LINCOLN, Neb. (Sept. 5, 2014) – Heat five on the West Course marked the end of the 2014 edition of the Tire Rack SCCA Solo Nationals from Lincoln (Neb.) Airpark. Champions in Super Street R Ladies, Super Street Prepared, Street Modified, Street Modified F and F Modified Ladies were the final ones to be decided.
The newly ordained Solo Driver of Eminence, Shelly Monfort, of Saratoga, California, showed one of the reasons she received that award. She drove her No. 41 Strano Performance Parts, Shameless Tea Chevrolet Corvette to a 1.397-second win in conditions that fluctuated between wet and dry.
“After I found out I won the Driver of Eminence, I just needed to break the curse,” Monfort exclaimed. “I had a pretty good advantage on the first course. I was very conservative with my first run, just to get one in the books. And then you just build from there.”
Ryan Johnson, of Draper, Utah, made the most of unfavorable weather conditions late on Friday afternoon and scored the SSP National Championship. His margin of victory, in his No. 59 Ryno Management Inc\Blackwatch Racing Lotus Elise, was a scant 0.192-second, but it was enough to earn the title.
“I really didn’t come with the highest of expectations, just to try my best,” Johnson said. “It started with the ProSolo. Tom Berry has been beating me by a second each day of each Pro this year. To be really close with him here, I started to get it in my mind that I might have a chance. Just focused on driving the best runs I could.
“This really means a lot. That’s why we keep coming. You begin to think it’s elusive after the eight years I’ve come to the event. It just is good to finally get to the top.”
In SM, Todd Kean, of Wallingford, Conn., came from behind to win his first National Championship behind the wheel of the No.99 G-Fab Racing Nissan 240sx. Kean overcame his day-one deficit and finished with a 1.645-second margin of victory over Jason Merritt.
“I’ve only driven the car a handful of times this season,” Kean said. “I got some good pointers from other drivers that ran earlier in the day and earlier in the week. I knew that the car had the pace to get it done. Today, with the weather, my primary goal was to get a clean run in on the first run and then just work from there to get a little bit faster without getting too crazy in pushing it.
“This is something I’ve been working toward for years. I’ve been coming out most of the time with a darkhorse car—not the car for the class, or broken cars. It’s been a struggle. This really means a lot to me. P.J. has done a wonderful job putting the car together, putting me in Street Mod instead of SSM.”
Andy Hollis, of Austin, Texas, was the top driver in SMF, once the dust settled. In his No.1 GRM/HVT/949/OS Giken/Fast Brakes/Soulspeed/FTW/JC Auto Spec Honda CRX, Hollis took the victory over Brian Kuehl, and the remainder of the field, by 1.180 seconds.
“I came in here very laid back,” Hollis said. “I’ve had a lot of issues with the car coming into the week. The motor I put into the car for this event broke. I had 18 hours to put the new motor in, pack and leave to get here. By then, I wanted the car to last through the week and just drive well. The motor I put in—the old motor, and the transmission that goes with it, pops out of second gear. So I drove the whole ProSolo finale and this event with bungee cords holding the shifter in gear.”
In FML, Michelle Quinn, of Dublin, Ohio, walked away with the National Champion title while driving the No. 96 Thanks Jeff! KBS MK7. As the leader after day one, Quinn did enough to secure her victory in her second run of day two.
“I didn’t run at all this year,” Quinn said. “Jeff had an injury road racing. I came out here to just have fun. I didn’t care about times. I didn’t want anyone to tell me my times until I was done. I just wanted to go out and attack the course.”
More information on the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships can be found at SCCA.com/SoloNationals.
2014 Solo National Championship
