GAINESVILLE, GA, November 8 – Ron Fariss shook the Road Atlanta monkey off his back and drove his Chevrolet Monte Carlo to a convincing win today at the 2008 American Road Race of Champions. Behind him, Ford racer Steve Graham survived a problem-plagued weekend to lock up the 2008 Stock Car Road Racing season championship, becoming the first repeat champion in the series’ seven-year history.
The win brought an end to a long drought for Fariss at Road Atlanta, who has always been fast at the Georgia track, and always been bitten by bad luck.
Competing in two classes at once – LMSC and GTA – Fariss won the GTA class as well, while his second car, piloted by Bob Davis, took second place in both classes, finishing right behind Fariss.
This day the Late Model Stock Cars (LMSC) of the Stock Car Road Racing Championship would go off in a huge field of over 30 stock cars and a scattering of GT-1 cars at the SCCA’s American Road Race of Champions.
The race would see a split start, the first group consisting of Trans-Am style GT-1 cars and unlimited horsepower stock cars. The second group to go off would be the limited-horsepower LMSC cars and GTA machines.
Ron Fariss and Bob Davis qualified their Chevrolets in the first two LMSC slots, third and fourth overall among the second starting group. Problems plagued the rest of the LMSC field in qualifying, with 2007 champion Roger Reuse qualifying third in LMSC, but 11th overall in the starting group. He wouldn’t stay there long. Likewise, fourth and fifth LMSC qualifiers Bobby Reuse and Steve Dunn could manage no better than 18th and 19th on the GTA/LMSC starting grid. Steve Graham, after trashing a transmission, would start shotgun on the field. But Graham, after a solid, consistent season, needed only to take the green flag to gain enough points for the season championship.
At the green flag, teammates Fariss and Davis hooked up to take the inside line away going up the hill through turn one, locking out Ron Keith, who had qualified third overall in the GTA/LMSC group. Then Fariss took off in pursuit of first-place starter Bob Stretch. But on the third lap, Stretch spun off at the end of the long back straight. Fariss was now leading both LMSC and GTA.

Meanwhile, Roger Reuse was coming from the back in a hurry. By lap six, he had passed seven of the GTA cars, and only two GTA cars now separated third-place Reuse from Bob Davis running in second. Brother Bobby Reuse was on the move as well. Steve Graham had passed Steve Dunn on lap three and was shadowing Bobby Reuse as he moved up through the field.
By lap nine, Fariss and Davis had caught the first starting group and were working their way through them, running 10th and 11th overall in the race. Fearing the return of his usual Road Atlanta bad luck, Fariss had been able to ease off and breathe the car a little after putting three GTA cars between himself and Bob Davis. But by lap eight, Davis had cleared the GTA cars and began to reel Fariss in. Fariss began to push hard again, but Davis, determined to try and catch Fariss, was turning his best laps of the weekend.
Third-place LMSC driver Roger Reuse was running in 15th overall. But on lap 10 it all came to grief for Reuse. As Roger came down the hill entering turn 12, he was clipped in the rear by the GT-1 car of Zach Monette, sending Reuse hard into the tire barrier.
After the wreck, the field circulated for a couple of laps behind the pace car before race officials determined it wouldn’t be possible to clean up the mess before the full race distance was completed, so the race was given the checkered flag on lap 13.
A couple of additional retirements left Ron Fariss in seventh overall, first LMSC, with Bob Davis right behind him in 8th overall, second LMSC. Bobby Reuse completed the race in third LMSC, 19th overall, followed by Steve Graham in fourth (22nd OA) and Steve Dunn in fifth (23rd OA).
For Fariss, who had seen so much misfortune at Road Atlanta, the win was especially sweet.
But for Roger Reuse, who won here in July, it was a bitter pill to be knocked out after coming through the field from 25th to 15th overall in just nine laps.
In finishing third, and in the process charging from 32nd to 19th overall, Bobby Reuse took home the $3,000 Brembo brake award.
And for Steve Graham, his fourth place put a satisfying coda on his second Stock Car Road Racing Championship. Though he didn’t win in 2008, consistency paid off.
Steve Dunn finished second in points, followed by Ron Fariss, Roger Reuse and Bobby Reuse in third through fifth.
2008 didn’t see a repeat race winner, with one win each going to Kenny Liesfeld, Aaron Dudley, Roger Reuse, Marshall McLeod and Ron Fariss. By manufacturer, Chevrolet took four wins and Dodge one.

