2011 RROL season

From TM Pedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The 2011 RROL season was, at the time, the inaugural season of the Vaughn Stock Car Championship (VSCC) and its American and European lower-tiers, known as the Vaughn American Racing Tour (VART) and the Vaughn European Racing Challenge (VERC). The series was previously known as the RROL Elite Series.

Buyout and fallout[edit | edit source]

After the 2010 season, it was announced that Garth McCallister, Jr., and a group of investors from the American Stock Car Championship, purchased the (by this time) financially-struggling league. "We can make a legitimate American series that has the spirit of the ASCC and the origins of what made 1980s TM Master Cup series racing great," McCallister said. "We hope to revisit many tracks that Omecha took off the calendar, tracks like Texas World Speedway, Hickory, Rockingham and Charlotte Motor Speedway that the fans loved, but that Omecha didn't like because some foreigner was throwing a ton of money at them."

Now-former RROL owner Robert Clarke said, "We were having financial issues, and they came to us with an offer. With the economy already being this tough, I thought that in the end, this would be the best option, even if I am no longer involved with it...at least for the time being."

Reaction was swift, and mixed to say the least. Many long-time RROL teams expressed they would not return to the series, citing the reputation of the ASCC brass (namely, the officials' bias toward white American men) as the primary reason. The RROL's top three officials, president Thomas Clarke, head of officiating John Vernon, and competition director Larry Chambers all tendered their resignations as a result of the buyout.

Robert Clarke did have a trick up his sleeve, and it wouldn't be long before the world found out what it was. Clarke's words "for the time being" meant only a few hours, as he, along with former Formula A team manager and British billionaire Mark Vaughn teamed up to form the Vaughn Stock Car Championship, immediately hiring on the officials from the former RROL.

Vaughn said in an interview, "I was a fan of the RROL, and I liked what they were doing, but the series did not really have anything unique about it, and I want to give them that element." That element would become the creation of two lower leagues, the Vaughn American Racing Tour and the Vaughn European Racing Challenge, which would allow drivers a shot at the VSCC championship through a promotion-and-relegation system, which had never before been seen in racing.

Vaughn also extended an invitation to the former RROL teams dissatisfied with the ASCC buyout to join the new league, and many of them did just that. The series announced a nineteen-race schedule, opening at Daytona International Speedway (as per RROL tradition) and ending at Kansas Speedway.

Vaughn Stock Car Championship (VSCC)[edit | edit source]

Round Race Circuit Pole sitter (car) Winner Team (car) Second place Third place
1 Daytona 250 Daytona International Speedway Roman Musico (Lenard R37) Brandon Burns Team STRIKE (Volpi) Ryan Matthews Vladimir Nikolayev
2 Brazil Autodromo Daniel Estevem Mark Davis (Calton-Morel) Alex LaRosa Cash Racing (Lenard R37) Griffin LeTellier Kevin Walker
3 Brands Hatch Brands Hatch Kenny Morales (Lenard Q9) Kenny Morales Leckliter Racing (Lenard Q9) Elmer Fox Kevin Rexwall
4 Mallory Park Mallory Park Gordon Sting (Predator) Vladimir Nikolayev Cash Racing (Lenard R37) Icy Frost Jessica Graham
5 Spa-Francorchamps Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Steve Yoon (Calton-Morel) Gordon Sting Racing as Usual (Predator) Ziggy Waldemar Alex LaRosa
PROMOTION/RELEGATION ONE
6 Lausitz Eurospeedway Lausitz Steve Yoon (Calton-Morel) Elmer Fox White Mountain Motorsports (Meridian) Ryan Nawrocki Ziggy Waldemar
7 Karjala Karjala Raceway Kenny Morales (Lenard) Alan Maloy James Proctor Racing (Saar) Blake Young Steve Yoon
8 Japan Twin Ring Motegi Elmer Fox (Meridian) Steve Yoon Calton-Morel Development Team (Calton-Morel) Jeff Zindler Gordon Sting
9 Clairmont Clairmont Circuit Race Cancelled

After the Round of Karjala, it was announced that the season would be shortened to a nine-race schedule due to what were termed "major management issues" within the VSCC ownership. This forced the cancellation of all races past Clairmont, which were to be held at Watkins Glen, Michigan, the Meadowlands, Dover, Martinsville, Talladega, Carbondale, Quincy, Decatur, and Kansas. Ultimately, the death of Reed Racing co-owner Jack Lucas Samson, financial difficulties, and a pair of disastrous races at Mallory Park, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, and the famed Karjala Raceway proved too much for the league to handle, and the series collapsed after just eight races.

The collapse led many observers to question the long-term viability of the league. As a result of this, the long time teams like Watts Motorsports and Rick Jarrett Racing left the series.

Vaughn American Racing Tour (VART)[edit | edit source]

N/A

Vaughn European Racing Tour (VERC)[edit | edit source]

Round Race Circuit Pole sitter (car) Winner Team (car) Second place Third place
1 Brands Hatch Brands Hatch Ivan Nikolayev (Lenard R37) Cameron Taylor RTR Automotive Engineering (Inglesby) Elena Wagner Jeff Zindler
2 Mallory Park Mallory Park Jeff Zindler (Fortner) Jeff Zindler Alex Harrison Racing (Fortner) Ivan Nikolayev Steve Johnson
3 Spa Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Bill Wainwright (Fortner) Ivan Nikolayev Cash Racing (Lenard) Bill Wainwright RJ Bandsma
PROMOTION/RELEGATION ONE
4 Eurospeedway Eurospeedway Lausitz Mike Falls (Calton-Morel) Jacob Jarrett II Rick Jarrett Racing (Inglesby) Bill Wainwright Mark Nelson
5 Karjala Karjala Raceway Jacob Jarrett II (Inglesby) Bill Wainright Alex Harrison Racing (Fortner) Allen Johnson Josh Mertz
SERIES CANCELLED