Paul Fix victorious in Next Dimension 100 at Mid-Ohio
In a race that seemed to throw everything possible at the competitors — heat, heavy traffic, multiple contacts and full course yellows — Fix managed to endure everything thrown at him, opting for a patient and calculated route to the podium, avoiding much of the drama and contact ahead of him.
“I knew it was going to be a very contact heavy race simply from watching the TA2 race yesterday," said Fix. “And I knew that we had six cars that were very competitive, with very close times, and I knew I just had to keep my nose clean—and that it would come to me. And it sure did. There were a few things that happened in front of me that I had no control over, and the car just got better and better as the race went on. I think I turned one of my fastest laps at the end of the race. I had a great car and great circumstances. I love Mid-Ohio, I’ve been here since the 80s; I couldn’t be happier.
The victory helps Fix, the current points runner up, close the gap on current points leader Amy Ruman in their pursuit of the 2015 Trans Am Championship. The victory also gives Fix two victories in the 3-Dimensional Services Triple Shot Showdown, a trophy awarded to the Trans Am competitor with the most accumulated points from the Lime Rock, Mid-Ohio and Road America events, putting him in the commanding position to capture the first silverware of the season. Still, Fix remains focused on the task at hand and tackling each event on a race-by-race basis.
“After Brainerd I said ‘you know we have no control over the points’ and we’re just going to keep our head down and go race the race and see what happens," continued Fix. “Amy had a pretty good lead and we knew it would be tough to race for the win in every single race, and it just came to us and I’m really happy."
Fix now has two victories to his name in 2015 and has only missed landing on the podium once. He leaves the event with 187 points to Ruman’s 209, putting him within striking distance of the Championship moving into the second half of the season.
Fix was joined on the podium by Jim McAleese, driver of the No. 03 McAleese and Associates/ Jetco Chevrolet Corvette, and Adam Andretti, in the No. 47 Engineered Components Chevrolet Corvette, who finished second and third, respectively. The second place finish was McAleese’s career best and first podium of the year while Andretti’s third place was his first ever in the TA class, as he typical competes only in the TA2 class. Andretti will now leave Mid-Ohio with two pieces of silverware, a third place finish in both the TA class and TA2 class race having competed in both races.
The TA class top five was rounded out by John Baucom, in the No. 86 Roadraceparts.com Ford Mustang, who finished fourth after leading several laps and Simon Gregg, in the No. 59 Derhaag Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette.
The TA3 class featured two victors with Michael Camus taking the International Group Victory and Ernie Francis, Jr., winning the American Muscle Group.
For Camus the victory was his first of the year and third podium appearance, as he powered the No. 08 Epic Motorsports/ MCM Holdings BMW M3 across the finish line in his first ever Trans Am appearance at Mid-Ohio. Camus dealt with the same grueling conditions, battling the heat constantly in the latter stages of the race and still setting a new International Group track record of 1:30.449 despite circumstances—Camus was taken to medical as a precaution after winner’s circle and was unavailable for comment.
For Francis, the victory marked a return to his winning ways. This was Francis’ fourth win of the year in, remarkably, his fourth race of the weekend as the young driver competed in both Pirelli World Challenge and the Trans Am this weekend—constantly changing competitions and cars throughout the event.
“It’s been a lot of focusing on what car I’m driving," said Francis. “From racing the Pirelli World Challenge race yesterday and getting one win and second place then having to immediately go qualify the TA3 car, I really had to sit down and remember what braking points and the differences. But it definitely took its toll on me, it’s been a long weekend with three PWC races and a Trans Am race plus all the qualifying and practicing. The crew worked so hard. They had seven cars to manage, so we’re all looking forward to a brief break."
The International Group saw current points leader Lee Saunders, in the No. 84 Landsearch LLC Dodge Viper, collect his fifth podium of the year, helping increase his own lead in his TA3 Championship pursuit—but only just. Russ Snow, driver of the No. 20 Guardian Services/AiM Sports Chevrolet Corvette, the runner up in the International Group points, finished third, minimizing Saunders’ lead and setting up an exciting championship chase for the second half of the year.
Joining Francis on the American Muscle Podium were Craig Capaldi, driver of the No. 8 Wolverine Bronze Ford Mustang, and Jason Fichter, in the Turn 7 Motor Sports Chevrolet Camaro. The event marked Capaldi’s first podium in what was his first ever Trans Am appearance while Fichter collected his third podium of the season.
The race began with Tomy Drissi, in the No. 71 Straight Outta Compton Chevrolet Corvette, on pole for the TA class with Cliff Ebben, in the No. 36 Stumpf Ford/McMahon Group Ford Mustang, alongside; and Amy Ruman, in the No. 23 McNichols Company Chevrolet Corvette, in third with Fix alongside. In TA3, Francis started on pole with American Muscle points runner up Todd Napieralski, in the No. 39 Tremec/SKF/Backstreet Performance Chevrolet Camaro alongside. Camus led the second row with Saunders alongside and Chirs DeSalvo, in the No. 61 Baucom Motorsports Ford Mustang, in fifth.