DANVILLE, VA, September 27 – For seven years, competitors in the Stock Car Road Racing Championship series have referred to Marshall McLeod as different things at different times: front-runner, points leader, hard competitor, tough racer, and when needed, good friend.
Now you can add one more moniker: Winner.
After washing out two days of practice and qualifying, September’s “No Name” storm left town Saturday morning just in time to get the track dry enough for McLeod to take his first-ever Stock Car Road Racing win today at Virginia International Speedway.
And he did it in convincing manner, by qualifying first in LMSC and leading every lap.
This weekend, the LMSC cars would race together with the Historic Stock Cars at the SVRA VIR Fall Festival Weekend.
In the field of 15 stock cars, the three horsepower-limited LMSC cars qualified right together, with McLeod’s Chevrolet starting 11th overall, followed by Steve Graham’s Ford and Steve Dunn’s Chevy right behind in 12th and 13th overall.
McLeod wouldn’t stay in 11th for long.
When the green flew, the field made it all the way to turn one before a stock car race broke out. Two cars at the front tried to defy physics and occupy the same space at the same time. The results were predictable. Cars went everywhere.

McLeod entered the long 180-degree turn in 11th overall and exited in fourth.
Behind McLeod, Dunn and Graham got caught up in the shammazole, but were able to continue undamaged. Graham dropped to 15th and Dunn came around at the end of the first lap in 11th.
At the front, five of the 800 horsepower Cup cars got back by Marshall McLeod and he came around at the end of lap one in ninth. But he wasn't done yet.
As the race progressed, McLeod worked his way up to as high as sixth overall by taking advantage of others’ miscues.
On the penultimate lap, McLeod gave up one spot to a Historic Cup car, and took the checkered flag in seventh overall, an overdue and well-earned first place in LMSC.
The win was a long time coming, and especially sweet coming when it did, in McLeod’s first race back after prostate cancer surgery in the spring.
Steve Graham’s third place was enough to vault him into the points lead, with Steve Dunn following in second, still within striking distance. 2007 series champion Roger Reuse is now third, followed by Chris Liesfeld and Ron Fariss in fourth and fifth.
Steve Dunn took home the $3,000 Brembo brake award and McLeod copped the Hoerr Charger award for most overall spots gained, going from his 11th starting position to seventh.

GAINESVILLE, GA, July 20 – Roger Reuse took his second career Stock Car Road Racing win today at Road Atlanta by threading his way through first lap carnage, then putting himself in position to pounce on Ron Fariss’ last lap misfortune.
The Late Model Stock Cars of the Stock Car Road Racing Championship would run their third of three races to be run this year with the SCCA this weekend, and as usual, the big bore race of stock cars, GT-1 cars and other ground pounders was the wildest of the weekend.
If Ron Fariss didn’t have bad luck this Saturday, he wouldn’t have had no luck at all. The weekend started well for the #22 Chevrolet driver when he took the LMSC pole. But his good fortune would begin to unravel before the field even crossed the start line.
Qualifying second was Bob Davis in a Ron Fariss Chevy. Third was 2007 series champion Roger Reuse, followed by brother Bobby Reuse, both in Monte Carlos. Behind them were Steve Graham’s Ford and series newcomer Bobby Longbottom, in a Chevrolet.
The action – and the trouble – began before the race did.
As the huge field of 42 cars came down the hill to the green flag, a GT-1 driver at the front got overanxious, and spun both the tires and his car right in front of the field. With the field packed up and on the gas, carnage ensued.
Suddenly, there were GT cars and stock cars bouncing off the front straight concrete walls like ping pong balls. When the smoke cleared, nine cars were gone from the field.
Amazingly, all the LMSC cars got through the chaos, but not without damage. Among the most damaged was pole sitter Ron Fariss, who had gotten slowed up, only to get rear-ended by a GTA stock car and driven into the wall. With heavy rear-end damage, he would be able to continue. Also among the wounded was Roger Reuse’s Chevrolet, with extensive right-side damage.
SCRRC tech chief Dave Brown huddled with other SCCA officials and made the argument that the race hadn’t really started, so the field, halted on pit road, should be allowed to make repairs and change tires.

