Vanacore elevated to first National Championship with gold in Prototype 1

All 15 laps in Friday’s Prototype 1 race at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs counted, but a first-lap incident went a long way in determining the winner as Todd Vanacore, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was elevated to his first career National Championship in 17 tries at VIRginia International Raceway.

Vanacore started the race on the Tire Rack Pole, while Jim Devenport roared from fifth on the grid to the battle for the lead at the end of the backstraight on the opening lap, where the two touched fenders. Vanacore’s No. 19 Elan DP02/Mazda spun off track and dropped out of the lead, while Devenport was able to continue moving forward.

The eventual champion dropped back to ninth after the spin, rejoining the field well in back of the race lead. A full-course caution on lap six bunched the field. That meant, while Vanacore remained in sixth place, a large portion of the gap had been erased.

Using the restart as a springboard, Vanacore moved through the field and got to third behind Devenport and Chip Romer with 10 to go. When Romer’s car started to lose oil, Vanacore had a new challenge and oil on his windscreen.

At the end of 15 laps, Devenport crossed the finish line first in his No. 23 Cranbrook Group Inc Elan DP02 with Vanacore 9.106s behind. But a review of the first-lap incident by the stewards penalized Devenport one position and elevated Vanacore to the gold medal.

“Once I get the trophy in my hand, it will be a good moment,” Vanacore said. “I’d rather have crossed the line first, but there’s no doubt I had the car to beat. I had no problem running those guys down. When Chip started to lose his motor and put oil all over my windshield, I made the mistake of trying to wipe it off with my glove and made a real mess of it. I couldn’t see anything at that point and had to back out of it.”

Devenport didn’t get away scot-free after the first lap incident. Lee Alexander took over the lead on lap two but spun in the Oak Tree turn on lap three. When the full-course caution came out, Devenport found himself in a battle with Romer, which lasted until Romer’s motor issues ended his day with two laps to go.

The eventual result was Devenport’s sixth career podium, and came after his team rebuilt his car following a crash at the Chicago Region SCCA June Sprints early in the season.