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BACK TO MAIN Tribute to Bullrun 1997 Bullrun 1000 1998 Bullrun 1000 1999 Bullrun 1000 2001 Bullrun 1000 2002 Bullrun 1000 2003 Bullrun 1000 2004 Bullrun 1000 |
HISTORY
Sean Staples can be blamed for this difficult endeavor for racers, one day in 1997 Sean came up with the idea of running a race similar to the prestigous Bathurst 1000 for SuperTouring Cars, held in Australia. So the idea grew wings, and flew.
The 1997 Bullrun 1000
The inaugural race was held in November 1997, spread out over several weeks. Since most sim racers cannot pair up with their teammates physically in many cases, it had to be run where a driver could run his 'leg' (the time that a driver spends behind the wheel until he comes in to allow his teammate to race) and then send the results in to be verified, and sent out to the teammates to run their leg. It was also one of the first simulator races that used Qord, a program that calculates the qualifying order, then creates a 'saved' race that regroups the drivers based on their speed. That way, the sim drivers actually qualified against each other, offline!
Sixteen teams showed up to contest the event, for a total of 35 drivers. Five teams were in Group B, and the rest were in group A. Kevin Schofield showed the way with the overall pole for the race with a 1:39.885...a blistering speed around this track, to say the least. Then, the race began...
The end of segment one showed Kevin in the KMK Dodge Stratus to be completely in control of the event thus far, tearing up the track with a 1:45.3 average speed. Bruce Kennewell, in the BlackAdder Racing BMW, was not too far behind, at the lead of Group B with a 1:50 average lap of Bullrun. However, the first segment also saw the demise of several favorites, Jan Kohl's and Jim Getzen's Pits Performance Team/MotorsportsNet Saab 900 had contact with Patrick Watts on All-or-Nothing Corner, and ended up with nothing by lap 26! Jan ended up doing a 600 ft slide down the frontstretch, and impacted the knife edge of pit wall, effectively ending their race. The Blind Faith ride of Paul Hamilton and Rob Gill also were out by lap 42.
Segment two showed Kevin and brother Keith Schofield increasing their lead over the rest of the pack, on an average of four and one-half seconds a lap! Talk about moving...Bruce and brother Drew Kennewell were hotly pursued by the Pigsy Racing team of Paul Johns and Robert Yates. However, Bullrun claimed some more victims when Lars Eriksson piled the Lip Service Racing 1 Volvo into the fence at lap 69. Shane Wooden of Aussie Racing 2 had problems with his engine on lap 85, and took down time changing parts.
Segment three showed the KMK Dodge to be well ahead of the field, still lapping the track at an average of 1:48! The BlackAdder Racing BMW was still pulling ahead of Group B, but only by a little, Pigsy Racing was still hot on their heels...
Finally, the finish! The KMK Dodge wheeled into the overall victory, having run the entire race with an average speed of 122 mph! The next placed car came in one lap down, that was the Kaiowas Motorsports 1 car of Jeff Haas and Greg Alferov. The Group B finish was wrapped up by the Blackadder team, their car ran the race with a 119 mph average!
The 1998 Bullrun 1000
After the first full TPTCC schedule, drivers found themselves back in Megville again for the second running of the Bull Run 1000. Leading the field were returning champions, KMK Motorsports with Kevin Schofield landing the #1 Motorola Saab on Group A pole. Fresh off a 1998 team championship, Lip Service Racing 1 driver Stuart Brown followed in a close second with the second Pits Performance Team Saab, qualified by Goy Larsen, rounding out the top 3. In Group B, Joris van der Westen set the pole time for Pure Insanity Racing, followed by Paul Hamilton in the Chapaz Racing 2 Peugeot and David Hastie in the Aussie Racing 3 BMW.
The end of segment one found Stuart Brown leading the way for LSR1 with Goy Larsen not far behind in his TPPT Saab. Millenium Racing was the surprise leader in Group B with Sandy Robinson sneaking the team's Audi into third place overall, first in class.
LSR1 extended it's lead through segment two, with Dimitry Nekyrukov taking over the car. Gilles Benoit, now driving for TPPT2 kept the car on pace in second place, and Jim Getzen had now brought the second TPPT Saab into third place. Millenium continued to lead Group B with David Thibodeu now behind the wheel. The battle was fierce behind them, with Aussie Racing 4 in second and the LSR2 Alfa Romeo moving up into third place.
