Jetta TDI Cup: New Jersey double-header races bring weather surprises and more first

Here is a follow up to Michael DeNino’s post earlier race report..

Clean Diesel Vehicles Race at New Jersey Motorsports Park for Sixth and Seventh Race in Series

In two races this weekend, the weather tested the driving ability of the young drivers as the Jetta TDI Cup Race series made a stop at New Jersey Motorsports Park for the sixth and seventh races of the season. All eyes were on the ADAC Polo Cup driver from Cape Town, South Africa, Shane Williams #10, who was the first ever guest driver in the Jetta TDI Cup. The 21 year old Williams secured pole position for the first qualifying race and ultimately won the first race of the weekend. Liam Kenney #35, Sterling, Va., won the second race of the weekend, his first visit to the top of the podium this season. Proving the extremely high level of competition and parity in the series, the Jetta TDI Cup has seen a different driver top the podium in each of the seven races this season.

This weekend provided a strenuous schedule with two qualifying races and two races in three days. The Friday qualifying session was dampened by rain in the morning, causing the drivers to adjust their driving style to hold on through the long weekend. ADAC Polo Cup guest driver Shane Williams secured pole position for the first race on Saturday.

The second qualifier came on dryer conditions in the late afternoon on Friday. With better grip and a greater understanding of the course at New Jersey, the drivers were able to spread out on the track to attempt a fast lap run for the top spot on the grid. With only seven minutes remaining, John Shim #29, hit the guard rail on turn two bringing the qualifying round to a full-course caution. Shim was okay but did not run in any of the races this weekend. Timmy Megenbeir #17, claimed the pole position for the second race on Sunday, the first pole position victory for Megenbier.

The first race of the weekend on Saturday ran under cloudy skies with dry conditions on the track. As the flag dropped on the standing start, the drivers bunched up to three cars wide in turn one, making passes after turn two. Shane Williams maintained the lead over both Chris Castagna #37 and Mark Pombo #20 who fought for second place.

On lap seven, David Jurca #5, took advantage of Chris Castagna and Mark Pombo’s battle to slip into second place. Pombo fell back to 9th place from second after heading off track, but was able to come back and finish in fifth place; he also secured the fastest lap time of 1 minute and 31.806 seconds averaging 88.229 mph.

Lap 12 was brought under a double-yellow due to debris on the track at the apex of turn two. This tightened the field and shortened Shane William’s lead. On lap 14, the green flag was dropped and Williams increased his lead on David Jurca. On lap 17, Liam Kenney passed Gary Williams Jr. #38, on turn one to secure a third place finish. One of the biggest movers of the race was Andrew Cordeiro #26, who moved from starting in 20th position to finish in 13th place, cautiously moving up the field of drivers.

In the end, the first race had one lap run under yellow for debris, and proved to be a close competitive battle for all spots in the finishing order. On the podium was Shane Williams in first place, David Jurca in second place and Liam Kenney in third. As Shane Williams is a guest driver, he does not earn points from the race subsequently all Jetta TDI Cup drivers move up one position in points, bringing Gary Williams Jr. into third place in points for race six.

The second race of the weekend on Sunday ran under a cloudy sky and on a wet track. Due to the wet conditions, the race began as a rolling start with three laps run under yellow behind the pace car before the green flag dropped. Into the first turn, the drivers were four cars wide, but they managed to make it through without incident. Timmy Megenbier had a strong lead into lap one, but in lap two turn one he spun out and allowed Josh Hurley #11 to take the race lead.

Lap three brought out a full-course caution as David Jurca, the second place winner of race six went off course suffering front end wheel damage, which ended the race for him. Out front there was a battle for the top three positions between Josh Hurley, Liam Kenney and Chris Holman #31. On lap nine Holman tried to pass Kenney on turn one, but Kenney was able to hold him off to secure his position.

Mark Pombo, who started 23rd, was the biggest mover in the race finishing in 6th place making up most of the lost positions on lap nine. Again, he had the fastest lap time of 1 minute and 45.311 seconds averaging 76.915 mph.

On one of the last laps, Chris Kuenning #30 lost control entering the front stretch and slammed into the outside tire wall. With safety vehicles dispatched, the last lap of the race was run under yellow, and as the checkered flag dropped, Liam Kenney, Josh Hurley and Chris Holman grabbed the top three places. In total, eight laps of the second race of the double header were run under the yellow flag.

Complete Jetta TDI Cup final race results are listed below for the first race of the weekend with finishing position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car sponsor and laps completed.

