2003 Season National Championship

It was Race Week in Charlotte with the NASCAR Winston Cup & Busch Series in town for the Fall Night Races at Lowe's Motor Speedway, but that wasn't the only race in town! The Speedway Racing Association made it's way to the NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway for the SRA National Championships. With the Top 24 drivers from across the country competing for team and individual cash prizes, it was sure to be an exciting weekend of racing.

Pre-Competition Driver's Meeting under way.

The racing started on Friday morning and pitted 12 teams split into 4 different regions. One team from each region would advance to the Final Four after points were totaled from the 6 regional races.

Region 1 consisted of the Drivers from Minneapolis, Chicago and Grand Rapids and they took the track first. Dino Grecci & Gary Stokvis represented Minneapolis. Donald Robinson & Matt Kamrad represented Chicago. Brian Vannoller & Brandon Behrens represented Grand Rapids.

2002 Bristol Challenge Champion, Eric Wiethop
draws for car choice in qualifying from our
SRA President, Bert Lumpkin.
Region 1 raced on the Atlanta Motor Speedway
to start off the Competition. Brandon Behrens (Grand Rapids) made it known from the start that he was the car to beat. Brandon jumped out to the early lead and never looked back. Brian Vannoller ran a respectable 2nd only 2.47 seconds behind his teammate. Don Robinson, Dino Grecci, Matt Kamrad and Gary Stokvis followed Brandon and Brian across the line.

It was now Region 2's turn to take to Atlanta Motor Speedway. Region 2 consisted of the teams from Los Angeles, New York (N- Albany), and New York (S- West Nyack). Jon Corey & Blake Rostalski represented Los Angeles. Brian Decker & Edward Burrell represented New York (N). John Possidento & Sal Scianna represented New York (S).

The Region 2 race on Atlanta was all New York (N) with Brian Decker cruising home to the 1st place finish from start to finish. His teammate Ed Burrell finished a strong 2nd only 0.61 seconds behind Brian Decker. Blake Rostalski, Jon Corey, John Possidento and Sal Scianna followed Decker and Burrell at the finish.

Region 3 consisting of Nashville (Jeff Belt & Chad Wasill) Birmingham (Eric Wiethop & Mike Floyd) and Houston (Anthony Trevino & Joel Lopez) and were the next group to Ed Burrell in the #44 prepares for the race. tackle the Atlanta track in the first round.

Jeff Belt was the driver to beat on Atlanta and put in a strong effort and pulled away to a 1.04 second win over 2nd place Mike Floyd. Jeff & Mike were followed across the line by Eric Wiethop, Anthony Trevino, Joel Lopez and Chad Wasill.

With 3 Regions completing their first round of racing it was time for the final region to take to the Track. Region 4 was Atlanta N- Mall of Georgia (Greg Lewis & James Graham) Charlotte (Kevin Brown & Gene Hughes) Atlanta S- Arbor Place (Matt Johnson & Tim Miles).

Kevin Brown was able to overcome a poor qualifying run and capture the win on Atlanta. He finished 1.61 seconds in front of his teammate Gene Hughes. Greg Lewis, Matt Johnson, James Graham and Tim Miles followed Brown and Hughes at the finish.

With the first round completed, it was time for round 2 on Daytona International Speedway. With the Grand Rapids team holding the lead after one race the other teams in region 1 were looking to draft their way to the front. Brandon Behrens once again was able to best the field and pick up his second win of the event. Brian Vannoller once again followed Brandon across for 2nd place. Gary Stokvis, Jr. finished 3rd. Dino Grecci was 4th. Matt Kamrad came home 5th and Donald Robinson finished 6th.

The Region 2 race on Daytona was run much the same with teammates trying to draft with each other. John Possidento recovered from his 5th place finish on Atlanta to take the win on Daytona. John's teammate Sal Scianna finished 2nd followed by Blake Rostalski 3rd, Jon Corey 4th, Ed Burrell 5th and Brian Decker 6th.

The Region 3 race on Daytona was an exciting race with only 0.06 separating the top 3 cars. Last year's Bristol Challenge national winner Eric Wiethop held on for the 1st place finish. Jeff Belt, Mike Floyd, Joel Lopez, Anthony Trevino and Chad Wasill followed Eric across the line.

Region 4 took the track next on Daytona. The feeling in the Speedway was that the Atlanta drivers planned to hook up and draft away from the Charlotte drivers. The plan of the drivers from Atlanta worked to perfection, as they were able to line up in a 4-car draft and pull away. Tim Miles took home the win. Following Tim were Matt Johnson, Greg Lewis, James Graham, Kevin Brown and Gene Hughes.

All the Drivers came back to the Speedway on Friday Night for the next two races. The tracks were drawn at random with the 3rd race on Lowe' s Motor Speedway followed by the 4th race on Richmond International Raceway.