The field immediately underwent a full course yellow after the No. 99 of Rich Rigda blew an engine on the start dumping oil on course. When the race restarted, Ruman immediately shot into the lead, overtaking both Ebben and Drissi, taking control of the field. Fix and Ebben soon joined her in passing Drissi as the top five continued to shuffle. Shortly thereafter the No. 71 of Drissi made contact with the No. 4 of Fix, slowing both; allowing Andretti and Doug Peterson, in the No. 87 3Dimensional.com Chevrolet Corvette, to pass both drivers.
Again, the course then went under yellow to retrieve two cars stranded off course. Race control issued Drissi a stop-and-go penalty for both the prior contact and an ensuing pass under yellow to be served on the restart.
The field went green once more while Saunders and Camus battled for the International Group lead; and Francis capitalized on the poor luck of Napieralski, who had been leading the race up to that point.
Two laps after the restart Camus finally overtook Saunders while the TA leaders caught up to the back of the TA3 field and shortly a lapped car made contact with the No. 47 of Andretti forcing him and Ebben off course, and while Andretti was able to recover Ebben’s day was over.
On the 23rd lap of the race, Ruman, leading the TA class, caught up to Drissi, now a lap down after serving his penalty. Drissi then made contact with the No. 23 of Ruman causing both cars, and Peterson, off course—heavily damaging the body work of Ruman’s Corvette and puncturing her front left tire. Ruman would be forced to pit for repairs and, while she reentered the race, was never able to regain position.
John Baucom then inherited the lead with Fix, McAleese and Andretti all in pursuit. Baucom was able to hold the lead for all but three of the remaining laps when on the 40th lap of the race Fix, visibly faster over the several past laps, closed the gaps and drove by the No. 86 of Baucom, capturing the lead and ensuing victory. Both McAleease and Andretti followed suit and Baucom continued to slow. In TA3, Francis completed his race in somewhat comfortable position, while Camus managed to outlast Saunders for the victory.
As a penalty for his actions during the race, the Trans Am Chief Steward stripped Drissi of all points and standings from the race and was struck from the results.
The Trans Am Series will now head North to Road America for Round 8 of the 2015 Trans Am Championship, commencing August 29th.
Results
| Pos | No. | Class | PIC | Name | Sponsor/Car | Best Tm | Lap | Diff |
| 1 | 4 | TA | 1 | Paul Fix / Williamsville NY | StopFlex.com/TheCarCoach.com/Chevrolet Corvette | 01:24.065 | 44 | 0.000s |
| 2 | 03 | TA | 2 | Jim McAleese / Leesburg VA | McAleese&Assoc/JetcoEngineering/Chevrolet Corvette | 01:24.672 | 44 | 5.678 |
| 3 | 47 | TA | 3 | Adam Andretti / Brownsburg IN | Engineered Components Company/Chevrolet Corvette | 01:24.372 | 44 | 6.276 |
| 4 | 86 | TA | 4 | John Baucom / Matthews NC | Roadraceparts.com/BaucomMtrsprts/Ford Mustang | 01:24.305 | 44 | 10.25 |
| 5 | 59 | TA | 5 | Simon Gregg / Ponte Verde FL | Derhaag Motorsports/Chevrolet Corvette | 01:25.096 | 44 | 21.411 |
| 6 | 19 | TA | 6 | Kerry Hitt / Harrisburg PA | Advance Composite Products Inc./Chevrolet Corvette | 01:24.836 | 44 | 43.006 |
| 7 | 7 | TA | 7 | Claudio Burtin / Rosario Argentina | Foametix/Chevrolet Corvette | 01:25.860 | 43 | 1 Lap |
| 8 | 82 | TA | 8 | Joseph Freda (R) / Auburn AL | ERALAB.com/Chevrolet Corvette | 01:27.346 | 43 | 1 Lap |