Segment three saw quite a shakeup at the top of the standings, gone was the LSR1 Honda, out with terminal problems. TPPT2 promptly took it's place at the top with TPPT1 and a hard charging Aussie Racing 1 battling for second place. In Group B, Millenium was still up front, but now swapping the lead in an exciting battle with Pure Insanity Racing.
As the checkered fell to complete the race it was the TPPT2 Saab driven by Goy Larsen and Gilles Benoit that crossed the line first. Tim Howell and Jason Burmeister in the Aussie Racing 1 BMW won the battle for second with the TPPT1 Saab driven by Jan Kohl and Jim Getzen rounding out the Group A podium.
Pure Insanity Racing, with drivers Jason Burmeister and Joris van der Westen took honours in Group B followed by the Diabolic Racing Chevrolet, with drivers Lance Snyder, James Altemus and Bill Tillman. Millenium Racing drivers, Sandy Robinson and David Thibodeau rounded out the Group B podium.
Download the 1998 Bullrun 1000 results, click here.
The 1999 Bullrun 1000
The 1999 Bullrun 1000 saw several changes in how it ran...first off, the final qualifying was held online to pit the top 3 finishers of each division against each other in a head-to-head shootout. The second change was the fact that there were 2 divisions...supertouring as well as the V8 class.
The top Supertouring qualifiers were Sandy Robinson, Paul Hamilton, and Bryce Aston. Sandy took his team BMW M3 to pole position with a 1:48.097 to beat Paul's 1:48.595. Then the V8s took to the track. Jan Kohl pulled off the overall pole position in The Pits Performance Team (TPPT) 2 Lincoln LS with a 1:45.507 against David Hastie's 1:45.764. Sean Staples took 3rd on the grid with a 1:48 flat.
The final big change was that the weather turned sour, as well as the race ran into the darkness...but that came later. At the end of the "1st" segment, the Aussie Racing 1 BMW of David Hastie/Sandy Robinson was neck-and-neck with the SS Motorsports Chevy of Altemus/Blevins, the NASBRA Racing Honda of Gianini/Kulaif, and the Sim Cyberworld Motorsports Honda of Colgan/Kusters.
In the V8 supercar ranks, the 10th place qualifying Lincoln LS of The Pits Performance Team 1, driven by Goy Larsen/Stuart Brown, moved quickly through the field. Goy was now right on the rear bumper of the TPPT 2 Lincoln of Jan Kohl and Jim Kerekes. The 2nd place Aussie Racing 1 Holden Commodore of Sandy Robinson and Shane Wooden had some problems, but were still in the race.
Now the weather decided it was time to play tricks...for about 20 minutes the skies opened up, and flooded the track...drivers were forced to tip-toe around the track as the pavement grew slick and soaked. More than one driver found themselves in a 4 wheel slide attempting to cope with the dismal conditions...but at the end, patience and tenacity won out. Jim Kerekes got the TPPT 2 Lincoln off in the grass, luckily with out damaging the car...but lost the lead to the Robinson/Wooden Holden and the TPPT2 Lincoln now being driven by Stuart Brown
The Hastie/Robinson BMW was having a field day in the supertouring ranks, and pulled out to a commanding lead over the now 2nd place SS Motorsports Chevy of Altemus/Blevins. The 3rd place car was the IWCCCARS/TSR Racing Honda Accord of Paul Hamilton and Adrian Collier.
As the darkness grew, David Hastie and Sandy Robinson kept their lead, and made it even wider...now the trailing SS Motorsports car and IWCCCARS/TSR Racing Honda could only hope that David and Sandy made a mistake. But in the V8 field, things were just starting to heat up! The two TPPT Lincolns were neck and neck, after finally leaving the Aussie Racing 1 Holden behind.
As darkness finally fell over the mountains, the two TPPT Lincolns diced it out, headlights ablaze...but in the end, the TPPT 1 car of Goy Larsen and Stuart Brown took the win, Goy being the first time driver to take 2 wins at Bullrun! Their effort in the rain earned them a 118.449 avg speed for the race. The TPPT 2 car of Jan Kohl and Jim Kerekes took second, making it a Pits team sweep of the first 2 spots. The Aussie Racing 1 car did a valiant effort, coming in third.
