Official statement regarding the Ultra4 USA 2023 Crandon Classic Saturday night race

Official statement regarding the Ultra4 USA 2023 Crandon Classic Saturday night race

After extensive review with Ultra4 USA officials and United States Auto Club (USAC) officials, the results of the Saturday night race will reflect a change in Vaughn Gittin Jr’s finishing position from 10th place to 12th place.

During the Saturday night race, Gittin Jr entered the pit area from the wrong direction. Race control communicated via the team spotter that he was to exit the course and cease racing due to the infraction. Due to miscommunication, Gittin Jr proceeded to complete one additional lap before exiting the track. This should have been corrected on Saturday night and was not.

The Sunday Crandon Cup race (presented by Crandon International Raceway), while not an Ultra4 season points race, was lined up according to Saturday night’s finishing order. Vaughn Gittin Jr was incorrectly lined up in 10th position instead of 12th position (both positions were on the 2nd row as positions 8 and 9 did not take the line for Sunday’s cup race).

Ultra4 USA errored by not correcting the starting position Saturday night to reflect the penalty before the Sunday race. It wasn’t until a post event review that the additional lap was uncovered. Results for Saturday night will be amended as well as the East Championship Series points and the results posted will be certified as official. We made a mistake and have corrected it.

Section 9.3 Event Course / 21.4: Race vehicle traveling on the course in the reverse direction of the course, before the official completion of the event may result in penalties or Disqualification.

While a black flag was not physically thrown during the race, the communication from race control to driver was the equivalent of a black flag penalty, ending his race at 3 laps. Vaughn Gittin Jr was not disqualified. His amended finishing position of 12th stands.

Entering the 2024 race season, Ultra4 USA and USAC will be implementing an additional formal appeal process (beyond the already documented Red Card and Competition Review Board processes) for post event appeals as a part of our commitment to transparency and fairness.