2016 PCC Lites: Race 5: Mansfield

Worst is First: Hometown Hero AJ Murphy Wins



Coming into this race, AJ Murphy was last in points.  His performance today wouldn't suggest that was the case though.  Ashland, Ohio native AJ Murphy took his fourth career PCC Lites victory in front of his home crowd over fellow Ohioan Barry Juveno, leading 41 of the race's 92 laps.  This race took place in 45 minutes in accordance to PCC Lites rules.

Murphy qualified his #28 Joe Tree and Lawn Care Zastava 11th on the grid, but by lap 5 he was already up to the lead.  However, during the first caution period on lap 9, Murphy had to bring his car into the pits due to a flat left front tire.  He would restart in last, but would methodically work his way through the field and by lap 50 was back in 3rd place.  Murphy would take the lead back on lap 55, and with the exception of four laps from lap 84 to lap 87, would lead the rest of the race.  The race ended in a one-lap shootout, and Murphy rocketed ahead of 2nd place James Beverley, taking the win.

With this victory, AJ Murphy moves up to 32nd in points, 92 points behind leader Sam Burkhart.  AJ Murphy Racing moves up to 8th in team points with help from Murphy's and teammate Casey Lester's runs today.  Lester finished the day in 20th position, one lap down.  Both Murphy and Lester will be attempting to qualify for the Round of Mansfield in their Tier 1 qualifier, in which they will line up 9th and 18th respectively.

Juveno Misses Out on Lites Win



While one hometown driver succeeded today, another one fell just short.  Barry Juveno finished 2nd today in the #12 Jack Daniels Zastava owned by Patrick O'Hannigan, passing James Beverley on the final one-lap shootout, but a win was on the cards.

Juveno started the day in 8th position and improved his spot by one when the second caution happened on lap sixteen.  Four wide in front of Juveno did not end well for the drivers involved, and Ryan Pritchard slid up the track, tagging Juveno in the process.  Juveno backed the car into the Turn 3 wall and did a 360, but kept the car under power and drove away.  Juveno would have to pit for damage, and would drop back to the last car on the lead lap.  This would not curtail Juveno's speed, and by lap 41 he was back inside the top-10, where he would remain for the rest of the event.  Juveno never led, but was always a factor for the lead throughout the second half of the event.

With this finish, Barry Juveno moves up to 10th in points despite missing the opening event at Las Vegas.  Hannigan Enterprises finds itself seventh in the team standings, 18 points behind sixth place DJ Motorsports.

The King of Cleveland Puts Forth a Solid Run



Justin King brought his #22 Orphanol Zastava home in 4th place, making three of the top five drivers Ohio natives.  King, nicknamed "The King of Cleveland" after winning back-to-back Cleveland Grand Prix in the mid-00s, won the pole and hung around the top-5 all day, leading 9 laps in the process.  At the end of the day though, King was not able to crown himself as the winner at Mansfield.

King moves up to 14th in the PCC Lites standings, and will be attempting to qualify for the Round of Mansfield from the Tier 2 qualifier this coming week.

Sam Brown Racing Overcomes Adversity to Secure Double Top-10



The PCC Lites Round of Mansfield was an easy going for Dustin Oliver, and it was anything but for defending champion Sam Burkhart.

The two Sam Brown Racing drivers lined up 6th and 7th, and remained there until the first caution on lap 5.  Under that caution, Burkhart brought his #51 Beyer Sound Systems Zastava into the pits, and started at the rear of the field.  On the restart,  Burkhart made and inside pass before the start-finish line and was black-flagged, losing almost two laps in the process.  Burkhart was side-by-side with leader James Beverley when the caution flew once again on lap 16, which allowed him to stay just one lap down.  Another caution on lap 24 would put Burkhart back on the lead lap, and he would rejoin teammate Oliver in the top 10 on lap 46, where both drivers would remain for the rest of the event, eventually finishing fifth and sixth.