In supertouring, it was definitely the Aussie Racing 1 team car of David Hastie/Sandy Robinson that had it their way...the BMW pulling avg speeds of 116.062 mph through the course. The Hamilton/Collier IWCCCARS/TSR Racing Honda came in second, while the Altemus/Blevins SS Motorsports Chevy managed a fine effort for third.
Download the 1999 Bullrun 1000 results, click here.
The 2000 Bullrun 1000
Due to problems getting NASCAR 3 and the race organized, there was no 2000 Bullrun 1000.
The 2001 Bullrun 1000
The 2001 Bullrun 1000 was a completely different affair. Due to the fact that it was ran online, there was no driver swapping in the pits. One driver drove the 86 lap first race, the second driver drove the 85 laps second race. Again, the teams cranked up to take their best shot for each 3 hour ordeal.
Race one started on Saturday, Nov 10th, with Sandy Robinson starting the #66 Commonwealth Motorsports Mustang Cobra, DJ Thibodeau in the Team@Target #19 Dodge Stratus, his teammate Don Smartt in the #91 Dodge Viper. Brendan Kaczmarek started in the #33 car, and Stuart Brown was driving the Nor'easter #70 Dodge Viper. Jan Kohl started The Pits Performance Team #55 Jaguar XK, and his teammate Scott Stockton started on the pole in the #76 Chevrolet Corvette.
The race got off to a rocky start, with several restarts due to incidents on the first lap. Finally, the field got under way, and Scott Stockton maintained the lead. Sandy Robinson spun into the fence on the first lap, incurring some damage.
During the first pit stop, Stuart Brown had some problems with the pit guys not putting on the tires correctly. The race was red flagged for a few laps to to get him squared away, and Sandy used the long delay to get his Mustang fixed. Then it was back to racing!
Both Scott and Jan had problems in the high speed esses right before All-or-Nothing corner on the same lap! They both backed it into the fence, one right behind the other. After suffering this damage, both cars ended up repairing bent fenders on the next stop. DJ and Jan traded positions a few times, both running door to door trying to gain the spot. Don had a some problems, but finished the race...while Brendan had some difficulties and ended up retiring with 69 laps to go.
This put Stu and Sandy into an intense battle for the lead. First Stu would lead for awhile, then pit, then Sandy would take over. With only a few laps left, Sandy caught Stu on somewhat ailing tires, and in the Sweeper, both of them made contact. Stu spun off the course, and Sandy ended up winning the race with a 16 second margin. On to race two...
Race two started without too much of a hitch, but it put a few people in the postion of having to make up some serious time. James Altemus looked to be in about the best shape, with some quick times and with only 16 seconds lost to the lead car, the #66 Mustang Cobra now driven by Alexandre Martin.
However, Goy Larsen was not about to throw in the towel. He pulled the #55 Jaguar XK out into a 12 second lead until he threw it into the fence. However that didn't daunt him, and he pressed on.
James and Goy swapped the lead when Goy pitted, but then Goy got the damage repaired and began to run some blindingly fast 1:44 and 1:45 laps to get the lead built back up.
However, it was not to be, as on lap 30 Goy retired with a broken connection...The Pits Performance Team #1 car was out. Then, the TPPT team 2 car, the #76 Corvette driven this day by Jim Kerekes, began a hard battle for second with David Henrie in the #19 Stratus.
The race wound down, and both Kerekes and Henrie had a few problems, but the #70 Stratus was rapidly disappearing into the distance. Finally, though, a caution came out with 8 laps to go, bunching up the field. That didn't stop James, as he pressed on to win race 2...and with the good run by Stuart the day before, put them into the winner's circle for the 2001 Bullrun 1000!
Download the 2001 Bullrun 1000 results, click here.
The 2002 Bullrun 1000
The 2002 Bullrun 1000 was one of the best ever Bullruns. The plans started early in October, and signups began almost immediately. This year the signups were huge, as the simulator used was Papyrus NASCAR Racing 2002, and almost 40 teams initially registered. The Bullrun track had been newly converted by David Noonan, and was back to the old layout with 30 degree banking in All-or-Nothing.
