Pair of Top Ten Finishes for Wheels America Racing at the Circuit of the Americas
The SCCA Hoosier Super Tour weekend at the Circuit of the Americas brought close, intense Spec Miata racing for three Wheels America Racing drivers. The total car count for the weekend came in at 39, so there was no shortage of talent and competition!
Saturday’s first qualifying session saw Alex Stanfield, driver of the #55 A&M Excavating Mazda Miata, qualify on the sixth row of the grid in P11. Matt Stretch, in the #89 machine, put in a qualifying time good enough for P8, but his transponder failed and he did not register any times. In the #98 was Logan Stretch. After battling handling issues in Friday testing, his car was still compromised for qualifying. Logan was only able to qualify 25th of the 39 car field. The green flag flew for Race 1 in sunny, but cold conditions. Stanfield worked his way from P11 to P6 over the course of the race, and that is where he would finish. Starting from P25, Logan Stretch picked off cars one by one to bring home P17, still with a compromised car. Matt Stretch’s car fell victim to electrical issues and he was not able to complete lap one.
Sunday brought warmer weather and better pace for the Wheels America Racing cars. After discovering the issue on the #98 car before Qualifying 2, the team thrashed to get the car ready to hit the track. The car ultimately did make it onto the grid for Qualifying 2, and showed much better pace with Logan Stretch finishing P11. Alex Stanfield improved his time from Saturday’s qualifying session and finished in P6. Once again, the #89 machine fell victim to electrical issues, and it would not record a lap time. With Qualifying 2 finished, the grid for Sunday’s 35-minute Race 2 was set. Based on the fastest lap time turned in any session preceding Race 2, Stanfield would start P10 in the #55 machine, Logan Stretch in P16 in the #98, and Matt Stretch in P39 in the #89. Early on, both Stanfield and Logan Stretch picked off cars and worked their way up to P4 and P7 respectively. They were on a charge with race-winning pace. Likewise, Matt Stretch drove all the way from the back to crack into the top 20. After both Stanfield and Logan Stretch’s car suffered electrical issues, they dropped outside of the top 10. Alex Stanfield fought back to finish P10. Logan Stretch would cross the line in P14 with the fastest lap of the race, and Matt Stretch climbed all the way from P39 to P15.
An unfortunate weekend of what could have been for the Wheels America Racing boys, but the pace proved that under the right conditions, any of the three could be fighting for the top spot. The team will be looking ahead to its next event in Cresson, Texas at the MotorSport Ranch for the NASA Texas March Madness event!
February 13, 2023
1-2 Finish for Wheels America Racing at the Motorsport Ranch
The opening rounds of the 2023 SCCA Southern Conference Majors are done and dusted. The MotorSport Ranch played host to a fantastic event and a successful weekend for Wheels America Racing.
Race 1 saw Logan Stretch line up on the outside of the front row, his brother Matt right behind in P3, and Alex Stanfield in P8 after a timing technicality. Logan pressured for the lead early in the race but fell back to P3. A penultimate lap overtake saw him regain the 2nd position and he brought it home there. Matt fell back on the start to P4, and then a minor incident dropped him off of the lead pack for a P5 finish. Alex also dropped a position at the start, but he persevered and picked off cars one by one. By the end, Alex brought it home in P4, narrowly missing a podium result across the line.
Sunday morning qualifying saw the drivers head out once again to try and improve their starting position. Alex put in the pole time by two-tenths of a second, with teammate Logan putting in a lap good enough for P3. Matt battled some handling issues and could not improve his time, setting him up for a P6 start in Race 2.
With Stanfield on the pole, Logan Stretch starting P3, and Matt Stretch starting P6, Race 2 went green. Stanfield lost the lead early but executed a brilliant move on the leader allowing him and teammate Logan to follow through. The two Wheels America Racing drivers worked together to build a large lead before a full-course caution came out about halfway through the race. Matt had worked his way up to P4 on the restart. With the race restarted, Stanfield cruised off to a three-second lead, with Logan fending off competitors from behind. Going into the final lap, it was Wheels America Racing 1-2-3. Unfortunately, a last-lap incident dropped Matt to P5, and that is where he finished.
After a very successful opening weekend, Wheels America Racing is looking to bring that success to the ChampCar Endurance Series National Championship at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
January 23, 2023
Wheels America Racing Set for 2023 Season Opener
After a long and busy offseason, the 2023 racing season kicks off at the MotorSport Ranch for the SCCA Polar Prix Majors. The weekend will include the first two rounds of the twelve-round Southern Conference Majors championship.
Coming off of a successful season that saw a Wheels America Racing driver finish P3 in the points standings, the team is feeling good. A new car build has been completed and Logan Stretch will be behind the wheel of it to start his third complete season of Spec Miata racing.
Joining Logan Stretch this weekend under the Wheels America Racing tent will be his brother Matt Stretch and newcomer Alex Stanfield. Matt will be making his return to SCCA Spec Miata racing after an injury sat him out for the remainder of the season in Spring 2022. Joining the team this weekend for his first event with Wheels America Racing is Alex Stanfield. Alex is coming off a very successful season in karting where he won the United States Pro Kart Series in the KA100 category. Additionally, Alex won his regional title in the Texas Sprint Racing Series also in the KA100 category.