With these finishes, Burkhart and Oliver sit 1st and 12th in the standings, respectively.  Sam Brown Racing is currently second in the team standings, but may defer their promotion status due to their developmental relationship with Johnson Racing in the Cup Series.

Syzygy Engineering Jumps Out of Relegation on Strong Runs



After two strong runs from their drivers, Syzygy Engineering has escaped the basement and is now out of relegation.  Drivers Jeff Fisher and Kelly Thomas finished seventh and eighth today after qualifying tenth and fourth, their best combined performance to date.  This finish puts Syzygy Engineering eleventh in team points, 23 points to the good over 16th place Team Canada, the first team in the relegation zone.

Maddox Stays in Title Hunt After Quiet Showing



Sam Burkhart's current title threat, Greg Maddox, kept his car out of trouble today and brought home the #08 Pepsi Zastava in 9th place, avoiding disaster.  Maddox started 26th of 36, but managed to work his way inside the top-10 by lap 20.  He would hang around in the top-20 for the majority of the race, eventually settling into the lower top-10 with just 15 laps to go, where he would eventually finish.

Greg Maddox sits 2nd in points, 18 points behind leader Sam Burkhart.  Winsalot Motorsports currently holds the lead in the Team Championship with 268 points, 11 more points than 2nd place Sam Brown Racing.

Best Showing for Tauger Racing Unit



Matt Tauger brought his #60 Phantom Zastava home in 13th place in what is now Austria-based Tauger Racing Unit's best finish in the PCC Lites series.  Matt Tauger started 24th, and showed speed not seen from the TRU team all season, moving into the top-20 by lap 10 and top-10 by lap 16.  Matt Tauger's charge towards the front would peak when he reached 4th place on lap 39, and from then would fade back slowly.  However, it was still good enough for the #60 car to bring it home 13th, the team's best performance to date.  Matt's brother and car owner Treck Tauger would finish 26th, 2 laps down, marking this race as their highest combined point total all season.

With that though, Tauger Racing Unit still is solidly at the bottom of the Team Championship with only 116 points in 5 races, 33 points adrift from 17th place TurboSports.

Damon Jones Crashes Hard, Loses Ground in Team Championship



DJ Motorsports was hoping to defend their promotion spot coming into this event, but unfortunately events conspired against them to cause them to lose their promotion spot.

Damon Jones started in 21st, and was the cause of the first caution on lap 5 when he was spun by Matt Tauger, damaging the rear end in the process.  An additional pit stop under green would put Jones two laps down and as the last car running, where he would remain for the remainder of his event.  On lap 78, Dima Van Hall in the #191 DSV Zastava lost an engine on the back stretch, and slowed coming off of Turn 4.  Unfortunately for everyone, this was in front of the whole field, and several cars were unable to avoid the stricken #191, including Jones' teammate Denny Adams and JC Carpenter.  JC Carpenter's hit on the #191 sent him across the track into the path of Jones, who slammed into the back of the Van Hall machine.  Jones would then by plowed by Bluto Belushi, launching him onto two wheels and across the track.  All five drivers would drop out of the event as a result of the crash damage sustained.

This double DNF drops DJ Motorsports from 2nd to 6th in the team standings.

Mechanical Issues Cause Wormer to Retire



Dean Wormer collected the first last-place finish of his PCC Lites Series career in the PCC Lites Round of Mansfield when his #42 Faber College Zastava fell out due to mechanical issues after 14 of 92 laps.  The finish came in Wormer's fifth series start.

Wormer started the event in 22nd, but would run no better than that all day.  Wormer would make it to the first caution in 30th place, then pit under caution to check for a loose wheel.  The crew sent him back out on track only for him to return several laps later after limping around on the apron.  The mechanical problem was deemed to be terminal, and Wormer would retire from the event.

With this finish, Dean Wormer drops to 30th in points, and with Bluto Belushi's retirement from accident damage, Fat Drunk Stupid Racing drops to 13th in the Team Championship.  They sit just 12 points above 16th place Team Canada, the first team in the relegation zone.