The teams started out really not knowing how fast the track would be with N2002, but they shouldn’t have worried. The fast drivers were soon down into the 1:45s, and they didn’t stop there, as they got another 2 seconds out of the track before race time. Again the race was split into two days, with both team drivers doing 85 laps sprints. The second day’s drivers lined up behind the pacecar for a single file start based on the previous day’s grid.
Day one dawned mild and sunny, and the pole position went to Stuart Brown of The Pits Performance Team (TPPT) Holden with a 1:44.569. The Underdog Racing Alfa, driven by Bert Knops sat on the outside pole with another 1:44, and the next 8 drivers were all within two seconds of the pole speed. The race started great for some, but a few others had problems. Rusty Greer had a tangle in the carousel, and a few other cars got tangled up in other incidents.
Stuart and Bert soon took off, and traded the lead a few times. Christian Prasuhn with the Team Deadlock Corvette began moving through the field after having started out 18th on the grid. As the race progressed, both Stuart and Bert were involved in a few incidents, but they pressed on. Stu also had some difficulties in the pits when his crew wasn’t prepared for his arrival, and the errors ended up costing him time.
The race finally wound down to a battle of three cars on the lead lap, with Bert keeping the others behind him. He finished first on day 1, leaving Stuart 43 seconds behind and Christian Prasuhn almost a lap down.
Day 2 started out cloudy and colder. The single file restart began with TPPT Holden driver Goy Larsen right on the back bumper of the Underdog Racing Alfa with Michel Kuyntjes at the wheel. They stayed like that for quite some time before Goy began to gain on Michel late in the run. He started to pass Michel at the top of the backstretch, but spun down through the grass and lost quite a bit of time.
For the rest of the race Goy had to play a constant catch-up. Michel had 43 seconds plus his lead on Goy, so he was sitting pretty good. And fast, as well…Michel put the car down into the 1:43s for many laps on his run. Van and Rusty Greer kept up close to the front of the field, and the Team Deadlock driver Michael Berndt also stayed in contention.
Goy began to lose some more time until Michel had an unfortunate incident. In Switchback he tangled with a lapped car, sending the Alfa into the fence so hard that the nose was bent up. Michel had to pit for damage, and gave Goy chance to catch up. Goy took the lead again, and Michel hit the track flying, cranking out some 1:43 laps again in an attempt to catch Goy.
Both cars pitted one more time, setting up a dash for the finish, with Goy pitting well before the Underdog car came in. Goy had a 45 second lead on Michel, enough to win the race, but then he spun in Sweeper, letting Michel gain precious time. Now Michel was only 30 seconds behind, and Goy would have to have to run it hard to win the overall race. However, Goy’s tires were ailing, and Michel whittled away 2 seconds a lap from Goy, it wouldn’t be long before he would be on the back bumper of the Holden. But the laps were ticking down…and suddenly, 3 laps from the end, the Underdog Racing car slid wide in the turn 2 hairpin, and incurred heavy damage, with the right-front tire being ripped right off the car!
That was the race…Goy then took the final two laps and the day’s win, as well as the overall 2002 Bullrun 1000 race win. Goy had all the other cars a lap down, but it was the closest finish in Bullrun history up until Michel’s last second accident took them from contention.
Download the 2002 Bullrun 1000 results, click here.
Download the 2002 Bullrun 1000 video, click here.
The 2003 Bullrun 1000
The 6th Bullrun 1000 began with a bang, as it was the first online race for the new TPTCC mod built for N2003. At the time of the race, only two car bodies were ready, the Mustang and Corvette. That fact, and that it was another online Bullrun 1000, brought out drivers by the dozens. Over 60 teams signed up, but only 40 got to go through.
Race day ended up nice and balmy for November, with a slight 3 mph breeze in the 65 F degree weather. Rick Osborn in the Team Redline Corvette cranked up the competition with a nice 1:32.971 lap, almost a second faster than the 2nd place Corvette from BM Motorsports, started by Nick Boyd. The first Ford in the field was the Abbott Ale/The Pits Mustang in third place on the grid, with a 1:34.399 lap put out by Tim McArthur. The last place timed lap was from the Corvette of the Nor'easter team, which had a miserable qual with a 1:48.585 second lap, dropping Bryce Aston & Chuck Kleinhagen to almost the very rear of the field in 33rd place.