New Jersey Motorsport Park Race 1 results:
1. (1), Shane Williams, Capetown, South Africa, ful®, 19
2. (6), David Jurca, Federal Way, Wash., Red Bull, 19, -.001
3. (10), Liam Kenney, Sterling, Va., ViON, 19, -1.342
4. (3), Gary Williams Jr., Dana Point, Calif., Bondurant, 19, -3.884
5. (11), Michael DeNino, Gaithersburg, Md., Castrol, 19, -4.230
6. (2), Mark Pombo, Duluth, Ga., ful®, 19, -6.883
7. (9), Josh Hurley(R), Cooper City, Fla., Athlete’s Performance, 19, -7.897
8. (5), Chris Castagna, Boston, Mass., Oakley, 19, -8.794
9. (8), Chris Holman, Burlington, Ontario, UTI, 19, -9.584
10. (16), Jimmy Underhill, Denver, Colo., Bosch, 19, -10.762
11. (15), Juan Pablo Sierra Lendle, Puebla, MX, Aggreko, 19, -10.861
12. (13), Taylor Broekemeier(R), Fort Collins, Colo., Oakley, 19, -11.296
13. (14), Andy Lee, Colorado Springs, Colo., Kyosho, 19, -11.696
14. (20), Andrew Cordeiro(R), Woodbridge, Ontario, $1300 Tax Credit, 19, -17.406
15. (25), Jake Dallenbach, San Antonio, Texas, Select 1, 19, -20.546
16. (18), Evan Pflock(R), Redondo Beach, Calif., DC United, 19, -20.786
17. (23), Wyatt Dallenbach, San Antonio, Texas, SCORE, 19, -21.184
18. (12), Chris Kuenning(R), Grand Rapids, Mich., Aggreko, 19, -21.458
19. (19), Timmy Megenbier, Melrose Park, Ill., SCCA, 19, -21.640
20. (24), Adam Kretschmer(R), Brampton, Ontario, VW Credit, 19, -22.661
21. (17), Adam Love(R), Normal, Ill., SCORE, 19, -23.130
22. (31), Noah Arundel, Tonka Bay, Minn., VW P&A, 19, -23.657
23. (30), Adam Crepin(R), St. Louis, Mo., SCCA, 19, -24.176
24. (26), David Richert(R), Niverville MB, Canada, ViON, 19, -24.565
25. (27), Chad Brassfield(R), Phoenix, Ariz., Kyosho, 19, -25.104
26. (21), Derek Jones, Philadelphia, Pa., Bosch, -26.433
27. (29), Ryan Buetzer, Long Beach, Calif., Hoopla, 19, -28.153
28. (28), David Heinz(R), Pittsburgh, Pa., Pre Loved, 19, -31.473
29. (4), Caleb Kenney, Berkeley, Calif., Hoopla, 17, DNF
30. (7), Nick Mancuso, Mettawa, Ill., Auto Logistics, 10, DNF
31. (22), John Shim(R), Starkville, Miss., VW Credit, 0, DNS

Complete Jetta TDI Cup final race results are listed below for the second race of the weekend with finishing position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car sponsor and laps completed.

New Jersey Motorsport Park Race 2 results:
1. (2), Liam Kenney, Sterling, Va., ViON, 13
2. (3), Josh Hurley(R), Cooper City, Fla., Athlete’s Performance, 13, -.544
3. (7), Chris Holman, Burlington, Ontario, UTI, 13, -1.649
4. (4), Jimmy Underhill, Denver, Colo., Bosch, 13, -2.461
5. (5), Derek Jones, Philadelphia, Pa., Bosch, 13, -3.429
6. (22), Mark Pombo, Duluth, Ga., ful®, 13, -4.715
7. (1), Timmy Megenbier, Melrose Park, Ill., SCCA, 13, -5.592
8. (11), Chris Castagna, Boston, Mass., Oakley, 13, -6.309
9. (10), Taylor Broekemeier(R), Fort Collins, Colo., Oakley, 13, -6.691
10. (13), Caleb Kenney, Berkeley, Calif., Hoopla, 13, -7.750
11. (25), Wyatt Dallenbach, San Antonio, Texas, SCORE, 13, -10.354
12. (12), Andy Lee, Colorado Springs, Colo., Kyosho, 13, -11.080
13. (17), Michael DeNino, Gaithersburg, Md., Castrol, 13, -12.598
14. (30), David Heinz(R), Pittsburgh, Pa., Pre Loved, 13, -13.386
15. (18), Gary Williams_Jr., Dana Point, Calif., Bondurant, 13, -14.802
16. (21), David Richert(R), Niverville MB, Canada, ViON, 13, -15.341
17. (24), Adam Crepin(R), St. Louis, Mo., SCCA, 13, -16.199
18. (28), Noah Arundel, Tonka Bay, Minn., VW P&A, 13, -18.113
18. (9), Shane Williams, Capetown South Africa, ful®, 13, -9.494
19. (8), Juan Pablo Sierra Lendle, Puebla, MX, Aggreko, 13, -18.709
20. (23), Chad Brassfield(R), Phoenix, Ariz., Kyosho, 13, -19.947
21. (14), Adam Kretschmer(R), Brampton, Ontario, VW Credit, 13, -20.645
22. (26), Evan Pflock(R), Redondo Beach, Calif., DC United, 13, -21.094
23. (19), Nick Mancuso, Mettawa, Ill., Auto Logistics, 13, -22.417
24. (29), Ryan Buetzer, Long Beach, Calif., Hoopla, 13, -24.036
25. (27), Andrew Cordeiro(R), Woodbridge, Ontario, $1300 Tax Credit, 12, -1 lap
26. (20), Adam Love(R), Normal, Ill., SCORE, 11, -2 laps
27. (6), Chris Kuenning(R), Grand Rapids, Mich., Aggreko, 9, DNF
28. (16), Jake Dallenbach, San Antonio, Texas, Select 1, 8, DNF
29. (15), David Jurca, Federal Way, Wash., Red Bull, 3, DNF
30. (31), John Shim(R), Starkville, Miss., VW Credit, 0, DNS