| 9 | 30 | TA | 9 | Richard Grant / Germantown TN | Grant Racing/Chevrolet Corvette | 01:29.087 | 43 | 1 Lap |
| 10 | 6 | TA | 10 | Mickey Wright / Clearwater FL | Fan Rag/Chevrolet Corvette | 01:27.315 | 42 | 2 Laps |
| 11 | 08 | TA3I | 1 | Michael Camus(R) / Miami Springs FL | Epic Motorsports/MCM Holdings/BMW M3 | 01:30.449 | 42 | 2 Laps |
| 12 | 84 | TA3I | 2 | Lee Saunders / Lakeland FL | Landsearch LLC/Dodge Viper | 01:30.714 | 42 | 2 Laps |
| 13 | 20 | TA3I | 3 | Russ Snow / Eden NC | Guardian Services/AIM Sports/Chevrolet Corvette | 01:30.588 | 42 | 2 Laps |
| 14 | 98 | TA3A | 1 | Ernie Francis Jr / Miami FL | Breathless Racing/Chevrolet Camaro | 01:31.968 | 42 | 2 Laps |
| 15 | 67 | TA3I | 4 | Jason Berkeley / New York NY | SMG Management/Chevrolet Corvette | 01:31.787 | 42 | 2 Laps |
| 16 | 93 | TA3I | 5 | Jerry Greene (R) / Minnetonka MN | Temp Air/Porsche 996 GT3 | 01:32.343 | 42 | 2 Laps |
| 17 | 8 | TA3A | 2 | Craig Capaldi / Richmond MI | WolverineBronze/CapaldiRacing/Ford Mustang | 01:33.594 | 42 | 2 Laps |
| 18 | 02 | TA3I | 6 | Vincent Allegretta (R) / Hampton Bay NY | RatchetHeadRacing/Turner/KWSusp/BMW M3 | 01:33.287 | 42 | 2 Laps |
| 19 | 79 | TA3A | 3 | Jason Fichter (R) / Jupiter FL | Turn 7 Motor Sports/Chevrolet Camaro | 01:34.245 | 41 | 3 Laps |
| 20 | 28 | TA3A | 4 | Fernando Seferlis / Republic of Panama | Compulab Panama/Chevrolet Camaro | 01:35.515 | 41 | 3 Laps |
| 21 | 15 | TA | 11 | Allan Lewis / New Dundee Ont Canada | BC Race Cars/Chevrolet Corvette | 01:26.199 | 40 | 4 Laps |
| 22 | 22 | TA3A | 5 | Mel Shaw / Voorhees NJ | Bay Investments/Ford Mustang | 01:37.687 | 40 | 4 Laps |
| 23 | 39 | TA3A | 6 | Todd Napieralski / Chelsea MI | Tremec/SKF/BackstreetPerformnce/Chevrolet Camaro | 01:32.958 | 40 | 4 Laps |
| 24 | 64 | TA3I | 7 | Larry Funk / Oberlin OH | Business Advisory Services/BMW M3 | 01:33.411 | 40 | 4 Laps |
| 25 | 32 | TA3A | 7 | Steve Coleman / Azle, TX | RaceAwayCancer/Lateralresource/Ford Mustang | 01:39.994 | 38 | 6 Laps |
| 26 | 23 | TA | 12 | Amy Ruman / Kent OH | McNichols Company/Chevrolet Corvette | 01:24.373 | 36 | 8 Laps |
| 27 | 94 | TA3I | 8 | Clint Sawinski (R) / Minnetrista MN | Temp Air/Porsche 996 GT3 | 01:35.617 | 36 | 8 Laps |
| 28 | 53 | TA3A | 8 | Spencer Caudle / Johnstown OH | SWC Motorsports/Dodge Challenger | 01:37.080 | 34 | 10 Laps |
| 29 | 68 | TA | 13 | Greg Pickett /Crystal Bay NV | Flavor Insights/Jaguar XKR | 01:25.051 | 33 | 11 Laps |
| 30 | 87 | TA | 14 | Doug Peterson / Bonita Springs FL | 3©Dimensional.com/Chevrolet Corvette | 01:23.982 | 23 | 21 Laps |
| 31 | 36 | TA | 16 | Cliff Ebben / Appleton WI | Stumpf Ford/McMahon Group/Ford Mustang | 01:24.413 | 22 | 22 Laps |
| 32 | 55 | TA3I | 9 | Milton Grant (R) / Germantown TN | Courtyard Hotel/Sentry Storage/Porsche 997 GT3 | 01:35.362 | 18 | 26 Laps |
| 33 | 37 | TA3A | 9 | Rich Jones / Carrolton OH | Jomac Track Bodies and Cranes/Ford Mustang | 01:35.815 | 17 | 27 Laps |
| 34 | 61 | TA3A | 10 | Chris DeSalvo (R) / Charlotte NC | Baucom Motorsports/Ford Mustang | 01:43.661 | 10 | 34 Laps |
| 35 | 85 | TA3A | 11 | Bill Baten / Indianapolis IN | Hendrickson USA/Marks ADR/TPR/Chevrolet Camaro | 01:43.559 | 9 | 35 Laps |
| 36 | 0 | TA3I | 10 | Randy Mueller (R) / Miami FL | Epic Motorsports/MCM Holdings/BMW M3 | 01:41.776 | 9 | 35 Laps |
| 37 | 57 | TA | 17 | David Pintaric / Canfield OH | Kryderacing/Chevrolet Corvette | 01:32.175 | 5 | 39 Laps |
| 38 | 99 | TA3A | 12 | Rich Rigda /Saginaw MI | Total Performance Racing/Chevrolet Camaro | 01:53.237 | 1 | 43 Laps |