| SHANE DID IT !! |
| Shane won BOTH Championships for 2001.....
The Cup Lites Racing Series Touring Championship and the Holland
International Speedway Cup Lites Division Championship.
No other Cup Lites Driver has ever won more than one Championship, and now
Shane has won 3 !
With 12 Race Wins, Shane Riffel is the winningest driver in the Cup Lites. For the 2001 racing season, Shane competed in two Cup Lites Divisions. The Cup Lites Touring Racing Series, and the Holland Nascar Cup Lites Division. In the Holland division, Shane drove the Kendall Motor Oil #74 Monte Carlo. For the Touring Series, Shane ran totally independent in the SR Racing / www.shaneriffel.com #31 Monte Carlo. Don't be fooled by the Orange #31 and the Blue #31 - They are the same car!! A cross-over flame paint scheme creates this very unique looking car. |
| September 29, 2001 - Lancaster Racing Report |
| SHANE WINS 2001 CUP LITES TOURING SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP. |
| September 22, 2001 - Holland Racing Report |
| SHANE IS CROWNED 2001 HOLLAND CUP LITE TRACK CHAMPION.. Coming into the last night at Holland Speedway, all Shane needed was to have a good finish to capture his second straight Holland Track Championship. After taking 2nd in the heat, Shane had the pole for the feature. After leading the first few laps, Shane thought better of battling for the lead and settled back for a safe third place finish which clinched that championship. This race also continues his top 5 streak which now stands at 22 races in a row. The final race of the season is next week at Lancaster, where Shane only needs to take the green flag to win the touring series championship. |
| September 8, 2001 - Holland Racing Report |
| THE 100 LAP BOB BENDER MEMORIAL IS WON BY SHANE!! This is the race everybody wants to win. This is the most prestigious race every year for the cup lites. This is the one that every team prepares for. This is the Daytona of the Cup Lites! THIS RACE WAS SHANE'S!! The night started out good and just got better and better. After starting 9th in the 12 car 10 lap first heat, Shane steadily moved up through the field and took the lead with 2 laps to go. After winning the heat, a few minor adjustments were made to dial in the car in preparation for the gruelling 100 lap race. Starting from the ninth position, Shane ran a very cautious first 20 laps in order to let the field settle down and string out a little. Shane then began to slowly make his way to the front. This was no easy task. With a lot of good drivers in front, each pass took several laps to accomplish. Finally, around lap 35, it was clear which cars would be battling for the win. With 5 fast cars and excellent drivers, the race turned into a real barn burner. Shane and 4 other cars continued to do battle side by side and bumper to bumper for 20 to 30 laps. Continually swapping positions, it was intense... VERY INTENSE!! It looked for a while that this battle would go one for the rest of the race. Finally, on lap 78, Shane was able to grab the lead and get a couple of car lengths of breathing room. The second place car didn't give up and continued to dog Shane for many laps, but Shane was able to hold him off and came across the finish line taking the checkered flag for his 3rd win of the season and 12th overall. By virtue of the win Shane increases his point lead to 104 points with only one scheduled tour race left. All Shane has to do now is take the green flag in the heat and feature to win the Cup Lites Racing Series Point Championship. This final race is Sept. 29th at Lancaster Motorsports Park. The Ted's 100 Bob Bender Memorial race will be televised Thursday September 13th at 7:30 on Empire Sports Network. |
| August 25, 2001 - Oswego Racing Report |
| JUST WHEN WE THOUGHT OUR BAD LUCK WAS LAST NIGHT!! Friday nights broken hub gave the team a challenge to stay in the points chase, but nobody expected what would be asked of the team on Saturday! With a very fast car under him, Shane looked like the car to beat tonight. However that would soon change. During the second set of hot laps, going into turn 3, the right front Hiem broke on the lower A arm. For those of you who may not know what this is, it holds the axle on the front of the car, and without it, you cannot steer. Well.. not being able to steer going into a corner is kinda important. Shane basically went straight into the wall! Oswego uses "soft walls" so the damage was not quite as severe as it could have been, but now the team was asked to step up to the challenge again! Let's see.. New Upper A Arm, New Shock, New Spring, New Rim, Another Tire, Sway Bar Connector, Lower Heim, anything else? .. Oh yeah.. the heat starts soon. After a lot of pounding, sweating, and maybe a swear word or two, Shane's car was literally taped back together just in time for the heat.. But did everything get back the way it was when he was one of the fastest in hot laps?? MUST BE! Shane took this car that had just been repaired from heavy contact with the wall and kicked butt in the heat. What a great team effort. Now for the feature.. Starting in the ninth position, Shane quickly moved up to 6th, than 5th, and eventually was running 3rd. The top 3 cars pulled away from the pack and for the balance of the feature is was bumper to bumper 1,2,3. Not having all the time needed to dial in Shane's car after the wreck, Shane settled in for a 3rd place finish and only gave up 3 points in the points race. With the weekend over, and two very busy nights, the team can be commended for a most successful weekend with all the hurdles put before them. In two weeks, September 8th, The 100 lap Bob Bender Memorial Race will be held at Holland Speedway. It is the longest race of the season. Come on out and watch Shane continue his run for the title. |