That was the decision they reached. So after a long wait on pit road to clean up the mess, the race and the clock were restarted, this time cleanly.
At the end of the first lap Bob Davis came by in first, having gotten by Fariss damaged Monte Carlo. Right behind Fariss was Roger Reuse, with Bobby Reuse only a car behind. Bobby Longbottom crossed the line in fifth, ahead of Steve Graham in sixth.
On lap three, Graham passed Longbottom and set off after Bobby Reuse.
At the front, Ron Fariss was discovering that his damaged Chevy might look ugly now, but he could still drive it. On lap three he took Bob Davis for the LMSC lead, then on the next lap passed Tony Amico’s Chevrolet for the lead of GTA. Fariss’ weekend was looking up again. He now led two classes at once, LMSC and GTA.
The order now was Fariss, Davis and Roger Reuse, hanging closely together.
That’s the way it stayed until lap nine, when Davis faded slightly and Roger Reuse came by, now in search of the lead. He chased Fariss for a couple of laps, but then Fariss began to pull away; and Amico put himself between the two by getting by Reuse, who had passed him on lap nine.
It looked like it would finish that way, but Road Atlanta had one last nasty surprise for Fariss. Poor Ron had brought a 14-lap engine to a 15-lap race.
One the final circuit, Fariss’s engine went up in smoke, and a surprised Roger Reuse came around to take the checkered flag.
Fariss was credited with second, and Bob Davis finished third to win the $3,000 Brembo Brake Award. By picking up three places to take the win, Roger Reuse picked up the Hoerr Charger Award in addition to the winner’s share of the purse.
Fourth was Bobby Reuse, followed to the flag by Steve Graham and Bobby Longbottom. Graham had caught up to run in the position behind Reuse, but wasn’t able to close the deal.
The win moved Roger Reuse to the top of the 2008 points standings, followed closely by Steve Graham. Chris Liesfeld, though not in attendance at Road Atlanta, dropped only to a close third, still in the hunt. Ron Fariss and Kenny Liesfeld follow in fourth and fifth.
Next up for the series is Rockingham Labor Day weekend, where the series will run a common weekend with the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour.

DANVILLE, VA, June 8 – Aaron Dudley took the second round of the season in dominating style at the VIR Gold Cup weekend, qualifying on the pole and leading the race in the Jack Finch Dodge Charger flag to flag.
But if the lead was never really in question throughout the day, the race going on behind Dudley was something else entirely.
Running in the big American Iron field at this Gold Cup Historics weekend, the LMSC cars of the Stock Car Road Racing Championship would share the track with the Historic Stock cars and a single Historic TransAm Mustang.
In qualifying for the split start, Dudley would start from pole. Beside him in his Monte Carlo would be Ron Farris. Kenny Liesfeld, last month’s winner here at VIR, qualified third, but would start from pit road after being late to the grid. The third and fourth starters were Steve Dunn, in a Chevrolet and Steve Graham, in a Ford. Chris Liesfeld’s Monte Carlo would start fifth after experiencing problems in qualifying.
On the split start, the Mustang and the Historic Stock Cars took the green flag first, followed by the LMSC cars. Aaron Dudley wasted no time pulling out to a good lead, followed by Ron Farris.
But Chris Liesfeld in third immediately ran into trouble when he lost a hood pin and the hood began to peel back. He had to charge into the pits at the end of the first lap to have the hood removed. He rejoined way back in last place.

Charging in the other direction was brother Kenny, who, despite starting from pit road, came by in third place at the end of lap one. On lap six, Kenny got by Ron Farris and set off to try and catch Dudley for the lead. But it all came to naught on the very next lap when his temperature gauge went to the peg. Liesfeld tried to nurse it for a couple of laps, but had to call it a day on the eighth circuit to avoid frying an engine.
But if Farris had any thoughts of taking second place back, they didn’t last long, as he found himself being tag-teamed by the Liesfelds.
Hood? Who needs a hood? After his first lap stop at the pits to remove the hood, Chris Liesfeld had been coming back through the field like a rocket, and on lap seven, caught and passed Farris.
At lap nine, the order was now Aaron Dudley, Chris Liesfeld, Ron Farris, Steve Dunn, Kenny Liesfeld and Steve Graham. That’s the way it stayed to the end.
Dudley finished the race in fourth overall, behind only the TransAm Mustang and two Historic Stock Cars. Chris Liesfeld came fifth overall, but well behind Dudley.
If the story of the 2007 points race was between the brothers Roger and Bobby Reuse, this year is shaping up to be the Liesfeld brothers show. With his second place run, Chris Liesfeld took over the points lead from brother Kenny by a razor-thin 15-point margin. Steve Dunn follows in third, with Steve Graham in fourth.
In addition to his share of the $2,000 purse, Ron Farris scored the Brembo contingency award, a pair of new Brembo brake calipers valued at over $3,000, awarded to the third place finisher. Chris Liesfeld took the Hoerr Charger award for his drive from fifth to second place.
In July, the series returns to the hills of Road Atlanta, July 19-20.

DANVILLE, VA, May 10 – Two hundred years ago, family feuds were common in the hills and hollows of Southwest Virginia. This Saturday, the tradition was revived, only this time the weapons were late model stock cars and the families were the Liesfelds and Reuses.
At the end of the day, a Liesfeld prevailed.
The season-opener for the LMSC cars of the Stock Car Road Racing Championship would be run at the SCCA’s annual Al Fairer VIR SAARC Challenge. Going into the Friday-Saturday race weekend, the weather forecast called for rain both days; but the weather held off and the track stayed dry and fast.
And fast was just what Kenny Liesfeld was in his new Chevrolet Monte Carlo, qualifying first in LMSC and fifth overall in a 55-car field of big-bore GT cars and stock cars.
The large field and crowded track made qualifying difficult, and a lot of fast cars never got anything like a clean lap. Right behind Kenny was brother Chris Liesfeld in second (sixth OA). Next came Roger Reuse, also in a Monte Carlo (third LMSC, 17th OA). Qualified in a tight pack were the fourth through sixth-place LMSC entries of Steve Dunn (Chevrolet, fourth LMSC, 25th OA), Steve Graham (Ford, fifth LMSC, 26th OA) and Bobby Reuse (sixth LMSC, 28th OA). New series competitor Bobby Longbottom in a Chevrolet didn’t get a full lap in qualifying and would start from the back in seventh LMSC, 55th overall.

