If there’s one event that Northeastern Solo competitors have on their schedule as a true benchmark leading up to Solo Nationals, it’s without question this weekend’s SCCA Tire Rack Toledo Championship Tour. 300 competitors filled the entry list within 48 hours of registration opening. With clear skies, temperatures in the low 80s and minimal chance of rain all weekend, you can expect some close competition, high-grip conditions, and most likely some very open slaloms.
C Street will feature 15 of 18 competitors in the new ND MX-5 Miata. Look for local hot-shoe David (DJ) Alessandrini to be one of the drivers to beat.
On the opposite end of diversity, you can’t help but wonder how a Focus, Camaro, Solstice, Corvette, Golf, and S2000 all ended up in the same class, but we’ll see just that in B Street this weekend. Expect Tom Deyoung in his C5 Corvette to battle for a podium spot against Brian DePietro’s Focus RS for B Street superiority.
More diverse competition will be witnessed in Super Street, as the proven Porsche 911 GT3’s will have some unique competition in a Nissan R35 GT-R, but most noticeably in the factory-backed teams of Doss/Stefan in the new Corvette C7 Grand Sport, and HART’s 2017 Acura NSX piloted by Wolgamuth/Rindler. Chris Kavka and Chris Dvorak in separate 2016 Subaru WRXs hope to hold off the field of rear wheel drive FR-S and BRZ twins, but watch out for seasoned veteran Matt Luckow to shake up the field in his Mini Copper S in D Street.
Super Street R is expected to be one of the largest and most competitive classes at the tour. Josh Luster recently settled for second place to Sam Strano by just a .013-second margin of victory over two days of competition at the Bristol Champ Tour. They will be clashing again this weekend for a rematch, while hoping to keep their C6 Z06 Corvettes ahead of Mathew Braun’s C5 Z06.
Street Touring Ultra features 19 drivers, with recent local top PAX winner Dennis Barrett and his Nissan 350Z hoping to keep the C5 Corvette drivers of Finch/Tsang/Ramos in his mirrors this weekend.
Three generations of Miatas, and a few Honda S2000s will square off in the 14-car class of Street Touring Roadster, but look for the ND Miata drivers of David Marcus and William Koscielny to contend for the top step of the podium in this class.
Expect Aaron Miller to shake off the rust in his Mitsubishi Evo 8, and fight for top spot against the Hockenbury BWM 1M in A Street Prepared, while Danny Kao hopes to have some competition for Billy Davis, in C Street Prepared.
CAM Contemporary could be a real class worth watching as the late model Camaros of Shaun Bailey, and Bill Wise are expected take the fight to the Mustangs of Boreen/Gosda/Anderson.
As always, you can follow along on Facebook @SoloMatters and on SoloLive.SCCA.com.
Photo by Perry Bennett