| August 24, 2001 - Spencer Speedway Racing Report |
| ANOTHER NIGHT THAT STARTS OUT LOOKING BAD, BUT ENDS GOOD!! Going into tonights race with a 48 point lead, Shane started the heat in the middle of the pack. After a few laps, Shane was ready to make his move to the front. With just 2 laps to go in the heat, in the middle of turn 3 & 4.. Wham! Shane's right front hub broke and his right front tire decided to take a different direction than the car! This resulted in a DNF for the heat and a loss of 6 points in the points race. Now the team had to go to work.. With not much time between the heat and the feature, the team worked feverishly to get Shane's car ready for the feature. Everything came together in time, and Shane was ready for the feature with 5 minutes to spare (whew!!). Starting last in the field due to the DNF in the heat, Shane would have a challenge to come through the field tonight. Shane did work his way up to a 10th place, with about 15 laps to go. He passed for 9th, then 8th, and finally settled in for what looked like a 7th place finish. But with just 4 laps to go, Shane made another pass for 6th, and with just 2 laps left moved into 5th, where he finished the night and keeps his string of top 5's or better alive! Also, by besting the second place car in the points race, Shane only gave up 1 point overall in the points battle tonight, and leaves with a 47 point edge in the Cup Lites Racing Series Championship Points Race. After a very busy night and a great team effort, Shane Moves on to Oswego for Saturday nights Televised Race. |
| August 11, 2001 - Holland Racing Report |
| ANOTHER TOP FIVE AND THE POINT LEAD IS STILL 34 POINTS!! Going into tonights race with a 34 point lead, Shane had to start from the rear in both the heat and feature. Hot laps allowed us to fine tune the "dial in" and we felt confident for the heat and feature. Starting last, Shane was able to finish 3rd in the heat. For the 25 lap feature, it was another race starting in the last row. It looked like it was going to be another wreck fest with a caution before the completion of lap two and another caution at the restart, survival seemed to be the rule of the night. However, after the second restart, the race settled down and Shane moved quickly to 6th. Following a less experienced driver for many laps, and the leaders pulling away, Shane settled in and didn't attempt any aggressive moves, since catching the leaders in such a short race would be impossible without another caution. Also, the second place car in the points was behind him ! With about 10 laps to go, Shane moved into 5th place. With 3 laps to go, Shane dropped back again to 6th. On the final lap, he was able to get back into the 5th position and brought home another top 5 finish. This stretches his string of top five finishes to 12 races in a row. Plus, Shane continues to lead the Holland Point Series by 34 points. Although this is a very comfortable lead, the final Holland Points race will be double points, so Shane can't rest quite yet. At the final race for Holland Points on Sept. 15, Shane is gauranteed the pole due to his point lead. Shane's next race is Friday, August 24th at NASCAR track Spencer speedway, outside of Rochester. This is a Cup LItes Touring Series Race, where Shane also leads the points race. |
| July 29, 2001 - Holland Racing Report |
| IT LOOKED LIKE DISASTER - BUT IT WASN'T. With a larger car count than usual for a Holland event, Shane started last in the second heat. Quickly moving up through the pack in the short 8 lap heat, Shane was just starting to pass for the lead, when without warning, his motor quit!! The entire team thought we were done for the night and could kiss our point lead away. However after further review.. much to our pleasant surprise, we had a simple electrical problem that was quickly fixed for the feature. Starting the feature from the 16th position, even a top 5 was going to be good night. At the drop of the green, Shane began to make his move thorugh the field. After just 5 laps, he would be in 5th place !! With the cars in front of him, it appeared that we would have to settle for 5th. Shane, had other plans though. The race was longer than most for Holland, and the longer Shane ran the more the car seemed to come to him. With around 20 laps to go the caution flew tightening