Rettich Wins Round Nine at VIR
Scott Rettich helped his Formula Enterprises Pro Series title aspirations on Saturday afternoon (September 11), winning Round Nine at VIRginia International Raceway. Joining the Hippi Racing driver on the podium were Performance MotorRace Car’s Paul Schneider and JAY Motorsports’ Brian Novak.
With the 2010 championship crown still very much up for grabs, race one of the FE Pro series-finale commenced with Rettich and Paul Schneider leading the field to the green flag, the duo having topped morning qualifying in Virginia. Attacking the track on cold tires, Rettich immediately established a multi-car advantage on Schneider, who was coming under pressure from JAY Motorsports’ teammates Novak, Matthew Schneider and Jim Libecco. Also part of the mix early on for a podium position was championship leader Sean Rayhall, who was racing despite having broken his foot in a paddock accident earlier in the weekend. Rayhall’s chances at scoring valuable points however vanished before the halfway point, when the Comprent Motorsports racer retired from the race with a broken throttle cable, bringing out the yellow flags for stopping in a dangerous location.
While the subsequent re-start provide the chasing pack of Paul Schneider, Matthew Schneider, Novak and Libecco the chance to attack for the lead, Rettich easily held off his pursuers, pulling away before a second full-course caution period for an incident involving Cruzinc Racing’s Eric Cruz and Crossfire Racing’s Andrew Cross Jr. bunched the field back together.
The second and final re-start at VIR once again witnessed a clean get away from Rettich, making the most of the multi-car battle behind for the final two podium positions. With Rettich running unchallenged out front, the last few laps witnessed attention turning to the fight for second, as well as Special Addition Racing’s Wally Osinga and Team Grinske’s Tilden Kinlaw enjoying a good dice for position. When the checkered flag waved, Rettich had converted the Round Nine pole position into a three second win over Paul Schneider, who narrowly emerged in front of the multi-car fight for second place. Novak completed the podium celebrations, just leading Matthew Schneider and Libecco to the stripe.
The inaugural Formula Enterprises Pro Series season concludes on Sunday (September 12), with a championship being crowned following Round 10 at VIRginia International Raceway.