With a strong driver lineup and set of cars, the Wheels America Racing team is looking forward to the weekend ahead!
January 19, 2023
Wheels America Racing Named G-LOC Brakes Dealer
G-LOC Brakes and Wheels America Racing have partnered to supply G-LOC brake pads to all drivers under the team. Beyond that, Wheels America Racing is now a dealer for G-LOC brake pads. This will enable the team to get brakes to anybody in the paddock who may need them at any given time. Under this partnership, all cars under Wheels America Racing will run G-LOC Brake Pads.
September 24, 2022
P2 at 2022 ChampCar Lifeline Classic 24H
Wheels America Racing takes P2 in the A Class category at the 2022 Lifeline Classic 24H at Virginia International Raceway. After a hard fought battle, the team worked their way up from P20 to finish on the podium.
Racing is no easy sport, and every team must overcome adversity in a race weekend. For the #998 entry, this began first thing Friday morning. The car was run in the early morning session of Friday’s test day and it lost a motor in that outing. The team then worked all morning to fit the spare engine in the car and check to insure it was working properly with the rest of the equipment. After the engine was replaced, the team continued operations as normal for the remainder of the day.
On race day, the car was run again early in the morning for some fuel mileage calculations. When the run was complete, it was discovered that an adjustment needed to be made to maximize the mileage of the car. This left the mechanics with little time to make the changes before the race start. After tearing the fuel system apart and making the changes necessary, the car headed to grid with little time to spare. When the race began, the car began having fuel pickup issues. It forced the team to bring the car behind the wall and make some repairs from the paddock. Once the car was sent back out, braking issues seemed to arise. A fitting in the braking system that had failed left the car with only rear brakes which forced another behind-the-wall repair. At this point the team was already heavily on the back foot with a tall mountain to climb to make it back to the top. By hour six, the car had been behind the wall three times for repairs, leaving the team P20 in A-Class and 25 laps down from the lead. Over the course of the next eighteen hours, the drivers charged hard to salvage a result.
At the end of the race, Wheels America Racing had the fastest lap by two seconds, courtesy of Porsche Carrera Cup North America driver, Travis Wiley. On top of that, they were able to make 10 laps back on the leaders, who ran a seamless race. This left Wheels America Racing with a P2 finish in A-Class and P7 overall.
August 16, 2022
Wheels America Racing Set to Take on Lifeline Classic 24H
Wheels America Racing is going for glory this weekend at Virginia International Raceway. It will be their second ChampCar outing of the season, and their fourth attempt at the Lifeline Classic 24H.
After retiring from the event in 2019 and 2020, the team built a new car to run in 2021. That was the year where they were so close to victory. However, an engine failure 90 minutes from the end took away their chances. This is the same car that will contest this year’s event. It has had upgrades in development since May, when the team competed at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit. With new features on the car, replaced suspension pieces, and a great driver lineup, things are looking up for the 2022 effort.
Driving this weekend for Wheels America Racing is team owner Bob Stretch and his son Logan Stretch, who have been in the car regularly this season with the team. Returning from 2021 is Travis Wiley, who is the 2022 SCCA Hoosier Super Tour Spec Miata champion and a current Porsche Carrera Cup North America driver. Brett Kowalski, a national-level Spec Miata driver, will also be competing in his first event with the team.
With a competitive car, crew, and driver lineup, Wheels America Racing is ready for the challenge that 24-hour racing entails.
August 9, 2022
Stretch and Williams Launch New Spec Miata Program
Motorsports veterans Bob Stretch and Chris Williams have partnered to bring a full Spec Miata program to the DFW area. With extensive experience in all realms of motorsport, adequate resources, and an eager team, Stretch and Williams are shooting for success.
Having run a multi-car team in SCCA World Challenge, Trans Am TA2, and SCCA club racing for many years, Bob Stretch knows what it takes to be successful. He has seen several championships and countless wins through his team over the years. Some of these accolades include two titles in Spec Miata in 2006 and 2007, and two more titles through TA2 in 2011 and 2012. Stretch has run anything and everything in his time in racing, and he is ready to bring more success to his team.
Like Stretch, Chris Williams is no stranger to racing success. While Bob Stretch was busy in the car-racing paddock, Williams was tearing up the Karting circuit. Having competed in many races in the 1990s, Williams found himself on the podium a great number of times. After his driving career, Williams got his own kids into the sport and started tuning on their go-karts. Even as a mechanic for his kids, he was able to guide them to success. They won many races under his guidance just like he did. This pushed Chris to become a team manager at Core Karting. To nobody’s surprise, Core Karting found the top step of the podium with Williams at the helm. More recently, Williams has been appearing more in the car-racing scene. He has worked with Formula 4 teams, Spec Miata teams, and endurance racing teams, all while remaining in the karting circuit. Williams is now ready to attack a new challenge: being a team owner in Spec Miata. After observing what it takes to win in the class, Williams feels ready to convert his knowledge into results.
Stretch and Williams have agreed to provide the Spec Miata paddock with brand new builds, transport, storage, support at the track, and prep work in their shop in Arlington, Texas. They are excited to start in 2023 and hit the ground running on the national level. The two partners have already started laying the foundation for a winning racing team.
August 2, 2022
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