LINCOLN, Neb. (Sept. 4, 2014) – The 2015 ProSolo® season comes to a close this weekend with the Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Finale, Sept. 5-6, at the Lincoln (Neb.) Airpark.
ProSolo is a combination of the best features of drag racing and autocross, with head-to-head elimination races against another driver on the opposite, mirrored course. The racers are signaled to start their run by a drag-race-style ‘Christmas Tree’ and the first driver to the finish wins the matchup.
The top 32 drivers from open class qualifying on Saturday and Sunday morning are seeded in a single-elimination Super Challenge bracket for Sunday afternoon, with the winner of each matchup continuing toward the bracket final. The Ladies Challenge is run similar to the Super Challenge with a maximum of 16 drivers, depending on the number of entrants among the three ladies classes.
Paul Brown holds the top spot in the Super Challenge Points standings with 99 points. That puts him in the catbird seat to take home the JCJ Cup at the ProSolo finale. Brown got to the top spot in the standings on after winning the Packwood ProSolo and making it the Super Challenge final at Mineral Wells.
Michael Heinitz is 14 markers behind Brown in the standings, which count the best two regular-season finishes plus the finale. Heinitz is second following a semi-final appearance in the El Toro Super Challenge, where he was beat by eventual winner Brian Peters, and a final round matchup at Crows Landing, in which Brian Coulson bested him.
El Toro Super Challenge winner Brian Peters is third in the standings with 76 points. Peters is followed by a group of three drivers, all of whom have Super Challenge wins, thus far in 2015. Dennis Sparks, Coulson and Brian Conners are tightly bunched in the standings and will have the chance to stake their claim on the JCJ Cup this weekend.
Solo veteran Kim Whitener leads the pack in the Ladies Challenge season-long standings with 114 points and the right to the Fletcher Cup on the line. Whitener’s two finishes that counted toward her point total were here semi-final finish from Lincoln, at the Spring Nationals, and her win at the first event held at Wilmington.
Christine Grice sits 10 markers behind Whitener. Grice’s point total followed a semi-final finish at El Toro and a Ladies Challenge win at Crows Landing.
Multi-time National Champion Shelly Monfort is also still within striking distance, in third. Monfort’s Ladies Challenge win at Lincoln, during the Spring Nationals, and semi-final run at the second Wilmington event are the two finishes that counted toward her point total.
The battle for the JCJ and Fletcher Cups will be decided, once and for all, at the Lincoln Airpark, Sept. 5-6. Live results can be followed here.
For more information on the SCCA Tire Rack ProSolo Finale, click here.
Image: Shelly Monfort, center, celebrates her Ladies Challenge win at Lincoln alongside Dennis Sparks, left, and Jeremy Salenius.
Credit: Craig Wilcox
