Peru CAM Challenge Recap

TOPEKA, Kan. (Aug. 17, 2017) -- This last weekend, 151 drivers descended upon Peru, Indiana to test their skills against the country’s best American made cars and their skilled drivers.

All the drivers enjoyed a challenging, high-speed course laid out on grippy concrete. Many remarked on how nice it is to run on a surface that the car can stick to and not eat tires. One drawback to going to Northern Indiana in the middle of August is usually the heat and humidity; this year participants were treated to weather of which race car drivers dream. Mornings started out in the high 60s and capped out in the low 80s with a cool breeze all day. The weather created a consistent track surface throughout the day which made competitors happy.

The event consisted of a Friday afternoon test and tune, and Saturday the official timing began with four runs for each run group in the morning, and then the same in the afternoon. The course was run in the same direction for the entire event. The competition was tight in all the classes, with 64 cars in CAM C being the largest class.  The top two cars in CAM C were decided by .071 on Saturday. Jimmy Vajdak won CAM C, Matthew Braun won CAM T and Danny Popp won CAM S.

Sunday morning began with three runs for each driver that were used as qualifiers for the ‘Challenge’ portion of the event. The top 16 drivers in each class began a run-off to determine a winner in each class who would then move on to the final elimination round between the three top drivers. In the Challenge rounds on Sunday, nine battles in the three, 16-car Challenges were won by .051 or less.  In CAM T, Matthew Braun won by over four seconds when his rival, Courtney Cormier in the CAM T final, took a cone penalty.  Danny Popp won the CAM S Challenge over Brian Regganie, and Alex Doss won over Keith Lamming in the CAM C final.  Keith had the time to win by .308, but hit a cone on his final run to hand the win over to Alex in the end.

In the final cross-class challenge shoot-out between Danny Popp, Alex Doss and Matthew Braun, Matthew won, Danny in second and Alex in third.  Matthew Braun was third in the CAM Challenge a year ago in Peru, but he went home with the big trophy this year.

Aside from the actual competition, there were a couple of notable things going on. General Motors’ Performance Driving Team showed up with four new-gen Camaros and a C7 Corvette with 16 drivers sharing duties. Two of the GM drivers took first and second on Saturday. Learning about the GM driving team was a story in itself. As it turns out, none other than Camaro celebrity Mark Steilow manages the team of young General Motors professionals.

Most notable was the quiet presence of VetMotorsports with two drivers sharing driving with seasoned SCCA CAM drivers and their cars. Both of the VetMotorsports drivers exceeded their driving goals and remarked at what a great experience it was for them.