up the pack. Shane got a great restart and picked off the 4th place car and set his sites on 3rd. For the next 15 laps, it was Shane, and two other great drivers in the series racing side by side and HARD. It was the most intense 3 car battle that Holland has ever seen in the cup lites races. Forget third....Finally with just 2 laps to go, Shane was able to take command of 2nd place. With the heavy racing for 2nd, 3rd, & 4th, the leader was able to pull away, leaving Shane no chance to run him down with only two laps left. The second place was the hardest fought race Shane could remember. AND.. the point lead was kept. After losing only 6 points in the heat, Shane was able to get a couple back in the feature, for a net loss of only 4 points to the second place car tonight. Shane now enjoys a 32 point lead with 2 Holland races left. His next race is August 11th at Holland Speedway. |
| July 21, 2001 - Lancaster Racing Report |
| The 7th stop on the Cup Lites Tour was another exciting Lancaster Race. After a dissapointing 6th place finish in the heat, Shane started 7th in the main 35 lap feature event. With an ill handling car, Shane struggled throughout most of the race. Although the car seem to be coming to him late in the race, all he could do was drive it the best he could and hope for a good finish to help preserve his points lead. Showing a lot of patience and driving ability, Shane drove his #31 as low as possible and tried to make up some spots. When the checkered fell, Shane had moved up to 6th place, and with one car being disqualified, Shane picked up a 5th place finish. With the second place car in the points being involved in an early incident, Shane's 5th place finish actually increased his overall point lead in the Cup Lites Touring Racing Series. The Next race is Sunday July 29th at Holland Speedway. This will be an afternoon race along with the NYS Modifieds. It will also be televised on Empire Sports at a later date. |
| July 14, 2001 - Holland Racing Report |
| SHANE WINS AGAIN !! This Saturday night it was the Midseason Championship races at Holland Speedway. With the heats being lined up by handicap, Shane found himself starting in the back of the first heat. After a 3rd place finish in the heat, it was on to the feature event. Since Shane is the point leader, he would have the pole position for the Midseason Race. Starting from the pole, Shane pulled out to an early lead. However, Ed Murray (second in points) quickly jumped beside Shane and for 6 laps Shane and Ed raced side by side in a hotly contested battle. On lap 7, Murray outdrove his car into turn 2 and spun. This left Shane with a comfortable lead over the next car. Shane led the race flag to flag, eventually winning by over a straightaway. This win is the 2nd this season for Shane and his 11th career win. By virtue of the win, Shane also increased his margin in the season-long points race. The next race is July 21st at Lancaster ! |
| June 30, 2001 - Holland Racing Report |
| The 6th stop of the Cup Lites Racing Series was held Saturday June 30th. The Cup Lites were a supporting event for the Hooter's Cup 250. With a great qualifying run of 15.081 seconds, Shane qualified 2nd, missing the pole by just .003 seconds. After an invert of the top 6 cars, Shane lined up for the 50 lap feature in the 5th starting position. With the typical Holland rubbing and bumping, cautions were sure to fly. Driving a conservative race to stay out of trouble, Shane was running 4th when the first caution came out. When the green came out, Shane chased down the third place car and after a number of laps battling with him, Shane finally took the third spot. The lengthy battle to take third allowed the two leaders to gain quite a lead. Another caution would allow Shane to see if he had anything for them.. but the race continued green to the end and Shane took home a third place finish. With the 3rd place, Shane continues to lead in the points. The next Tour Race is Lancater on July 21st. and the next Holland Race is July 14th. |
| June 23, 2001 - Lancaster Race Report |
| Stop #5 on the Cup Lites Racing Series Touring schedule brought us to the Lancaster Speedway for the first time this year. After watching it rain right up to race time, the track finally was ready for racing about an hour late. Starting almost last in the heat, Shane was quickly moving up through the field and appeared to be on his way to a heat win. However, when trying to make a bold pass below 2 cars, he found a slick spot low on the track from the rain and spun. Shane recovered from the spin to finish 7th in the heat and qualified for the feature event. Starting from the 10th position in the feature, Shane made all the right moves to work his way through the field. Shane took over the third spot with the leaders in site. The late starting time of the race shortened it to only 25 laps, so unless a caution came out, he wouldn't have time to catch the leaders. The 1st and 2nd place cars were fast, and Shane may not have had anything for them, and with no more cautions for the race, Shane settled for a solid third place finish. With this finish and the second place car in the points not finishing the race, Shane increased his point lead considerably. Before the race Shane had a 2 point lead, but after the race had a 50 point lead. The next race is a tour race at Holland Speedway on June 30th, where the Cup Lites Racing Series will be a supporting event with the Hooter's Cup 250. This will be a 50 lap race with time trials. Come on out and watch the exciting action! |
