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Earlier this weekend, winning HSR driver David Agretelis borrowed a Porsche engine from teammate Todd Treffert. Now Agretelis is grabbing the headlines from his 901 Shop stablemate.
Agretelis rolled to his second-straight HSR feature race victory Saturday with the outright and GT Classic division wins in His 901 Shop 1973 No. 92 Porsche 911 RSR in the B.R.M Chronographes Endurance Challenge one-hour race. Agretelis topped a 25 car field in the B.R.M race, a strong follow up to his Friday triumph over 37 other competitors for both the overall and Porsche-class wins in the SascoSports American/International Challenge presented by Hoosier sprint race.
Such weekend sweeps at Sebring are familiar achievements for Treffert – a perennial HSR race winner and champion – but the veteran HSR competitor has called it a year and is not at Sebring this weekend after already putting a solid racing season in the books. A highlight was at March’s HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour presented by Mission Foods where Treffert and Agretelis each won their first HSR Classic Endurance Championship presented by Mission Foods races after years of trying.
The dual Sebring success was a springboard to great seasons for both drivers, but Agretelis would have missed this weekend’s finale if Treffert hadn’t selflessly loaned him one of his Porsche powerplants after Agretelis’ engine faltered in Thursday’s practice. The end result for Agretelis was nothing short of perfect.
Agretelis shared the winner’s rostrum in Saturday morning’s B.R.M. race with overall second-place finisher and Historic class winner Gil West in his Vintage Racing Co. 1997 No. 44 Porsche 993 RSR. The Vintage class win was secured by the always quick Jamie Busby who crossed the finish line a solid fourth overall in his KMW Motorsports 1970 No. 88 Porsche 914/6.
Another strong field took the green flag in Saturday’s featured HSR Mission GT Challenge sprint that followed the weekend’s opening ceremonies, complete with a Fly Over and Presentation of Colors by Highlands County Composite Squadron FL-314 of the Civil Air Patrol U.S. Air Force Auxiliary.
The win in the 39-car field went to Mike Skeen in the Jacalone Brothers 2019 No. 62 Porsche Type 991.2 GT2 911 RS/CS. Skeen prevailed in a nice all-pro battle with Aston Martin Team Valkyrie GTP driver Roman De Angelis, who was reunited with the same Mark Motors Racing 2019 No. 79 Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup he drove in IMSA and Canadian Porsche GT3 Cup competition six years ago.
Perhaps the most impressive drive of the race was HSR Champion driver Ben Myers stepping up to join the pair of accomplished professional drivers on the podium with a lead-pack third-place finish in his 2017 Type 991.2 No.29 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup prepared by the 901 Shop.
Another Saturday highlight was the first HSR NASCAR Classic race weekend since the VIRginia International Raceway round in September. The return of big-iron NASCAR thunder to Sebring was a welcome sight and sound.
Picking up his winning ways right where he left off, Ryan Gemmell scored the overall victory in his NEMCO Motorsports 2009 No. 6 Toyota Camry.
Camden Murphy finished second in a similar NEMCO 2006 No. 87 Toyota Camry while Patrick Womack pulled off another NASCAR Classic podium finish in his ex-FedEx Joe Gibbs Racing NEMCO-prepared 2014 No. 11 Toyota Camry.
In addition to a full schedule of season-ending HSR races, a Sunday highlight at Pistons & Props will be the exit parade of this weekend’s attending historic airplanes from the Sebring circuit false grid back to Sebring Regional Airport to prepare for their respective flights home. The planes will begin to parade out of the paddock and back to the airport for departure on Sunday at 11:40am ET.
