Two racers named Rick make the top 3 at the 2021 Brian Redman WeatherTech International Challenge at Road America
Just few years ago, race entries were triple at this huge mid-July vintage event so these road signs came in handy for Corvette fans.
Despite being outnumbered, # 77 Rick Pfrang and # 88 Rick Mooney finished 2nd and 3rd in the popular Group 6 race for “big bore” production sports cars. # 5 Travis Pfrang was a DNS.
They also carried the flag en route to the traditional Friday evening race car show in downtown Elkhart Lake. Back in the day it was Randy Stafford followed by Rick Pfrang in the # 77 and Don Sak in the # 88. Catalog ID 416 and Catalog ID 1343
Chris Pedersen in the # 67 ex-Doug Tillman and John Malmquist in his trusty # 68 were 7th and 13th in the 24-car Group 6 field.
# 90 Robert Tornello posted the fastest lap yet finished 2nd in the Group 9 race for Prototype and GT1 cars in his 2014 C7 Coyote Corvette DP that the Troy Flis Spirit of Daytona team campaigned in the Grand Am Series. Catalog ID 1353
# 24 Bill Treffert and # 23 Todd Stuckart in straight axle Corvettes were 16th and 25th among 30 cars in Group 3 for 1960s production sports cars and prototypes.
Corvette powered “Specials” were a unique presence at Road America in the early to mid-1960s. Colin Comer, noted Author, Collector and Racer displayed this all original 1963 ex Bud Cluseruth Cheetah while Brian Garcia won the race in a 1965 replica roadster version.
# 32 Clay Carpenter 1995 C4 was 13th and Todd Zimmer 2002 C5 was 20th in Group 9 for newer GT cars.
Corvettes have been a big part of Road America over the years. Maybe it’s a Covid thing and they’ll bounce back. Nonetheless, it seems that Corvettes cost a bit more to race and take more time to prepare vs other large displacement Stock cars and Can Am.
While grids for smaller displacement sports cars (MG, Triumph, ALFA, BMW, FV, FF, etc) reached 45 to 50 cars.
Photos thanks to Kevin Bowman and Bill Nisius.
