Rich Wesorick
Enthusiast
Dr. Deborah Loth, the only woman entered in the T1 class for the 2001 SCCA Valvoline Run-Offs at Mid-Ohio in September, brought her new yellow Viper GTS to Mid-Ohio to compete in the SCCA National event on August 26, 2001. Having never driven the track before, the Texas-based Loth decided the National event on August 26 would be an excellent primer for the Run-Offs. She was not alone in this thought though, as 12 other cars showed up for the T1 race, including several of the entrants for the Run-Offs.
After Friday’s qualifying session, Loth found herself farther back on the grid than she had hoped. She qualified 9th in the T1 class, and 14th overall. The field in front of her included three Vipers and five Corvette’s, with the pole going to John Heinricy in a Corvette. The top four qualifiers were all quicker than the existing track record.
The T1 race got underway around 10:30am under partly sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 70’s. Although rain would fall shortly after the race, no rain fell during the race. The green flag was waived at the Finish Line on the front straight, rather than on the back straight where they start many races at Mid-Ohio. Heinricy took off at the start and was never challenged for the lead. A very intriguing battle for second place took place between the two red Vipers driven by Tom Lyons and Fred Baker. Lyons, who started third, briefly got around Baker on lap 2, but was immediately forced to give back the position by the aggressive Baker. Lyons remounted his attack midway through the race and eventually passed Baker to finish second in the race.
Loth, driving the No. 23 Bobby Archer Motorsports Viper, steadily worked her way up through the field. Her ascent was aided by contact between a few of the AS cars in front of her as she was able to weave safely through the chaos and get by other cars that had to take more evasive action to avoid contact. After repeated close attempts, Loth was able to pass the leader in the AS class near the end of the race to finish 5th in T1 and in 5th place overall. Baker finshed 3rd in a Viper, while Texas driver Kevin Mixon finished 4th in a Corvette. Loth’s drive from 14th to 5th was one of the more impressive climbs by any driver in the race.
The T1 race on August 26 proved to be interesting preview of things to come at the Run-Offs. The Vipers and Vettes are sure to put on a heck of show. Will Bobby Archer or anyone else be able to compete with Heinricy who absolutely ran away with this race? Time will tell…
More information on Deborah Loth, Bobby Archer, and the ViperSpeed team can be found at www.bobbyarchermotorsports.com and www.viperspeed.com.
After Friday’s qualifying session, Loth found herself farther back on the grid than she had hoped. She qualified 9th in the T1 class, and 14th overall. The field in front of her included three Vipers and five Corvette’s, with the pole going to John Heinricy in a Corvette. The top four qualifiers were all quicker than the existing track record.
The T1 race got underway around 10:30am under partly sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 70’s. Although rain would fall shortly after the race, no rain fell during the race. The green flag was waived at the Finish Line on the front straight, rather than on the back straight where they start many races at Mid-Ohio. Heinricy took off at the start and was never challenged for the lead. A very intriguing battle for second place took place between the two red Vipers driven by Tom Lyons and Fred Baker. Lyons, who started third, briefly got around Baker on lap 2, but was immediately forced to give back the position by the aggressive Baker. Lyons remounted his attack midway through the race and eventually passed Baker to finish second in the race.
Loth, driving the No. 23 Bobby Archer Motorsports Viper, steadily worked her way up through the field. Her ascent was aided by contact between a few of the AS cars in front of her as she was able to weave safely through the chaos and get by other cars that had to take more evasive action to avoid contact. After repeated close attempts, Loth was able to pass the leader in the AS class near the end of the race to finish 5th in T1 and in 5th place overall. Baker finshed 3rd in a Viper, while Texas driver Kevin Mixon finished 4th in a Corvette. Loth’s drive from 14th to 5th was one of the more impressive climbs by any driver in the race.
The T1 race on August 26 proved to be interesting preview of things to come at the Run-Offs. The Vipers and Vettes are sure to put on a heck of show. Will Bobby Archer or anyone else be able to compete with Heinricy who absolutely ran away with this race? Time will tell…
More information on Deborah Loth, Bobby Archer, and the ViperSpeed team can be found at www.bobbyarchermotorsports.com and www.viperspeed.com.
