Bren Finishes Second to Theys in Super Vee

Pole-sitter Didier Theys of Belgium breezed to his third Super Vee victory of the season Sunday, winning the Cleveland event by 21.01 seconds over Steve Bren of Newport Beach.

Theys, who won at Indianapolis and East Rutherford, N.J., pulled into a tie at 72 points with Mike Groff of Northridge for the lead in the Super Vee championship standings.

Theys won $6,500. He said his Martini Mk50 Bertils “ran perfectly” as he averaged 116.689 m.p.h. in the 25-lap race over the 12-turn, 2.48-mile Burke Lakefront Airport road course. The race was run in 31 minutes, 52.77 seconds.

Bren, tied for second at 62 points overall with fourth-place finisher Scott Atchison of Bakersfield, had his best finish in the last three races with his RPM/Chief Auto Parts Ralt-Brabham.

“For a while, I thought things were going downhill after I won at Long Beach (in the Super Vee series opener),” he said. “I’m glad I’m back up there, but I still want to win.

David Kudrave of La Canada was third in his David White/Harvey’s Ralt-Bertils, and Dave Simpson of Redondo Beach was fifth in his Bill Simpson’s Provimi Ralt-Brabham.

Singer Christopher Cross of Austin, Tex., finished 22nd, the lowest of the cars still running.