 148
5. Sam Brown Racing - 139
6. Fat Drunk Stupid Racing - 138
7. Grand Strand Racing - 135
8. PetrolTech Engineering - 125
9. CircleTrack Racing - 118
10. AJ Murphy Racing - 113
11. TurboSports - 100
12. Hannigan Enterprises - 99
13. Genesis Engineering - 98
14. Ryan Matthews Racing - 91
15. Tony Long Autosport - 82
16. Team Canada - 72
17. Syzygy Engineering - 69
18. Tauger Racing Unit - 53

Green = Promotion Zone
Black = Safe Zone
Red = Relegation Zone