Once again Region 1 started off the round on Lowe's Motor Speedway. Brandon Behrens continued to dominate theEric Wiethop and girlfriend, Amber Region picking up his 3rd straight win. Gary Stokvis, Jr.chillin' at Dale Jr.'s.
ran a fine 2nd place, Dino Grecci came home 3rd, Brian Vannoller was 4th, Donald Robinson 5th and Matt Kamrad 6th.

Region 2's Brian Decker was the car to beat. He got a great jump at the start and ran a very strong race picking up the win. Edward Burrell was 2nd followed by Jon Corey, Blake Rostalski, John Possidento and Sal Scianna.

Eric Wiethop captured his 2nd win in a row by besting the field on Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Region 3 race. Jeff Belt finished a strong 2nd followed by Mike Floyd, Joel Lopez, Anthony Trevino and Chad Wasill.

Upon the finalists arriving at Lowe's, NASCAR'sKevin Brown recovered nicely from his 5th place
own JJ Damato met with them to chat and finish on Daytona to take home the win in
show everyone around. (JJ is one very cool cat.)Region 4. James Graham ran an excellent 2ndfollowed by Gene Hughes 3rd, Matt Johnson 4th, while Greg Lewis and Tim Miles had some trouble and finished 9th and 10th.

At the halfway point of racing, the teams to beat by region were Grand Rapids, New York N-Albany, Birmingham and Charlotte. With 3 races still to go it was very close.

It was bound to get intense with race #4 on Richmond. Crashes are common on this track and we had some during the 4th round, shaking up the points in all Regions.

This would be the biggest challenge for Brandon Behrens to come from the back on Richmond. Brandon was up to the challenge capturing his 4th straight win. Dino Grecci finished 4th, Donald Robinson came home 7th, Gary Stokvis, Jr. was 10th, Brian Vannoller was 12th and Matt Kamrad finished 13th.

In Region 2 Brian Decker picked up his 3rd win of the weekend in impressive fashion with Jon Corey the next closest competitor finishing in 8th place. Ed Burrell finished 10th, John Possidento was 11th, Blake Rostalski 17th and Sal Scianna 18th.

Eric Wiethop was really finding his groove capturing his 3rd straight win on Richmond in Region 3 with Anthony Trevino giving him a run finishing in 4th. Jeff Belt 6th, Chad Wasill 10th, with Joel Lopez 13th and Mike Floyd 16th closing out the pack.

Kevin Brown and Tim Miles battled it out in Region 4 with Kevin Brown picking up his 3rd win of the weekend. Tim finished 4th followed by Gene Hughes in 9th, James Graham in 10th, Greg Lewis 17th and Matt Johnson 18th.

The 5th round of racing was on Indianapolis Motor Speedway and was sure to be the cause of some low finishes. Region 1 was beginning to be a blow out by the Grand Rapids team. The other drivers were hoping that the Indy track would swing things in their favor. Brandon Behrens continued to dominate the region with another victory. Brian Vannoller finished 2nd he was followed by Matt Kamrad 13th, Dino Grecci 17th, Donald Robinson 21st and Gary Stokvis, Jr. 23rd.

Region 2 was looking like the New York N-Albany team was going to take the Region. The Indy raced proved no different with Brian Decker once again finishing in 1st place. His Partner Ed Burrell finished 7th and was followed by Jon Corey 8th, Sal Scianna 15th, Blake Rostalski 20th and John Possidento 22nd.

Region 3 had been the closed battle, but Indy was about to change all that. Mike Floyd picked up his first win of the event for Team Birmingham. His partner Eric Wiethop finished 8th and was followed by Chad Wasill 15th, Joel Lopez 16th, Jeff Belt 19th and Anthony Trevino 20th.

Region 4 was looking like it was Charlotte's to lose with Kevin Brown the National lap time record holder on Indy. Kevin didn't disappoint cruising to an easy Indy Win and his 3rd win in a row. Greg Lewis finished 10th and was followed by Gene Hughes 11th, Matt Johnson 14th, Tim Miles 19th and James Graham 22nd.

Next stop was Round 6 on Bristol Motor Speedway. Grand Rapids was looking to finish off Region 1, they didn't disappoint with Brandon Behrens winning his 6th race in a row for the clean sweep. His partner Brian Vannoller stumbled a bit and finished15th but that was more than enough to advance Grand Rapids into the Final Four. The Bristol Finishing order was as follows Brandon Behrens 1st, Donald Robinson 2nd, Dino Grecci 12th, Brian Vannoller 15th, and Gary Stokvis, Jr. 18th and Matt Kamrad 20th.

Brian Decker continued his dominance of Region 2 by winning the Bristol race. Ed Burrell followed Brian, finishing in 10th place, gave Team New York N-Albany the victory and a spot in the Final Four. The Bristol finish order was Brian Decker 1st, Ed Burrell 10th, Jon Corey 13th, Blake Rostalski 14th, Sal Scianna 17th and John Possidento 20th.

