IRVINE, Calif. (April 1, 2015) – The SCCA Tire Rack ProSolo season made its official start this past weekend at El Toro, after an aborted event in Blytheville, Arkansas, caused by extreme winter weather. Brian Peters, of Litchfield Park, Arizona, took the Super Challenge win in what may be the final event at the site, as the area is set to undergo commercial development later this year. Shelly Monfort, of Saratoga, California, was the Ladies Challenge winner.
An event attendance record was set as 235 entrants made their way to El Toro, which has become a favorite competition spot for Southern California autocrossers. The previous record was 234, set just two years ago.
Cal Club Region played host to the event, which included a Friday night welcome party. The weather conditions were a non-issue, featuring clear, sunny skies throughout the event.
Peters (E Street Prepared, ProParts USA Ford Mustang) began his march to the final round of bracket competition from the third overall seed. That seeding was a result of fast runs in the class-based portion on the meet, held Saturday and Sunday morning.
In the first round, Peters defeated No. 30 seed Ryan Johnson (Super Street Prepared, Ryno Management Inc./Blackwatch Racing Lotus Elise). Peters’ next matchup was against Tom Harrington (Kart Modified, Seventh-Gear.com Honda CRG Road Rebel). Peters got the best of Harrington and moved to the quarterfinal round.
As one of the final eight drivers, Peters was pitted against Navid Kahangi (H Street, Edge Motorworks Ford Fiesta ST). Peters downed Kahangi to advance to the semi-finals against Michael Heinitz (Street Touring FWD, Acura RSX Type-S). Peters emerged the victor, earning the opportunity to face Jeff Kiesel for the Super Challenge win.
Kiesel (Race Tire Index 1, Seventh-Gear.com KFR Turbo Sprite) earned his way to the final after starting the bracket competition as the top overall seed. He took out Leonard Cachola (E Street, Mazda Miata) in the first round.
In the second round, Kiesel took out Steve O’Blenes (B Street Prepared, Roccos Pizza/Miataroadster.net/West End Mazda Miata), and moved on to face Jonathan Lugod (Street Touring Ultra, OS Giken/Bridgestone/LOT USA/ARE Chevrolet Corvette) in the quarters.
After beating Lugod, Kiesel met Chris Cox (F Street, Mike Maier Inc. Ford Mustang) in the semi-finals. Keisel bested Cox, earning a spot in the Super Challenge bracket final opposite Peters.
Once the dust settled, Peters proved to be quickest driver of the two. In the third-place runoff, Cox completed to podium after winning the matchup with Heinitz.
“It was a great weekend continuing strong momentum coming off a successful San Diego National Tour,” Peters said. “Winning the Challenge was especially satisfying given three second-place Challenge finishes, in the past.
“John Hogan’s Mustang was working well this weekend, which allowed me to pull up to the line each time with my focus solely on execution. Ending up with late round pairings against some of the drivers I respect the most, such as Michael Heinitz and Jeff Keisel, pushed me to dig unforgettably deep.”
Monfort (Ladies Class 2, StranoParts.com Ford Focus ST) started as the third seed in the Ladies Challenge bracket. In her opening-round matchup, she took out Mindi Cross (Ladies Class 3, Scion Racing/JDL Auto Design Scion FRS) to move to the semi-final round.
There Monfort met, and downed, Kristen Acharya (CUSCO/FRSport/TheRacersStore.com Scion FRS). In the final, Monfort met Christine Grice (Ladies Class 1, Berry Family Racing/ChaseCam Mitsubishi Evo IX).
En route to the final, Grice won matchups against Lisa Berry (Ladies Class 3, BMW 325 IS) and Teddie Alexandrova (Ladies Class 3, Roswell Driving Academy Nissan 350Z), respectively.
Monfort wound up taking the bracket win over Grice, while Acharya completed the podium after beating Alexandrova in the third-place runoff.
“It feels great - and oddly familiar - to take the Ladies Challenge win in the first event of the season,” Monfort said. “I took the win last year at the first Pro event in Washington, D.C. in another Focus.
“I hope to get at least one more Pro event under my belt in L2 this year. I like campaigning the Focus because I'm least experienced in FWD cars, and because it's an affordable and practical current car that is also fun to race, which is good for our sport. As for a points championship, I'd love to go after it! It usually comes down to the finale for me, and I know I will have fantastic skilled women to compete with no matter what car I'm driving.”
Dennis Trevino (Street Touring Xtreme, Hank Yamfang Honda Civic Si), of El Cajon, California, was the winner of the Bonus Challenge bracket.
The next stop for the SCCA Tire Rack ProSolo series is scheduled for April 25-26, in Crows Landing, California.
For additional information on the El Toro ProSolo event, including full results, visit http://www.scca.com/events/index.cfm?eid=8384. More information on the SCCA Tire Rack National Solo Program can be found at www.SCCA.com/Solo.
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2015 Tire Rack El Toro ProSolo
