A season-long fight among Texans Ryan Schimsk, Ben Keating, Victoria, Texas; and Keith Verges, Dallas, Texas, wasn’t completely decided until the final weekend of the series as Schimsk took the title at Spring Mountain Ranch, Pahrump, Nev. Keating still had a mathematical chance after the two races at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, during the Viper Owners Invitational earlier in the month. Schimsk closed the door in the Cody Whithead ACR-X with a win in the first race of the weekend at Spring Mountain, while Keating finished in ninth place because of a yellow-flag violation. Schimsk had established an almost insurmountable points lead by scoring the maximum at Miller Motorsports Park earlier in the month.
Shimsk said, “I came into the series with something to prove to myself after taking a couple of years off from racing and got this opportunity to drive this wonderful car. I got to thank Dodge for putting together this program and giving me that opportunity.â€
Keating and Verges were high-energy from the beginning and duked it out on a few occasions, coming together at the second Pocono race and going off together in a cloud of dust at Miller. Verges was out of the points race after the Miller rounds.
Hard chargers included Jim Stout, Michael Von Quilich, Connie Bogan and Eric Galerne. Other fast drivers came to the series as guests, including retired Indy Car star Richie Hearn, who won a race at Hallett during his weekend. Also burning up the track was X Games skateboard star Bucky Lasek at Pocono and Miller guest driver Charlie Putman. Guest driver Tanner Foust, a pro racer and TV host had a second and a first at Spring Mountain.
Dodge CEO and President Ralph Gilles tested himself and the ACR-X during the Viper Cup all season, then got serious and scored a pole position and a podium at Spring Mountain to go with a front-row start and two podium finishes at Miller. Final championship points are listed in the table on this page.
You must be logged in to post a comment.