Region 3 was next on Bristol and it was Jeff Belt picking up his second win of the Event. Eric Wiethop 3rd, Joel Lopez 13th, Anthony Trevino 14th, Mike Floyd 15th and Chad Wasill 16thfollowed Jeff. Team Birmingham Not sure what Bert is talking about here, but trust us... was able to hold off Team Nashville towhatever it is, it's good. Bert knows his NASCAR.
advance to the Final Four.

It was now time for the last Region. In Region 4 the Bristol race was a close battle for the win with Kevin Brown edging out Tim Miles. The final finishing order for Region 4 Bristol race was Kevin Brown 1st, Tim Miles 2nd, Greg Lewis 14th, Matt Johnson 15th, James Graham 17th and Gene Hughes 19th. Team Charlotte was able to advance to the Final Four.

The Final Four was set with Grand Rapids, New York N-Albany, Birmingham and Charlotte. Brandon Behrens had the highest individual point total with Brian Decker and Kevin Brown hot on his tail. The First race of the Final Four races was to be run on Lowe's Motor Speedway with Indianapolis, Bristol and Daytona to follow.

Final Four Race #1 was to start with all teams at zero points so it was anyone's title to win. The individual award was a running total for the entire event so Brandon Behrens looked to be the man to beat. Once again it was Brandon Behrens taking control getting the lead and winning the first segment of the Final Four. Brian Decker was a strong 2nd and followed by Eric Wiethop 3rd, Brian Vannoller 4th, Gene Hughes 5th, Kevin Brown 6th, Mike Floyd 7th and Ed Burrell 8th.

The racing turned to Bristol Motor Speedway and it was bound to get crazy. Gene Hughes and Eric Wiethop would lead the field to the start from the front row. They battled into the turn side by side with Eric and Gene getting together and the big one happened, sending over half the field into the wall. Gene Hughes and Brian Decker were able to clear the wreck and get out in front. It looked like Gene was going to drive home to a victory but a slowing car caused both he and Brian Decker to take evasive action. Hughes got into the wall. Decker escaped with no problems and went on to win the Bristol Race. Eric Wiethop came on for 5th followed by Gene Hughes 9th, Brandon Behrens 10th, Kevin Brown 12th, Mike Floyd 15th, Ed Burrell 16th and Brian Vannoller 18th. With Grand Rapids finishing down in the standings their lead was cut going into the last race. It was anybody's race going into Daytona for the Championship.

Strategy would once again figure into the finish of Daytona with Grand Rapids leading the standings, Charlotte one point ahead of New York N-Albany, and Birmingham still within striking distance in 4th. At the start the New York N -Albany and Charlotte teams jumped out in front with a 4-car draft. It was looking like they were going to be able to draft away from the Birmingham and Grand Rapids teams. Midway through the race the Charlotte and New York teams were drafting away and it was looking like one of the two teams would pull the come-from-behind victory. But all was lost when drafting around the high banks of Daytona, the front two cars got together and crashed sending all 4 of the lead cars into a massive pileup. The Birmingham and Grand Rapids freight train drafted their way through the melee and into the lead. That's all they needed to pull away and would never be challenged. Coming to the line it was Mike Floyd picking up the win for Team Birmingham. Brandon Behrens finished second followed by Eric Wiethop 3rd, and Brian Vannoller 4th. Kevin Brown made an awesome move with one lap to go to place 5th followed by Gene Hughes in 6th, Ed Burrell 7th and Brian Decker 8th.

When the final standings were totaled, Grand Rapids showed that they were the best team and were crowned the National Champions with a total of 1197 points. With that great final race on Daytona, Team Birmingham finished in second place by only 4 points with a total of 1148 points. 3rd Place went to Team Charlotte with 1144 points. 4th place was Team New York N-Albany with 1126 points.

The Podium
Pictured left to right:
Eric Wiethop, Mike Floyd, Brandon Behrens, Brian Vannoller, Kevin Brown and Gene Hughes.

Brandon Behrens from Grand Rapids took home the Most Valuable Driver award with 1694 points. 2nd overall was Brian Decker with 1642 points. Kevin Brown finished 3rd overall with 1637 points.

The Final Cash Payouts were as follows:


Brandon Behrens and Brian Vannoller (Grand Rapids) $2000.00



Eric Wiethop and Mike Floyd (Birmingham) $1000.00



Kevin Brown and Gene Hughes (Charlotte) $500.00

Brandon Behrens (Most Valuable Driver) $1000.00

Congratulations to all drivers who participated.
It was a great day for racing for all of the competitors.
They didn't just dream it, they drove it!


Pictured left to right:
Ed Burrell, Brian Decker, Mike Floyd, Brandon Behrens,
Brian Vannoller, Eric Wiethop, Kevin Brown and Gene Hughes.