Hagerty, driver of the No. 7 Hoosier Phoenix Performance Chevrolet Cobalt SS Coupe, challenged for the lead early in the race.
In fact, he was within striking distance if McClughan and Lipperini had taken each other out.  Unfortunately, halfway through the race, the race leaders put a considerable distance between themselves and Hagerty and he finished third.

"I was waiting for [Lipperini and McClughan] to hit each other and maybe take each other out," Hagerty said. "They out-qualified me and I think they had stronger cars then I did, so I was just biding my time

Chicago Region SCCA Triple Crown® winner Joe McClughan, of New Braunfels, Texas, won a well-fought battle with two-time Runoffs Champion Joel Lipperini, of Pittston, Pa., to win his first Showroom Stock C National Championship at the 45th SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Heartland Park Topeka. Lipperini finished second and Bill Hagerty, of Escondido, Calif., finished third.

McClughan started from the pole in the No. 36 Madzaspeed/Hoosier Tires/mr/MREe Mazda 3s and led the first two laps until Lipperini passed McClughan in Turn Three for the lead. From there, McClughan spent the next 14 laps glued to the back of Lipperini’s No. 81 RaceLabz.com/Hankook/RaceShopper Honda Civic Si.

After going through several turns side-to-side on lap 15, McClughan finally made a gutsy move in Turn Eight, passing Lipperini for the race lead. Undaunted, Lipperini made one last attempt in Turn Nine to retake the lead, but did not have enough. McClughan won by 8.434-seconds.

“It was incredibly close, side-by-side racing. It’s like Joel said, if it’s with someone you trust, with someone you’ve run with before, it’s not an issue. You know what’s going to happen. You never turn your back on Joel Lipperini. Never. He will chase you down even with no tires on the car. I was driving as hard as I could the last two laps.

“‘Wow’ is all I can say. The Triple Crown is incredible, but to win the National Championship [that’s great]. I’ve been wanting to do this since I was eight years-old. My dad finished second in D Sports Racer at Road Atlanta in 1972 and I’ve been trying to do this for him ever since, so this one’s for my dad.”

Hagerty, driver of the No. 7 Hoosier Phoenix Performance Chevrolet Cobalt SS Coupe, challenged for the lead early in the race. Unfortunately, halfway through the race, the race leaders put a considerable distance between themselves and Hagerty and he finished third.

Two-time Runoffs Champion John Saucier, of Oklahoma City, Okla., and Ian Stewart, of Orlando, Fla., finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Jeff Jensen, of Monument, Colo., was the Sunoco Hard Charger for advancing two positions throughout the race.

Contact Us   -   William Hagerty-Investigative Services H-aHagerty Racing

 


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