1999 Watkins Glen International

The American City Racing League (ACRL) was founded in 1988 for race cars that compete in the Sports Car Club of America’s Sports 2000 category. In a unique format, teams of two to five vehicles represent different cities. During a race weekend, a team's score is the sum of the team's three leading drivers' points, one of which must be a Sports 2000. Competitors compete for both individual and team awards.

The ACRL began as a West Coast series and made its East Coast debut in 1999 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

This year’s Eastern division schedule consists of four races at four different venues. The season kicks off June 5 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. A week later, teams travel to Watkins Glen International, where they will compete alongside the Finger Lakes Region Glen Nationals. The penultimate event sees the series travel to Road Atlanta for a race on July 24. The finale is conducted on August 29 at Road America.

In the Eastern division, there are two classes.

Sport 2000 (S2) – The cars competing in Sports 2000 are open-cockpit, mid-engine sports racing vehicles, typically utilizing an aluminum monocoque chassis, composite bodywork and four-speed racing transmission. Chassis’ are manufactured by Carbir, Swift, Lola, Doran, Mallock, Van Dieman and Shrike. The cars in this category are powered by a Ford four-cylinder, 2-liter, single-overhead camshaft motor. The Sports 2000s have a minimum weight of 1,310-pounds with the driver and a top speed of approximately 150-mph.
Classic Sports 2000 (CS2) – These vehicles in this group are constructed to the same chassis specifications and rules as the Sports 2000 category. They also use the same engine, but this class is for cars built before 1985.

All competitors race on Hoosier tires and use 101 Octane racing fuel.

The second round of the 1999 American City Racing League championship was held at Watkins Glen International. Competitors raced around the eleven-turn 3.337-mile road course for fifteen laps.

Former Sports Club of America GT3 competitor Martin Ryba swept the weekend’s proceedings at Watkins Glen. Ryba drove the No. 11 M1 Toolworks T-90/90 in round. He qualified on the pole and led the fifteen-lap contest flag-to-flag. Ryba tops not only the S2 standings but, along with his teammate, Lynn Trapp’s sixth-place finish, which has put Chicago first in the Team Cup rankings.

Finishing in the runner-up position, 8.839-seconds behind the winner, Martin Ryba, was Duke Johnson of Team St. Louis. Johnson qualified fifth fastest driving the No. 4 Carbir SC98. At the start of the fifteen-lap contest, he was able to slip past David Dullum and Lynn Trapp as they contested third-place. Johnson used a low downforce setup on his car, which allowed him to pass Dan Dubrovich and finish second.

Sports 2000 veteran Dan Dubrovich drove No. 16 Doran for New York. In qualifying, Dubrovich was 0.625-seconds slower than the pole-sitter Martin Ryba and started on the outside of the front row. He chased Ryba early in the race but had to contend with a hard-charging Duke Johnson. Johnson had the advantage on Watkin Glen’s long straights and relegated Dubrovich to the final position on the class podium.

James Ballard was another Sports 2000 driver with several years of experience in the category. Ballard drove in his first SCCA National Runoffs in 1993 and had his best result at the annual classic was in 1994 when he finished sixth in class. At Watkins Glen, he qualified eighth fastest. An incident between David Dullum and Lynn Trapp and the retirement of Kent Jones allowed the driver of the No. 91 Lola to finish fourth.

Fifth place finisher David Dullum had an eventful race. Dullum recorded the third-fastest time in the qualifying session driving the No. 31 No-Ad Suncare sponsored Lola. In an effort to exit corner one first on the opening lap, he and third-place starter Lynn Trapp allowed Duke Johnson to slip past. Dullum dueled with Trapp until lap-8, when he spun. Dullum would drive through the field and finish in the fifth position.

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	CITY / CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	1	S2	Martin Ryba	Chicago / Lola T90/90	15	-
2	5	S2	Duke Johnson	St. Louis / Carbir CS98	15	-
3	2	S2	Dan Dubrovich	New York / Doran	15	-
4	8	S2	Jim Ballard	New York / Lola	15	-
5	3	S2	David Dullum	Washington, DC / Lola	15	-
6	4	S2	Lynn Trapp	St. Louis / Lola T87/90	15	-
7	9	S2	David Brand	New York / SR71	15	-
8	13	CS2	John Green	Cincinnati / Tiga SC-84	15	-
9	6	S2	Craig Chima	Akron / Lola	15	-
10	11	S2	Darryl Shoff	Reading / Swift DB-5	14	-
11	10	CS2	Charles Livingston	St. Louis / 83 March	13	Mechanical
12	7	CS2	Kent Jones	New York / Lola T-598	7	Mechanical
13	12	S2	Scott Livingston	St. Louis / 86 Lola	2	Mechanical

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