At the green flag, Kenny Liesfeld took off like a shot, and would never be challenged for the LMSC lead throughout the race. Kenny put a car between himself and brother Chris running in second, first Lee Arnold in an unlimited Late Model, and then by passing Brian Dobyns in the class-leading GTA stock car. But Chris continued to press the issue until tangling with another car on lap six, dropping to 16th overall.
On lap eight, Roger Reuse, who had been moving up, got by Chris for second in LMSC, who dropped two more spots to 18th overall. As Chris recovered, the two continued to move toward the front in that order, with Roger eventually coming tenth OA and second in LMSC, with Chris right behind him in 11th OA, third LMSC.
Further back, Bobby Reuse, after starting back in 28th overall, would work his way through the crowded field to come 18th overall and fourth LMSC. In the process, he passed Steve Graham and Steve Dunn to pick up the Hoerr Charger Award. Steve Graham’s day would come to an early end in the pits with overheating problems. Steve Dunn finished the day on the lead lap in 19th OA.
And new competitor Bobby Longbottom, in his very first road race, would pick up the most overall spots of anyone, persevering to move from 55th starting spot to finish in 34th, a gain of 21 positions.
The final order in LMSC: Kenny Liesfeld, Roger Reuse, Chris Liesfeld, Bobby Reuse, Steve Dunn, Bobby Longbottom and Steve Graham.
In addition to his share of the $2,000 purse paid through 5th place, Chris Liesfeld scored the largest contingency award, a pair of new Brembo brake calipers valued at over $3,000, awarded to the third place finisher.
After the first race, the series points standings are in the same order as the race finish.
In June, the series returns to VIR for the second race of the season, at the VIR Gold Cup weekend June 7-8.

TALLAHASSEE, Feb. 25 – Blame it on the economy. Due to popular demand, the 2008 season-opener has been shifted to May 10-11 at Virginia International Raceway.
The 2008 Stock Car Road Racing Championship season will now kick off at Virginia International Raceway in May and end at Daytona International Speedway in November.

The LMSC Road Racing Stock Cars To Run Three SCCA Dates And Three Appearances With The Historic Stock Cars
Over the course of the year, the SCRRC will run two races at VIR, two at Road Atlanta and one each at Mid-Ohio and Daytona.
Three races will be run at SCCA events and three with the Historic Stock Cars of HSR. Two of the races run with the Historic Stock Cars will actually be at events sanctioned by Sportscar Vintage Racing (SVRA), which is owned by HSR.
The season starts at VIR May 10-11 at the SCCA SAARC-MARRS Challenge. The 2007 race went to Bob Davis, driving Ron Fariss’ Chevrolet Monte Carlo. This annual event at the fast and challenging Virginia track draws over 400 cars, and fields for each race are huge. Expect the big bore race, in which the LMSC cars of the Stock Car Road Racing Championship will compete, to start at least 25 stock cars.

In July the series moves to Road Atlanta, again with the SCCA. The first of two visits in 2008 to the Atlanta venue, this race win also went to Bob Davis in 2007.
After taking August off, the series moves to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course September 6-7 with the Ohio Valley Region SCCA. John Goodson inherited the 2007 rain-shortened event, and will look to repeat.
Three weeks later, the series returns to VIR with the Historic Stock Cars, sanctioned by SVRA. This is a new date at VIR. The last previous fall VIR date went to J.P. Morgan’s Monte Carlo, but the LMSC cars ran at VIR with the historic stock cars in the Spring of 2007, with Aaron Dudley taking the win after a close race with Kenny Liesfeld. Both return this year looking for the victory.
October sees the series back at Road Atlanta, again with the Historic Stock Cars and SVRA. The last time the series ran Road Atlanta with the historic stocks was in 2006, where Clay Young took a close win, chased to the flag by John Goodson. Kenny Liesfeld also won at Road Atlanta in 2006, at the American Road race of Champions. Both Goodson and Liesfeld will look to fight it out again for the win in 2008.
The season concludes again this year at Daytona International Speedway with the Historic Stock Cars and HSR. Aaron Dudley took the 2007 Daytona sprint in dominating style, and will be back in Jack Finch’s Dodge to defend his race title in 2008.