Pat Barrett Sweeps Formula Russell Weekend with Two Victories
Pat Barrett extended his lead in the SCCA Formula Russell Championship with wins in Rounds 5 and 6 on Saturday and Sunday April 9th and 10th at Infineon Raceway.

Barrett started Saturday’s race behind off pole qualifier Tyler Dueck and beside Chuck Hulse, who went into the weekend five points behind Barrett in the championship. Barrett got around Dueck at the start and followed pole sitter Mark Nason up the hill though turn two. They ran behind the safety car for the next three laps due to an incident in turn seven. Nason gave up the lead on lap seven when Barrett got under him in the turn eleven hairpin. Barrett received the checkered flag six laps later, followed by Nason and Steven Hill.

“It was a challenge to keep up with Nason on the first half of the track because all of the turns are fast and sweeping and require a lot of grip. So anytime I would get up close to him on that part of the track I would lose down force on my wings and the car would lose grip. But going through the slower turns I was able to get extremely good runs out of them and get in his draft on the straights”.

Tire management was key in Sunday’s race as the rain tires were chewed up by a drying track and grip was at a premium. Barrett started on pole in his Formula Mazda, led all laps and set fast time of the race. He was joined on the podium by second and third place finishers Hulse and Dueck.

“This race was quite difficult because of the changing conditions. When I saw the white flag (last lap) I was extremely relieved that we didn’t have to go on much further. What I really learned from this race was that no matter what or where you’re racing, conserving tires is just as important as anything else on a race car”

SCCA Formula Russell Championship race winner Pat Barrett (Photo by Steve Snyder)

His two wins put Barrett, the sixteen year old high school sophomore from Los Osos, twenty points ahead of his closest championship competitor, fellow Californian Hulse. They will continue their battle for the series crown on the weekend of May 5-7. The SCCA Formula Russell Championship presented by Yokohama is a seventeen race series that runs monthly at the 12 turn, 2.22 mile road course north of San Francisco.

Information about the series and the Russell Racing School can be found at www.jimrussellusa.com.