F S # DRIVER INTERVAL LAPS LED POINTS STATUS
1 11 28 AJ Murphy 60.218 92 41* 185 Running
2 8 12 B Juveno -0.47 92 0 170 Running
3 5 43 J Beverley -0.63 92 29 170 Running
4 1 22 J King -0.68 92 5 165 Running
5 7 31 D Oliver -0.85 92 9 160 Running
6 6 51 S Burkhart -1.06 92 0 150 Running
7 10 27 J Fisher -1.30 92 4 151 Running
8 4 72 K Thomas -1.46 92 0 142 Running
9 26 08 G Maddox -1.67 92 0 138 Running
10 28 972 D Bouchard -R- -2.14 92 0 134 Running
11 20 44 J Hofacker -3.17 92 0 130 Running
12 9 07 M Beck -R- -3.45 92 1 132 Running
13 24 60 M Tauger -R- -3.47 92 0 124 Running
14 23 16 T Matthews -3.70 92 0 121 Running
15 13 964 R Pritchard -R- -3.89 92 0 118 Running
16 32 7 A Sanders -R- -4.26 92 0 115 Running
17 14 67 J DeVila -4.67 92 0 112 Running
18 16 79 I Parsons -1L 91 0 109 Running
19 15 39 L Eckdahl Jr. -R- -1L 91 0 106 Running
20 12 29 C Lester -1L 91 0 103 Running
21 17 6 C Fitzgerald -R- -1L 91 0 100 Running
22 35 11 P O'Hannigan -R- -1L 91 0 97 Running
23 21 919 R Carpant -R- -1L 91 0 94 Running
24 34 92 L Scurry -R- -2L 90 0 91 Running
25 3 18 A Pausington -2L 90 1 93 Running
26 33 06 T Tauger -R- -2L 90 0 85 Running
27 31 007 A Constantine -R- -3L 89 0 82 Running
28 36 93 G Macena -3L 89 0 79 Running
29 19 25 D Adams -14L 78 0 76 Retired
30 29 89 JC Carpenter -14L 78 0 73 Accident
31 30 191 D Van Hall -R- -15L 77 0 70 Accident
32 25 24 B Belushi -R- -15L 77 0 67 Accident
33 18 48 D Jones -16L 76 0 64 Accident
34 2 34 A Lambert -74L 18 2 66 Header
35 27 8 R Llave -75L 17 0 58 Retired
36 22 42 D Wormer -R- -78L 14 0 55 Retired

   1. Winsalot Motorsports - 268
  2. Sam Brown Racing - 257
   3. PetrolTech Engineering - 236
   4. Lambert Motorsports - 220
   T5. Eckdahl Autosport - 217
   T5. DJ Motorsports - 217
   7. Hannigan Enterprises - 207
   8. AJ Murphy Racing - 199
   9. CircleTrack Racing - 189
   10. Genesis Engineering - 179
   11. Syzygy Engineering - 174
   12. Grand Strand Racing - 168
   13. Fat Drunk Stupid Racing - 163
   14. Tony Long Autosport - 159
   15. Ryan Matthews Racing - 153
   16. Team Canada - 151
   17. TurboSports - 149
   18. Tauger Racing Unit - 81

Eckdahl wins the tie-breaker as they have a driver higher in points (Eckdahl, 4th) than DJ Motorsports (Denny Adams, 7th)

Sam Brown Racing and Lambert Motorsports may opt to defer their promotions due to developmental deals with current PCC Cup teams.

1. Lenore Scurry - 67
2. Lucien Eckdahl Jr. - 56
3. Matt Beck - 48
4. Bluto Belushi - 30
5. Ryan Pritchard - 29
6. Daniel Bouchard - 28
7. Patrick O'Hannigan - 26
8. Dean Wormer - 25
T9. Romain Carpant - 24
T9. Carter Fitzgerald - 24
T11. Alex Constantine - 17
T11. Austin Sanders - 17
12. Dima Van Hall - 16
13. Fergal Sheedy - 15
15. Matt Tauger - 14
16. Treck Tauger - 12