The race started without a hitch, and almost everyone had some remarkably trouble-free initial laps...but it was not to last.
The last place timed lap was from the Corvette of the Nor'easter team, which had ended up on it's roof in qual, handing in a 1:48.585 second lap and dropping Bryce Aston & Chuck Kleinhagen to almost the very rear of the field in 33rd place.
The race started without a hitch, and almost everyone had some remarkably trouble-free initial laps...but it was not to last. The Nor'easter Corvette with Bryce at the wheel wasn't even able to make the grid, and ended up starting from pit road, and then continued to have some problems, and by lap 70 was already 4 laps down. Bryce turned over the wheel of the ailing Corvette to his teammate who then began to drive like a madman to make up for lost time.
Christian Prasuhn & Michael Berndt were bringing the Moonshine Haulers Mustang up through the field rapidly from their 14th place starting spot...however, while running solidly in the top 5, they solidly impacted the TML Racing Mustang driven by Kasey Jones, destroying the car. Tim spun The Pits Mustang a few times before handing it over to Jan Kohl, and the Team Redline Corvette ran off the track in turn 2, damaging the front end of the car.
For quite a few laps, the #7 BM Motorsports Corvette and the #55 The Pits Mustang dueled it out for the 2nd spot. After the spins, which dropped The Pits entry back in the field, the #11 RacingServers Mustang pulled their way up through the field to the top 3. The Team Redline Corvette had a argument with the wall and pitted, leaving the #7 and #11 to duel it out for the lead.
However, at lap 102, the Team Redline Vette pulled it back into the lead, and never looked back. They ended up putting the entire field at least one lap down, with the #7 BM Motorsports Corvette coming in a distant 2nd, and the Nor'easter team pulling up to a respectable 6th place from their 33rd place starting position.
Download the 2003 Bullrun 1000 results, click here.
Download the 2003 Bullrun 1000 video, click here.
The 2004 Bullrun 1000
 Group A Ford GT chases down a Group B Mercedes in turn 11. |
For 2004 it was decided to run Group B cars (slower performance sedans) alongside the Group A cars. The fastest Group B car, Team ECCI's MG, qualified about 7 1/2 seconds off the pace of the leading Group A car (MacWhite's Ferrari F360 with a time of 1:32.779) around the 3.66 mile circuit. The race started off without a hitch, with 38 cars taking the green flag. The race progressed pretty well...The Group A cars of MacWhite (Tim McArthur, Scott Whitestine & Jay Warren) took off out of the gate, and the #77 Viper of AA Racers (John DiFool and Tom Goodall) and #7 RTB (with Rusty Greer, Joachim Trensz and Brad Mills) both came to the front and led some laps.
 RTB's Corvette clips the stone wall attempting to pass 2 Group B cars. |
The field came down to take the green flag again at about lap 22. From then on no more major problems with the scoring, so the race was on! Group B's D&B Racing (Dave Vincent & Bob Bryant), started their BMW 38th on the grid...the 2nd to last car. They continued moving up the field and pretty much avoided several nasty accidents...and there were some nasty ones!
 Driver (at top left) pulls out in front of traffic and causes a major accident. |
The Group A #14 Ford GT of Team RacingServers (Pat Veillette & David Sirois) was quietly getting into position. They lost 4th gear early in the race, but adjusted their setups and planned to run a slower pace. This really put them out in front when it came to the last part of the race, as most of the other front runners had a multitude of incidents and errors.
 Race leader Team Racingservers (right) in lap traffic. |
Other than the technical difficulty and the few major incidents, almost all the drivers enjoyed the two group racing on track. The Group B cars were not as fast in a straight line, but could hold their own in the corners due to lighter weight. That and the fact that there were almost 40 cars on track made this one of the most challenging Bullrun 1000s ever!
 Group B winners: D&B Racing BMW M3, Dave Vincent & Bob Bryant |  Group A winners: Team Racingservers Ford GT, Pat Veillette & David Sirois |
Download the 2004 Bullrun 1000 results, click here.
Download the 2004 Bullrun 1000 video, click here.