Back on Track! Goodguys CPP AutoCross Series Recap from the 12th LMC Truck Spring Lone Star Nationals

The 2022 Goodguys CPP AutoCross Series kicked off the season Texas style during the 12th LMC Truck Spring Lone Star Nationals March 11-13, 2022. Despite a cold and damp start, racers made the most of the weekend and quickly heated up the Texas Motor Speedway infield course under sunny skies on Saturday and Sunday, racing hard to give the season a fast start and vie for a spot in the Lone Star Shootout presented by Tremec.

Many of the 2021 season class winners made the trip to Fort Worth, including AutoCrosser of the Year and PRO-X class champion Josh Leisinger, who picked up where he left off last season by topping the four racers in the Speedtech Performance PRO-X class. Josh qualified first for the PRO-X Lone Star Shootout with a 34.173-second best lap in his ’64 Corvette, followed by David Carroll, who brought his LS-powered ’75 Datsun 280Z all the way from California and ran a best qualifying time of 34.321. Josh’s brother Jared Leisinger raced his ’64 Corvette roadster to the third-place qualifying spot with a 34.553, followed by Benjamin Lewis in a ’71 Opel GT running a 43.174. The shootout saw Jared Leisinger defeating David Carroll in the first round, 34.895 to 34.960, and Josh Leisinger advancing past Lewis to create a familiar Leisinger brother final round. Josh had the goods this time, laying down his fastest lap of the weekend, a 33.594, to race past Jared’s 34.480 and claim the double-up win.

The four-car Summit Racing PRO class was led by Texan Jason Bottenfield, who ran his road-race-style ’69 Camaro to a fast time of 36.089, qualifying first for the Lone Star Shootout. He was joined on the ladder by Charles Davis in a ’73 Camaro (36.767), Karen Leisinger in her Summit Racing-sponsored ’70 Camaro (37.338), and Derrick Torres in a ’68 Camaro (38.860). Bottenfield advanced past Torres and Davis raced past Leisinger to meet in the final round, where Bottenfield stepped up his game and ran a 35.490-second lap to top Davis (36.694) and claim the double class-and-shootout wins.

Longtime Goodguys CPP AutoCross racer Bill Graves Sr., the 2021 Forgeline Street Machine class champion, came from North Carolina in his ’66 Corvette to start the 2022 season on a winning note. He topped the 10-car class with a 35.258-second lap, which qualified him first for the Street Machine portion of the Lone Star Shootout. He was joined by Tim Molzen and his ’63 Dart (36.229), Chris Hay in a ’68 Camaro (36.579), and Randy Dicken in his ’67 Camaro (37.568). Round one saw Graves topping Dicken and Hay racing past Molzen, leading to a Camaro-versus-Corvette final round. Graves got faster, dipping into the 34-second range with a 34.931 to top Hay’s 36.447 and claim the shootout victory.

Rob MacGregor was another 2021 class winner who started off the season in fine form, racing Bill Holt’s ’86 Chevy C10 to the LMC Truck class win with a 35.845-second lap. This qualified him first for the Truck portion of the Lone Start Shootout, where he was joined by Jim Fields’ Speedtech-equipped ’73 GMC (36.962), Brandon Carter’s ’72 Dodge D100 (37.989), and Dick Speed’s ’56 F100 (38.175). MacGregor dispatched Speed in the first round, while Fields raced past Carter to set up an all-Squarebody final shootout round. MacGregor is as steady and consistent as they come and stayed right on the money with a clean 35.928-second run to top Fields’ 36.675 and return to the No Limit Engineering shop with the double-up win.

Last year’s FiTech Challenger class front runner, Stan Martin, brought his familiar ’30 Model A coupe out for another go, but his 42.101-second lap was only fast enough to place third in the three-car class. Jared Cash claimed the first-place spot in his ’64 Corvette with a 40.591-second best lap, followed by Scott Ward in a ’78 Camaro in second place with a 40.769. Cash and Ward were slotted into the 4-car Sports Car shootout with the two quickest Gearstar Sports Car class drivers which were Josh Leisinger in a new Summit-sponsored C5 ’97 Corvette, and Brandon Carter driving a ’89 Honda Civic. Leisinger continued his winning ways doubling up with the first ever Sports Car class win and shootout victory.

A strong 13-car showing on Sunday made for some exciting late-model action in the Tremec All American class, where last year’s AAS class champ, Marty Clarke, returned to top the class in his 2021 Tesla Model 3, running a 33.962 – the second-fastest lap of any racer for the weekend. Clarke picked off other competitors to make his way to the final round of the All American Shootout and face off against second-place qualifier Jim Lynch, who represented the gas-powered vehicles in his 2020 Corvette. In the end, the Tesla’s instant power, paired with Clarke’s driving skill, allowed the electric ride to race past the ’Vette, 34.434 to 35.019, so Clarke went home with the double victory.

Shootout Ladders

Photo Extra!

Photos by Terry Lysak