Goodyear wins SRF3 at Runoffs

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Sling shot pass a winner for Jacobsen in SRF3

      DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 26, 2015) – Kerry Jacobsen spent much of the race chasing the leader but he used a stock car-like move on the final lap and won the Spec Racer Ford 3 race at the Sports Car Club of America National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB at Daytona International Speedway.      Jacobsen (of Deland, Fla.) started on the pole but the evenly-matched world of Spec Racer racing, no lead lasts long and he spent much of the race tracking down fourth-place starter Tray Ayres. As the cars came out of turn 4 of the superspeedway and charged toward the checkered flag, the front of Jacobsen’s car was tucked under the rear of Ayres’ machine in a tight draft. Jacobsen swept around Ayres and used a Richard Petty-like sling shot pass to get to the finish line first.      “It just makes it all the sweeter to get to this point after a lot of years of effort,” Jacobsen said. He lives a short drive from the track. “It’s really a sweet moment because it is such a challenging thing to do.”      The margin of victory was just .055 of a second.      The winner said track knowledge helped him win the race.      “Those of us who have raced here for years have won and lost races know those little things about Daytona,” Jacobsen said. “Lots of guys can learn Daytona and make laps but it’s a different thing to pick up … a half a car length.”      “I really didn’t want to be leading on the last lap,” Ayres (Gainesville, Ga.) said. “(His engine) got hot and I had to take the lead (to get air on the front of the car).”Jacobsen and Ayres both said they practiced drafting together long before the Runoffs started.      “That’s absolutely the case,” Ayres said. “We started practicing this back in May … We never talked about what we were going to do on the last lap.”      Cliff White (Huntsville, Ala.) finished third, followed by James Goughary Jr. (Jupiter, Fla.) and Todd Vanacore Ormond Beach, Fla.).      The Spec Racer Ford 3 class features cars designed specifically for competition in the SCCA. The cars are open cockpit racers. Goodyear is the exclusive tire provider for the class.     Goodyear employs about 69,000 people at manufacturing plants and facilities in 22 nations. Based in Akron, Ohio, Goodyear is among the largest tiremakers in the world and is the worldwide leader in race tire innovation.