WRPMotorsports driver Willie Phee Wins the American Road Race of Champions for the Second Year in a Row at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in Braselton Georgia. Round’s one and two of the 2022 SARRC Championship series was held at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta and WRPMotorsports driver Willie Phee would finish first in race one, win the Championship Race the following day and have fastest race laps each day. Qualifying for the Friday SAARC race was Friday morning and Phee would qualify second in class and second overall. “I thought I had a good enough lap to put the car on pole but David Spillman would put in a low 1.42 in his Datsun 240Z and get pole position. I just couldn’t get going and traffic was a problem for the entire session and ended up second on the grid” said Phee. In the Friday afternoon race Phee would lead going into turn one and lead from start to finish. Phee ran consistent laps for the entire race but with two laps to go Phee would have an exhaust failure. The header had broken off at the collector. In spite of this problem Phee would hold onto the lead and would end up setting the fast lap of the race on the 11 th of 12 laps. The pole sitter David Spillman would maintain second the entire race and finish just one second behind Phee at the finish. “I knew if I could get a good start and get into the lead early, I could hold off Spillman. I wasn’t sure what the problem was on lap 10. The car felt like it was losing an axel or having a transmission problem. I really thought the car was blowing up. But I managed to hold on to the finish and just hold off Spillman” said Phee. The ARRC Championship race was set for Saturday morning and Phee was second on the grid. At the start Spillman would get the jump going into turn one and would start to pull a gap. The gap was 3.1 seconds by lap four when a full course caution would come out and bunch up the field. The restart would take place on lap seven and Phee would hound Spillman until lap nine when Phee would move into the lead. Phee would pull out fast lap after fast lap with his and the race’s fast lap on lap 17 at 1.42.7. Phee would steadily pull away and would cross the finish line with a 6.9 second gap over Spillman. “I wasn’t concerned when Spillman pull the gap early in the race. I figured he would use up his tires and brakes and I’d have a chance to get by later in the race. Fortunately, the full course caution eliminated his lead and I had the opportunity to get by at the mid race point”. “Once I got by, I just tried to put in qualifying laps and get a gap on him. I managed to keep him behind me and pull out a small gap each lap. Spillman was right there the entire race and but I knew if he got by, I had a better top end for the run down the back straight and could make a pass going into turn 10A’ said Phee. “To win this race two years in a row is special and I have to thank Ryan, Tristan and all of the OPM crew. Tthey were able to give me a car capable of winning the event especially after the exhaust problem on Friday. I also have to thank Sam Nelson of Nelson Engines for providing me with a great engine package”. The next race is scheduled for March 12-13, 2022 at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia. The WRPMotorsports team is sponsored by GLoc Brakes, Sparco USA, Total Lubricants, MCS Suspension and OPM Autosports. Photos courtesy of pbowe Photography and Clark McInnis Photography http://motorsports.clarkmcinnisphotography.com/motorsports/SCCA/index.html

Race Results