| June 16, 2001 |
| The scheduled Oswego race was bitten by mother nature, after a 4 hour drive, we only could watch the rain fall. Next Saturday, on to Lancaster Speedway. See You There ! |
| June 9, 2001 - Chemung Race Report |
| PROBLEM SOLVED! We knew something wasn't quite right from last nights performance. These Friday-Saturday double headers really puts the pressure on the entire team. After a complete going over of Shanes car, it was found that last nights problem was due to a broken motor mount. With a new motor mount installed, Shane was ready to race in this, the 3rd stop of the Cup Lites Touring Racing Series. Starting from the rear in the heat, Shane was able to finish second. Then starting 10th on the grid for the feature, Shane moved up through the field nicely, and was in third before the half way point. After a brief caution, Shane continued his move to the front. The leader (who started from the pole) had checked out on the field, and by the time Shane grabbed the 2nd place with 15 laps to go, catching the leader would be impossible without another caution. With no more cautions, Shane came in an easy 2nd and took the point lead. Shane's next race is June 16th at Oswego Speedway. This will be taped by Empire Sports Network and broadcast at a later date. |
| June 8, 2001 - Spencer Race Report |
| race report |
| June 2, 2001 - Holland Race Report |
| race report |
| May 26, 2001 - Holland Race Report |
| SHANE WINS HIS FIRST OF SEASON !! With an exciting night of racing action, Shane would wind up with a victory in the main event on this, the second race of the season for the Holland Points Chase. In the first heat, Shane had a tight multi-lap battle with Jon Price following Jon across the finish line, losing the heat by less than a fender. However, if your are going to come in second, what better than to follow your OWN car across the finish line. This is because Jonathan Price was racing one of Shanes cars this week, so in the heat, SR Racing finished 1-2. The feature saw Shane starting almost last. Quickly moving out front was Dave Russell, who appeared to be on his way to victory. Shane kept making all the right moves, and eventually found himself in second with the leader in sight. Shane for sure had the fastest car, and with less than 10 laps to go was on Dave's bumper. With only 5 to go, Shane made a move on the outside and made a clean pass by Russell to take command of the lead. Shane pulled away from Russell and went onto a comfortable lead and win. Although having won at Holland before, this victory was special for Shane - This was the first victory for Shane in the Holland points battle. His previous Holland wins were in the Cup Lites Touring Racing Series. Also, Shane dedicated the win to the memory of his Grandfather - Robert Riffel, who passed away on January 12 of this year. His Grandfather could always be found in the stands rooting for his grandson. He was a regular to the Cup Lites races, only missing a few last year due to his declining health. This special victory will be long remembered. Shane's next race is another Holland series event scheduled for June 2nd, where Shane will come into the race as the Points Leader. |
| May 19 & 20, 2001 - Mosport Park Race Report |
| Mosport report |
| May 12, 2001 - Holland Race Report |
| The scheduled Holland race this Saturday was cancelled due to rain. The next race is the Cup Lites Racing Series season opener at Mosport Park Road Course May 19th & 20th |
| April 28, 2001 - Holland Race Report |
| Opening night at Holland Speedway - AND NO RAIN! Shane starts the season with a fresh attitude and a sharpened focus on having a successful season. The starting positions for the heats are determined by draw. Shane is in the second heat, starting in the second row. Shane quickly takes command of the race and wins the heat, giving him a front row start in the feature. At the drop of the green, it was Ed Murray from the pole taking the lead and Shane following in second. Ed & Shane pulled quickly away from the rest of the field and for the entire race Shane was glued on the leaders bumper. With both drivers having closely matched speeds, it was easy to stay with Murray, but passing wouldn't be possible unless someone made a mistake. But after 25 mistake free laps, Shane came in a very very close second. Looks like the points battle is starting early with Shane only 2 points behind. The next race is Saturday night May 12th at Holland. The season opener for the Cup LItes Racing Series will be the weekend of May 19th & 20th at Mosport Park, Ontario. |
